Czy tylko „dzieci, kuchnia, kościół”? Kobiety w polskim protestantyzmie w XIX i w początkach XX wieku
“Children, Kitchen, Church” Only? Women in the Polish Protestantism in the XIX and in the Beginnings of XX Centuries

Summary/Abstract: The XIX century Polish evangelical opinion-forming circles emerged in the Kingdom of Poland. Their views were reflected in press, mainly in “Zwiastun Evangeliczny – Evangelical Herald”. The leading representative of these circles was Leopold Otto, pastor in Warsaw and Cieszyn, editor of “Zwiastun”. Issues affecting women used to be quite frequent topics of sermons and articles. For evangelical circles woman had to be, above all, a wife, mother and good Christian that does not go beyond the frames of the “the 3 K’s” designation. Apart from the family and religious spheres no other role was allocated to women. However, she had to be mother and an active housewife running the household in a modern way as for those times. Any postulates of equality or professionalization of women were decidedly rejected. Any attempts aimed to change women's position and hierarchy of duties were treated as attempts to violate the moral order and, consequently, the social order as well. Woman had to be exclusively a good Christian, mother and wife. Those were her fundamental tasks necessary for the functioning of society. This pattern was, as a rule, observed in Protestant families in the Kingdom of Poland at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. Similar pattern was followed in Catholic communities.

• Details
• Contents