Hidden From History Sheila Rowbotham Summary
Hidden From History:
300 years of women’s oppression and the fight against it
Sheila Rowbotham (Pluto Press, 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA, 1973, ISBN-0904383563, 182pp, £14.99)
While there had been a great deal of history written about men's activities in wars, courts, politics, diplomacy and business, little research had focused on the history of women before the First World War. Sheila Rowbotham, in her study of women in Britain set out to examine the “hidden history” of the struggle of women for equality and rights from the 16th century till the 1930s. The socialist feminist drew upon a range of secondary sources to explore issues such as birth control, abortion and female sexuality in the past and the different effects that changes in the process of production have on middle class and working class women.
Rowbotham begins with the development of early capitalism. Which she argues is the time when the division of labour became more complex and women started to find themselves at a disadvantage in the new organisation of industry. She focuses on how the changes in the organisation of work effected the role of the family and women’s position within that …show more content…
Society today is less feminist and no longer confined to the themes that Rowbotham articulated. Her book makes the reader appreciate the struggles many women had to face to get to the position in which we are today, as throughout the book we learn how some women had to go to extremes. For example, Rowbotham talks about how some women in isolated mining districts dressed up as men and sneaked to work. Another extreme case mentioned is Lady Costance Lytton, who was arrested, she went on a hunger strike and was forcibly fed, and she was then violently sick and hit by the prison doctor which resulted in her being permanently injured and
300 years of women’s oppression and the fight against it
Sheila Rowbotham (Pluto Press, 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA, 1973, ISBN-0904383563, 182pp, £14.99)
While there had been a great deal of history written about men's activities in wars, courts, politics, diplomacy and business, little research had focused on the history of women before the First World War. Sheila Rowbotham, in her study of women in Britain set out to examine the “hidden history” of the struggle of women for equality and rights from the 16th century till the 1930s. The socialist feminist drew upon a range of secondary sources to explore issues such as birth control, abortion and female sexuality in the past and the different effects that changes in the process of production have on middle class and working class women.
Rowbotham begins with the development of early capitalism. Which she argues is the time when the division of labour became more complex and women started to find themselves at a disadvantage in the new organisation of industry. She focuses on how the changes in the organisation of work effected the role of the family and women’s position within that …show more content…
Society today is less feminist and no longer confined to the themes that Rowbotham articulated. Her book makes the reader appreciate the struggles many women had to face to get to the position in which we are today, as throughout the book we learn how some women had to go to extremes. For example, Rowbotham talks about how some women in isolated mining districts dressed up as men and sneaked to work. Another extreme case mentioned is Lady Costance Lytton, who was arrested, she went on a hunger strike and was forcibly fed, and she was then violently sick and hit by the prison doctor which resulted in her being permanently injured and