Mary Abbott's "A Better World"

The post war era in Great Britain was a very tumultuous time. Not only did many families struggle with the reintegration of the father back into the home, but even uncontrollable factors like the weather caused problems for the British. Cold winters and low coal supplies hit families hard while floods ravaged the country once spring came. The societal trends in the post war years greatly shifted. For example, women went from wearing the boxy outfits of the interwar years, to wearing extremely feminine dresses emphasizing small waists. The television become a way to bring a family together. In essence, the British people wanted to forget the trends of the war, and revive the old world ideals. Abbott suggests a second wave of Elizabethianism occurred. However, women especially found it difficult to cope with the return to the old world. While the men were on the battle front, women had gained more power and influence on the home front. When the men returned, some wives complained that there husbands just expected things to go go to the way things used to be, which was a hard thing to cope with. The 1950's especially were a time of great change and uncertainty in Great Britain.

I would categorize this article in three categories: law, state, and church; family relationships and economics; and categories of difference. Abbott discusses the demands of families placed on the state, as well as the struggles felt by the state to provide for veteran families. She also discusses how this led to the creation of the welfare state. The article explains the strained family relationships between returning husbands and newly empowered wives in addition to children who view their father as an intruder/stranger in the home. Abbott also discusses the differences between the acceptance of change between classes. She talks about the integration of different races into British society and the issues created by homosexual couples which all represent categories of difference. Mary Abbott provides a very interesting and powerful overview of a transition period in British history.

The Family Versus the State Victoria de Grazia

Grazia’s chapter entitled gamily verses the states discusses the perplexing relationship that develops between the family and the state with the rise of fascism. She outlines that the new ideology of the fascist government is to incorporate the family into the government, but then shows how those socialist measures to accomplish this integration in actually undermines the family.

For example, the new ideology set forth was that men should be able to work and earn enough money to support his family so his wife could stay home (embracing this idea of separate spheres). So in an attempt embrace this family ideology the government established the family allowance system. However, to even get this set wage system you have to have the right connections with the proper private or governmental organizations. This new welfare state changes the role of women. Because men should be working to earn a wage for the family the women or the elitist class have to carry this idea out with the lower classes. Also, women of the lower classes are also forced to work as their husbands are unable to make enough money for their family. Thus, family size begins to shrink and with the realization that the state is not providing a support group. Families have to begin to rely on their kin for support. Grazia then exemplifies her point through the letter the wife of Milanese man to the government (103-104).

Grazia argues that two different family ideologies emerge. The first is then the fascist familism emphasizing family unity, paternity, and female devotion to the family. This ideology is then altered through its impracticable practice and gives way to oppositional familism. This placed more focus on the father and gave priority of jobs and wages to those fathers with larger families (in hopes of increasing the population). People during this time appeared to operate on the idea that you had to maximize your resources in the short run and not worry about future generations. Her discussion of oppositional familism is limited and somewhat confusing compared to her expansive explanation of fascist familism.

Grazia’s article could fall under three of the categories we have discussed. The most fitting category would be that of the Law, State, and Church. Her article focuses on how the state regulations affect the family. This leads to the next category of family relationships and family economics. Grazia takes great length to describe how the government imposes different ideas on the roles of men and women in the family. Men should be earning enough money for a large family while women stay at home and work. Furthermore, that state is suppose to step in and subsidize a husbands wage but jumping through the hoops to get this money is impossible. The last category this could fall under then is gender. In Grazia’s description of the family she does discuss the role of children briefly but she tends to focus on the different roles that husband and wives have (men and women).

Kristen Stromberg Childers, "Paternity and the Politics of Citizenship in Interwar France"

In Childers' paper she discusses the importance of men fulfilling their roles as strong paternal figures within their families in France. Her argument further discusses how the male head of the household, known as the pere de famille, became a subject in the way the French Third Republic viewed families in regards to suffrage and working condition reform.

She tells us that since 1913, paternity began to be connected to political discourse in order to construct a productive nation that pressured men to form families. Furthermore, political discourse during interwar France began to attack the rights that single men had. As examples of not fulfilling their paternal role, single men's voting rights were attacked. Reformers advocated for a change in how much a single man's vote was worth in comparison to that of a father's. Arguably a father needed more weight to his vote because he was representing not just himself, but a whole entire family. Historically single men had already dominated voting rights, and using previous political disasters as example, conservatives believed that a shift of rights to paternally experienced voters would produce effective and enlightened reform. This can easily be summarized by showing that there was pressure to give father's more representation because they were viewed as elite and the incompetence of single men throughout history was used as a way to push for this change (pg.94).

In order to reform working conditions, men used their status as fathers to advocate for change. If the state expected a father to support his family not only monetarily, but by educating his children, men would have to have time to be home and do that (pg.95). In addition to helping his wife with the children, a change towards a eight-hour work day would allow him time to educate himself. A father with the ability to read political literature weekly meant he would be a model citizen to the French government. This tactic for reform shows a example of modernity in the equalizing of parental roles. A man is now expected to help out and not just be the breadwinner for the home. However a father will still be expected to work, and to even teach his sons that this is important (pg.98). By asking father's to do more they were seen as valuable in reconstructing the state after the damage done during the Great War.

This article fits under several themes for this class, but primarily focuses on the state expectations for father's and also a father's relationship to his family. Although the Catholic church is mentioned a little bit throughout the work, the state's pressure on men to fulfill a paternal role dominates the paper. Family relationship is the other important theme because it mentions how important men were in their families and that the amount of experience men obtained from being a father could not be supplemented by any other activity.

"Everyday Life" by J. Robert Wegs in Growing Up Working Class

In J. Robert Wegs' article titled "Everyday Life", we get a glimpse at what real-life consisted of in Vienna during the pre-World War I stage, and during the war. He states that it had already been established prior to his writing this article, that the conditions surrounding the working-class family were not the greatest during the early 20th century. His argument is that, although previous scholars have made many arguments and claims stating that these conditions were the cause of family disintegration and the decline of family life, it is not as true as previously stated.

Wegs discusses a few different aspects of family life that back up his argument and helps persuade the reader to change his views on such topics. Birth rate and family size, nourishment and food in the home, personal possessions, and leisure activity and play are discussed in length to help us fully understand how life was for the working class family in Vienna during the pre-war and inter-war periods.

Regarding birth rate and family size, Wegs states that "After experiencing the material deprivation brought about by the typical large families of the period before WWI, some parents decided to limit the size of their families." I agree with his argument that the economy of the time forced families to limit the number of children they could have, and more importantly he claims that in these smaller families, the children were able to receive more love and affection.

Through numerous interviews and studies, Wegs was able to round up information about the working class family in regards to their diets during this depriving time period. Granted, the portions of meals the children were alloted were meager, he came to the conclusion that "the view that all working-class families suffered equally from undernourishment results from an inattention to economic-social divisions among laboring families." In general, he stated that almost all families were able to "make do" on low incomes and eat well

Personal possessions and leisure activity was the last topic Wegs discussed in regards to the working-class family in Vienna. He states that "for most working-class families it was not how much one had but rather how one dealt with scarcity that was important. It was also common practice for these working-class children to spend much of their time in the streets playing, but they made the most of it and were happy.

His conclusion summed up everything he talked about very well. He states, "While there is no denying that difficult conditions existed in Vienna's working-class districts in the early twentieth century, it is also difficult to deny that a relative stability, rather than disintegration, characterized life for most of the working class there." I agree with Wegs' unique view on the poor working-class family in Vienna. His arguments were very convincing and thorough, and i believe that no matter what state people find themselves in, they will always find a way to maintain a certain amount of human dignity and find a way to achieve happiness.

"The Middle-Class Household" by John Tosh

In this chapter Tosh discusses the changes in the middle class. There was a shift in the middle-class as it began to expand. The first generation of middle-class were shop and factory owners that lived adjacent to their place of business. Many young people were apprenticed to professions different from that of their parents, and as a result were able to enter higher levels of the middle class. This is part of the reason the middle class expanded so much. On page three Tosh says “But strength of numbers lay with the men of trade and business. It was this entrepreneurial element which increased most rapidly during the first half of the nineteenth century and accounted for the largest number of fresh recruits to the middle class.”
Tosh argues that the “Masculine self-respect certainly demanded that a man provide for his family, and great shame was attached to one who ‘failed’. “(pg 14) Many of the changes that occurred from one generation to the next in the middle class were attempts to prove to society that the man of the house could provide for his family by maintaining a ‘proper’ household. The second generation of middle class began moving away from their places of work. Increasingly home became a place of refuge and not a place of work. If there was work to be done at home it was to be done in a way and place that interference to the rest of the household was minimal.
Another point that Tosh makes is that women were withdrawing from the day to day practices of business. Part of being able to provide was to allow your wife to have a life of luxury. How little your wife was required to be involved in work became yet another social marker. Part of that shift was also the separation of the servants from the household. They were no longer considered part of the family but simply one more way to measure wealth. The more servants you could afford the better off you were. And if you could afford to hire male servants then you were really doing well. Tosh points out that during this period when the middle class expanded so much people became extremely preoccupied with their status in that middle class. It really seems to me that this is when the wide spread attitude of keeping up with the Jones came into play.
This chapter falls into the theme of Family Relationship and Family Economics because Tosh discusses the shift from women being an important part of the working relationship with their husbands to not being involved at all. As the middle class expanded the women's role began to be reduced and the responibility for making decisions and being the breadwinner fell completely on the man.

'The Nursery of Virtue': Domestic Ideology and the Middle Class. by Davidoff and Hall

This article also explains how the ideals of Middle-class domesticity were both perpetuated and reflected in 19th century British literature, focusing on the changing language (from religious to secular) of the “woman’s place and woman’s mission” debate that occurred during the first half of the 19th century. Davidoff and Hall begin their article by recounting the “Queen Caroline affair” which established the ideals of British motherhood which continued through the Victorian Era. From the affair, moralists concluded that the monarchy must exemplify the gender traits idealized at the time—that of the courageous man coming to the rescue of the “helpless female.” This respectful treatment of its women was widely believed to be “the mark of England’s advanced stage of civilization,” with “domestic virtue” the “brightest ornament of that civilization.”
The spread of overall literacy likewise spread these domestic ideals through the middle class. The main focus of the article is the variety of writers—famous, local, male, female, gentry, middle class—who focus on domesticity and its separate ideals of masculinity and femininity. The famous authors most read and loved by the middle class—described as an “unorthodox combination”(Cowper, Hemans, Barbauld, Nathanial Cotton, Scott, Barton, the Taylor sisters, and Byron)—explain the contradictory elements in the middle-class value system. Over the course of the 19th century, authors wrote about ideal gender roles first with religious and then simply moral influence.

Reconstructing the social after the Terror by Suzanne Desan

This article discusses the reforms that occurred during the Reign of Terror in France during the French Revolution. These reforms affected families drastically. Divorce was embraced. Inheritance was no longer given to a specific person, but was being fought over by the siblings or relatives. The status of illegitimate children. A main concern for Frenchmen of this time was the ownership of property, which also caused problems within families.

The French were fighting among themselves at the expense of family relationships. Desan states that, "Reformulation of the Republic was fundamentally intertwined with a new emerging vision of the relationship between the family, law, and state." The petitioners or opposing side of all these reforms argued that social order was based on families being unified. The family was being separated during this time of political upheaval and the petitioners took it upon themselves to reunite the family and in so doing they would bring back social order of the state.

Ultimately, these reforms were kept to a minimal. The law was given less power over the family.

Independent but Not Alone: Family Ties for the Elderly. By:Susannah R. Ottoway

Ottoway examines the role of the family in caring for their elderly. She discusses that there were great affections between parents and children even through their older years. She finds through many different journals and diaries that most of the extensive, primary care that was done by the family was mainly during times of sickness or injury. Beyond the occasional extensive care for aged parents there was also an expectation of affection and assistance as well as for the elderly parents to continue caring about their adult children’s well being. Wills were a very prominent source to show of the care that elderly parents’ had for their children children even after death.

Another aspect Ottoway explored was co-habitation of aged parents with their adult children. Many of her statistics come from parish records from which she is able to find that most elderly parents did reside with their family, yet there was still a decent percentage that did not. Many of these were often the poor who needed the assistance the most, but did not have children that could support them in ways they needed, especially financially.

Further more, there was a great importance of grandchildren and even other extended family in the support and care of elderly family members. This care for elderly in some cases extended beyond family ties in certain cases. But overall the argument that Ottoway expresses is that family ranging from adult children, grandchildren, and other extended kin did play a very key role in the assistance of their aged family members. However, the extent depended on large regional variations as to the extent of assistance. This argument fits under the themes of age and family relationships because it discusses in depth the role of family relations of the elderly.

This argument is valid and supported through many forms of primary sources. Ottoway also involves other secondary sources that contradict her arguments in which she is able to successfully refute their claims. The point that is made of large variation is also an important side note to her claims, but also makes her claims more difficult to concretely display, which is common of most studies of family across large regional areas.

'Without the cry of any neighbours': A Cumbrian family and the poor law authorities, c. 1690-1730 by Steve Hindle

This article dealt primarily with social welfare in the late 1600s and early 1700s, and how far scholars have come since Lawrence Stone's original ideas on the subject in 1977. Poor people often had to petition for financial relief and support from the parish. Even though it was easier for the elderly and the widows, obtaining this support was difficult and resulted in minimal finances.

Hindle uses the example of one Ann Bowman to demonstrate just how the system worked. Bowman lived in the small English farming town of Kirkoswald, and spent about twenty years as a widow with five living children. In fact, Ann's husband Robert was still alive when she was first put on the parish weekly pension roles in 1690. The parish took Ann off the roles several times over the years, claiming that she had a daughter who could support her and thus spare the doners' money. Ann always appealed, claiming that she could not work, that her daughter who lived with her did not make enough to support her, and that she lived too far from anybody else to live off of begging for neighborly charity. It is worth noting that neighbors were often more responsible for providing charity to poor households than extended family. Widows were expected to either work or beg into old age. Ann fought this and claimed that she couldn't because of her oldest son's mental illness and "increasing disability" (page 155).

Tensions were obviously strong between the parish and "moochers" like Ann who were believed to still be able to find ways of providing for themselves. Some people, such as Ann, stood up for themselves and persisted in fighting for 'fair' weekly pensions.

Ages of Woman, Ages of Man by Chojnacka and Wiesner-Hanks

5 quite interesting readings from the book Ages of Woman and Ages of Man

Regulations of a City Brothel (Law State and Church)

In the 1500's prostitution began to have regulatoins set on it. In this essay it appears that although prostitution was looked down on, it was accepted. The article outlines the new regulations placed on brothel owners: whores should be treated fairly, not sold brought by brothel managers; whores should not be indebted to the brothel, but should be able to repay the debts of food and broad through their labor. This gives an idea that people "may have had difficulty regarding sexual realtions outside of marriage as a sin".

Love Poem Demography (courtship)
Marriage in early modern Europe was still heavily reliant on "love" from both constituents. The poem talks of a "villa, a female spirit that inhabits streams and forests, ensaring the affection of naive men". This poem gives a few into the ideas of courtship and romance before marriage.

Letter from Nobleman his wife in Denmark ( Family relationships and family Economics)
This letter explains that the husband is away from his castle gathering men to fight for the king, in his absence the wife is in charge of " doing what [she ] thinks best with the business." Also the tone of the letter is not one of superiority, but more of equality. The husband and the wife are equal partners in the marriage relationship. This letter was written in 1502 and gives an inside look into the husband wife relationship in aristocratic families.

Battle for the Pants Germany late fifteenth century (family relationships)
A painting in the fifteenth century depicting a man on his knees reaching for pants on the ground while his wife is standing over him holding back his hand with her left hand and carrying distaff in the other hand raised in the air. This depicts the struggel taking place for control in the household and as this painting shows, the men no longer ruled house.

Petition to the king and queen, Denmark c. 1487 (Demography, Family relationships)
Petition made by a widow to the king and queen asking for money. She wanted to travel to Germany to find a journey man who can make saddles and other things to carry on the business of her dead husband. This shows the nuclear family setting, that when a spouse dies there are no others to support the remaining spouse. This also shows that women have a social status enough to write petition to the king and queen for help.