This innovative and compelling collection tells the powerful story of gender history in Ireland and how the State treated its citizens on the basis on gender. It includes insightful questions that challenge the concept of masculinity, femininity and 'otherness' within Irish society, and a fascinating study of activists from various campaigns that surround the progression of Pro-Choice and Pro-Life since 1983.--

This innovative collection offers a new understanding of sexual and gender politics in Ireland throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Leading experts in the field contribute to a captivating and controversial debate on sexuality in Irish society, and specifically include explorations of lesbian histories, the treatment of intersex persons in Ireland, the patriarchal system, prostitution, sex education, and the ongoing and divisive issue of abortion. Ireland's relationship between the Church and State is investigated and questioned, along with the 'double standards' attitude towards women and their position within the law. New arguments made throughout the book offer a re-examination of our understanding of the Irish State and how it has treated, and continues to treat, its people on the basis of gender. The book contains insightful questions that challenge the concept of masculinity, femininity, and 'otherness' within Irish society. It also includes a fascinating study of activists from various campaigns that surround the progression of 'Pro-Choice' and 'Pro-Life' since 1983. [Subject: History, Irish Studies, Gender Studies, Sexuality, Sociology, Politics]

This collection of essays focuses on issues of gender and sexuality in Irish history, biography, language, literature and drama. While the contributors employ a variety of methodological and critical perspectives, they share the conviction that the gendering of Ireland - not only of the nation, but of actual Irish men and women - is a construction of culture and ideology and not simply one of nature.

As Ireland made the transition from a rural to a post-industrial society from the 1970s onwards, Irish women developed a significant political voice. Long excluded from participation in the civic arena, they organised to make new, challenging and specific demands on government. The relationship between feminist representatives and political decision makers is at the core of this book. It shows how Irish women developed the political skills required to represent women's interests to government effectively, and finds that the political activity of the women's movement in the Republic of Ireland contributed to the dismantling of a range of discriminatory policies against women. Galligan discusses the compromises made by both sides as the political system slowly moved to accomodate the feminist agenda. In doing so, she explores the dynamics of Irish politics from a different, yet complementary, perspective from the institutional approach which characterizes other studies of the Irish political system. This book clearly marks the significant points in the creation of a more woman-friendly society in Ireland from the 1970s to the present day. It is the story of women's rights in contemporary Ireland.

Ferriter covers such subjects as abortion, pregnancy, celibacy, contraception, censorship, infanticide, homosexuality, prostitution, marriage, popular culture, social life and the various hidden Irelands associated with sexual abuse - all in the context of a conservative official morality backed by the Catholic Church and by legislation. The book energetically and originally engages with subjects omitted from the mainstream historical narrative. The breadth of this book and the richness of the source material uncovered make it definitive in its field and a most remarkable work of social history.

This book charts the history of Iran's sexual revolution from the nineteenth century to today. The resilience of the Iranian people forms the basis of this sexual revolution, one that is promoting reforms in marriage and family laws, and demanding more egalitarian gender and sexual relations.

This collection of articles poses the question: What can gender history add to the traditional narrative of Irish history? How can it help us to understand the ways in which power operated in and flowed through Irish society? It is premised on the assumption that men and women are actors in the creation of their society, influenced by the ideology of the period, but also challenging and resisting the assumptions and beliefs of their era. The articles included in this collection are far-ranging and thematically diverse, united by the common theme of gender. While women play a dominant role in its pages, it makes visible the power and presence of men. Sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit, the history written on these pages is a history of the ways in which women and men constructed, negotiated and made visible the roles, ideas and representations that governed their particular society. In so doing, it provides an alternative reading to the traditional narrative of Irish history. This book focuses mainly on the modern period and includes two articles from outside of Ireland which provides a comparative focus. It also includes a theoretical introductory section on the nature of gender history from three leading Irish historians.

This book explores the relationship between women, the state and democratic politics in Ireland today. It highlights the conservatism of the political culture shared by all traditions on the island, and how this culture circumscribes women’s political agency in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The book explores the opportunities and obstacles to women’s participation and representation on each side of the border. The chapters take the view that public decision-making institutions and processes are subject to rules and practices that reinforce the gendered foundations of democratic politics. They document women’s continuing quest for full participation and equal representation in these male-gendered arenas. The contributors focus on the marginalised experiences of women in modern politics in Ireland and detail their efforts to challenge the masculinized status quo. The book addresses the classical issues of citizenship, participation, representation and equal rights in a sustained analysis of the political systems on the island. It also deals with modern issues – multiculturalism, peace-building, the male-gendered legislature and the unequal nature of women’s citizenship in constitutional, institutional and policy contexts. The book is completed by a comprehensive appendix of all women elected to political office on the island from 1918-2013. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

A sensation upon its publication in 1970, Sexual Politics documents the subjugation of women in great literature and art. Kate Millett's analysis targets four revered authors—D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Norman Mailer, and Jean Genet—and builds a damning profile of literature's patriarchal myths and their extension into psychology, philosophy, and politics. Her eloquence and popular examples taught a generation to recognize inequities masquerading as nature and proved the value of feminist critique in all facets of life. This new edition features the scholar Catharine A. MacKinnon and the New Yorker correspondent Rebecca Mead on the importance of Millett's work to challenging the complacency that sidelines feminism.