Woman in the nineteenth century

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Mehri Honarbin-Holliday

"The state of women in Islamic societies is the subject of much interest and heated debate. Yet, these discussions and representations in the media and elsewhere rely on inadequate information and misperceptions, imagining Muslim women as oppressed victims in need of liberation by outside forces. Becoming Visible in Iran disputes these widespread stereotypes, providing a vivid account of women in contemporary Iran as they go about their daily lives. Mehri Honarbin-Holliday presents the experiences of these women who wield a key if indirect political influence on the seemingly male dominated politics of this society, as they achieve a new visibility." "Highlighting links and continuities with the history of women in Iran, from the early twentieth century to the present moment, Honarbin-Holliday shows how Iranian women today strive: to be the author of one's fate, to resist narrow interpretations of religion, to conduct meaningful, rich and complex lives, to bring about change in the mindsets of male relatives, and to contribute to legal and political debates in the country." "For its direct presentation of women's voices as well as its analysis and insight, this book is a vital contribution to our understanding of the lives of Muslim women and the possibilities before them today. Becoming Visible in Iran is indispensable for those concerned with women in Islamic societies, gender studies, sociology, anthropology as well as Iran and the Middle East."--BOOK JACKET.

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Theda Perdue

Theda Perdue examines the roles and responsibilities of Cherokee women during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a time of intense cultural change. While building on the research of earlier historians, she develops a uniquely complex view of the effects of contact on Native gender relations, arguing that Cherokee conceptions of gender persisted long after contact. Maintaining traditional gender roles actually allowed Cherokee women and men to adapt to new circumstances and adopt new industries and practices. - Publisher.

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Caroline Sweetman

The UN Human Rights Conference in 1993 proclaimed that 'Women's rights are human rights'. This book in the Focus on Gender series explores issues of women's rights including the legal background and history of human rights legislation, the special human-rights problems of women in situations of conflict or as refugees, violence against women as a human-rights violation, women's rights as workers, the rights of disabled women, and the importance of providing information and training to enable women to claim their rights. Focusing on women's rights involves the recognition that, throughout the world, legal systems to guarantee rights have their roots in cultures which discriminate against women. Development and human rights are closely linked, and the empowerment of women to claim the human rights to which they are entitled will enable them to take full advantage of development processes.

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Elsbeth Locher-Scholten

"This book deals with the ambiguous relationship between Indonesian and European women and the colonial state in the former Netherlands Indies (or Dutch East Indies) between 1900 and 1942. How did women of different racial backgrounds relate to each other and to 'the colonial project'? How did the colonial state address women's issues? What were the constructions of gender which dominated the discourse on these issues?" "The content is based on new data from a variety of sources, such as censuses, colonial archives, rural labour reports, household manuals, children's fiction and Indonesian press surveys. An introductory essay combines the outcomes of the case studies and relates those to ongoing debates within the history of colonialism. The book thus provides the reader with new insights in the social dynamics of colonial society and politics in relation to gender."--Jacket.