Why Does a Woman’s Deliberative Faculty Have No Authority?

Author(s): Irina Deretić / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2015

In this paper I will discuss Aristotle’s controversial philosophical views on women. I will critically examine three main interpretations of his claim that women have deliberative faculty “without authority”. According to the first line of interpretation, Aristotle has in mind that women’s incapacity of advice-giving and decision-making in public affairs are determined by conventions in the political context of his time. I will attempt to point out the disadvantages of this kind of interpretation. Furthermore, I will put forward the reasons why is implausible the more recent interpretation, given by Marguerite Deslauriers. According to her reading, the lack of authority of deliberative faculty in women means nothing else than the tasks over which women have authority are for the purpose of the tasks put forth by men. The prevailing interpretation among scholars is that, in Aristotle’s view, women are naturally inferior to men, due to the fact that they are all too frequently overruled by the irrational “forces” of their nature. I will argue that this line of interpretation elucidates what Aristotle presumably has in mind, although it makes his account of women and their rationality, if not inconclusive, then indisputably problematic. In other words, I attempt to prove that, if the prevailing line of interpretation is correct, such view of women produces some philosophically “insurmountable” problems for Aristotle. The aim of the last section of the paper is to point out how some of these problems could eventually be resolved.

Bumbling Idiots or Evil Masterminds? Challenging Cold War Stereotypes about Women, Sexuality and State Socialism

Author(s): Kristen Ghodsee,Kateřina Lišková / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2016

In academic writing, facts about the past generally require the citation of relevant sources unless the fact or idea is considered “common knowledge:” bits of information or dates upon which there is a wide scholarly consensus. This brief article reflects on the use of “common knowledge” claims in contemporary scholarship about women, families, and sexuality as experienced during 20th century, East European, state socialist regimes. We focus on several key stereotypes about the communist state and the situation of women that are often asserted in the scholarly literature, and argue that many of these ideas uncannily resemble American anti-communist propaganda. When contemporary scholars make claims about communist intrusions into the private sphere to effect social engineering or the inefficacy of state socialist mass organizations or communist efforts to break up the family or indoctrinate the young, they often do so without citation to previous sources or empirical evidence supporting their claims, thereby suggesting that such claims are “common knowledge.” We believe that those wishing to assert such claims should link these assertions to concrete originating sources, lest it turn out the “common knowledge” derives, in fact, from western Cold War rhetoric.

„Coraz to nowe żądania, coraz to nowe grymasy” – relacja władzy i podporządkowania między Polakami a Żydami w kryjówkach po aryjskiej stronie

Author(s): Justyna Kowalska-Leder / Language(s): Polish Issue: 12/2016

This texts talks about three single, uneducated Polish women living alone (a dressmaker, servant, and kitchen worker), who during the war sheltered Jews in their apartments in Warsaw and Drohobych. All three of them helped the Jews for money, but – as far as we know – none of them resorted to financial blackmail or any other major abuse of a financial character. Nevertheless, the war circumstances became an opportunity for them to fulfill their emotional needs, otherwise impossible to satisfy. They derived pleasure from having power and control over another person and their actions towards the Jews they sheltered also bore traces of a class revenge. The authors analyze the relations between the helpers and helps mostly on the basis of Jerzy Feliks Urman’s diary and memoirs of Karol Rotgeber and Calek Perechodnik. Aside from the sociological theory of exchange systems, another useful tool facilitating comprehension of the Polish women’s behavior and their interactions with the Jews in hiding, which are described in those texts, is Erich Fromm’s concept of human cruelty as a highly complex phenomenon that cannot be reduced to openly violent actions.

The Angel in the House, the Household General, the Ethereal Queen – Cultural and Patriarchal Representations of Women in 19th-Century Britain

Author(s): Ana-Blanca Ciocoi-Pop / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

Beliefs about female gender roles were firmly fixed in Victorian society. Women were considered inferior to men and looked upon as little more than ―property.‖ Furthermore, women hardly had any legal rights. Any money or property a woman had owned before marriage automatically became the possession of her husband, as were the children resulting from the marriage. Middle-class young girls had relatively little access to education and the most they could aspire to was a position as a governess. Life in lower-class families was tragically hard for women who were expected to bear children, rear them and go to work. Overall, the role of the Victorian woman can be accurately summed up by the phrase: ―married life is a woman‘s profession.‖ The present article attempts to trace the status of women in Victorian Britain as just one of the many examples of the biting inequality between the Kingdom‘s political and financial power and its (often) inhumane social conditions.

Büyük Oyun, Küçük Oyun

Author(s): Sedat Veyis Örnek / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 82/2015

Bu oyun, adına savaş dediğimiz büyük oyundan sadece küçük bir kesiti vermektedir. Başkaları da var ama, bütünüyle Kadın ile Asker arasında geçmektedir. Her ikisi de farkına bile varmadan savaşın içine itilmişlerdir; her ikisi de savaşa karşıdır; dahası, birbirlerine de... Kadın, artık tek dayanağı olan çocuğunu yaşatmanın çabasında; Askerse, küçük, geçici hesaplarının ve çocukluğundan getirdiği suçluluk duygusunun sorumsuz davranışı içindedir. Birinin şaşkınlığı ve çaresizliği, ötekinin tutarsız ve dalgalı ruhsal yapısı temeldeki çatışmayı doğurur. Böylece, adına savaş dediğimiz “Büyük Oyun” içinde kendi “Küçük Oyun”ları başlar, oluşur ve sonlanır.

Дора Марсден и The Freewoman: уређивачка политика и идејни плурализам

Author(s): Ana Kolarić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 6/2016

Dora Marsden and Mary Gawthorpe, two famous suffragettes, left the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1911. In the same year they established their journal The Freewoman – A Weekly Feminist Review. Central to this journal was the possibility of a dialogue and debate. In less than a year, this journal stirred up an intense debate on the numerous feminist-related questions and problems: who is the Freewoman, what are the accepted models of morality and sexuality and how one can challenge those, why women’s financial independence matters etc. The journal lasted only one year. This essay discusses the complex relationship between Dora Marsden’s personal life and her intellectual work, and aims to describe and analyse Marsden’s politics of editing.

Diary pages from the Great War. August 1916 in the memoirs of Romanian women

Author(s): Claudiu-Lucian Topor / Language(s): English Issue: 01+02/2016

The feminine diary in particular rose to new heights of popularity in the first years of the Great War. The historical circumstances were conducive to reflection and therefore encouraged confessional writing. The men’s war happens at the same time as the women’s but admittedly it is a different kind of war, and the memoirs testify to this abundantly. Women’s diaries reveal a more profound sensitivity. More rich in details (apparently irrelevant to men), they reveal emotion, sensitivity and sometimes prejudice against one thing or another, enough to ensure some variation in the overall picture of the war. And this war seems closer to what the people felt at that time.

Ana Maria Matute’nin Olgunluk Dönemi Romani Issiz Cennet’te İmgeler Ve Düşündürdükleri

Author(s): Şebnem Atakan / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 74/2013

It was an arduous work for women writers namely Carmen Martin Gaite, Carmen Laforet, Josefina Aldecoa and Ana Maria Matute to witness the Spanish Civil War and to pursue writing as a career within the oppressive regime of the post-war era. Ana Maria Matute, who published her first novel in 1948, and who has kept on writing since then, has not only endeavored to fulfill the responsibilities as a wife and a mother but also made great sacrifices to be able to continue her career as a writer, a situation faced by many women writers. Looking back to her childhood years where she finds her inspiration, Matute questions the past in her novel Uninhabited Paradise, a novel which she wrote in her eighties. The idea that human personality and character are formed in childhood is a widely accepted and acknowledged perception regarding the human psyche. Indeed, it is during our early years that bitter-sweet life experiences, the first observations of the environment, and essential aspects that influence and shape our view of life and personality are inscribed deeply into our psyche. With her novel Uninhabited Paradise, Matute shares with us, the reader, that it is the cruel and bloody war that enabled her to experience the loss of innocence, in other words the “paradise”, a notion which is only experienced in childhood years.

Kadin Ve Kadinliğa Dair II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi Dergilerinden Yansimalar (1908-1918)

Author(s): Ümüt Akagündüz / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 73/2013

The quantity and quality of researches made regarding the history of women increase day by day thanks to publication of many scientific studies. The point that needs attention is the history of this richness in the world of publication. The effort to publish women-based journals and dealing with women-based issued in the journals of the time dates back to middle of the nineteenth century materialised with a rich experience thanks to the declaration of second Constitutional Monarchy under the rule of Ittihat ve Terakki (Union and Progress) Party. Making distribution and activity of the intellectual experience possible, journals are very important in revealing the history of women because they are indispensible resources for giving the meaning of past. The steps that were taken after the Constitutional Monarchy, which was declared in 1908, affected women as much as men. The steps taken, most of which were in the field of education, law and policy fields of activity included women into the social life and were determinant in their understanding their environments. It is clearly wrong to say that journals determined their perception level. As production and distribution of information speeded after the Industrial Revolution, many journals such as Kadınlar Dünyası, Mahasin, Demet, Hanım, Genç Kadın, İçtihat, Sebilürreşad, Felsefe Mecmuası, Türk Yurdu, Hanımlar Alemi, Kadınlık, Büyük Mecmua were published in Ottoman Empire. In these journals; women’s history and their relations with the ruling power, importance of political participation in the existence procedure, view of philosophy, moral and feminism regarding women were analysed in context of femininity. Thanks to the journals, the thoughts and desires of women materialised in the archive of Ottoman by handling both women and men. Together or against the male intellectuals of the time, such intellectual women as Sabiha Zekeriya, Şukufe Nihal, Halide Edib, Feriha Kamuran, Fatma Aliyye, Hatice Refik, Fezviye Abdülreşit, Emine Semiyye put the rights and demands of women with their particular thoughts.

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun Son Yıllarında Çokeşlilik ve Dinî Polemikler: Fatma Âliye ve Mahmud Es‘ad'ın Ta‘addüd-i Zevcât'a Zeyli

Author(s): Scott Rank / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2015

Although Ottomans accepted polygamy according to the tenets of Hanafi Islamic law, they argued over its social and legal aspects throughout the classical period. In the late 19th century these debates became explicitly connected to contemporary political events. Authors supported or opposed polygamy by referencing marriage and divorce rates in Europe, Protestant missionary activity in Africa, and their belief in the civilizational superiority of the Islamic world over the West. Polygamy was not only contested through modern politics. It was also discussed in light of the genre of Muslim religious polemics. In 1898 three modernist authors debated these issues in the journal Malûmât: Fatma Âliye, legal scholar Mahmud Es‘ad and Russian Muslim educator and reformer Ismail Gasprinskii. Their correspondence, entitled Ta‘addüd-i Zevcât’a Zeyl, deliberated polygamy with regarded to modernist political reform, European colonialism, capitulation agreements, and international trade. They also used arguments from anti-Christian religious polemics. By arguing these issues within the integrated field of religion, these authors used a Hamidian-era discourse describing an Islam compatible with Ottoman notions of modernity.

ULOGA ŽENA U ISTORIJI CRNE GORE (19. VIJEK)

Author(s): Abidin Temizer / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 61-62/2014

U najsiromašnijoj državi Balkana, Crnoj Gori, žene su imale važnu ulogu na svakom polju tadašnjeg života. Društvo koje se držalo tradicije imalo je čudan stav prema njima. Žene koje su živjele u Crnoj Gori bile su kao sluge svojim muževima, bavile se trgovinom, poljoprivredom, stočarstvom i svim ostalim poslovima koje bi trebalo da rade muškarci. One su od strane muškaraca bile stavljene u drugi plan. Ali, da nije bilo tih žena koje su vrijedno radile, ne bi crnogorska ekonomija opstala na nogama. Zato se može reći da nije bilo žena, Crnogorci danas ne bi imali potomaka.

Droga do władzy? Kobiety w PZPR 1948–1989

Author(s): Natalia Jarska,Piotr Perkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2016

The aim of the article is to answer the question of women’s access to power in communism in East Central Europe, using the example of Poland. The authors examine Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (Polish United Workers’ Party, PUWP) during the period of 1948–1989 in terms of the quantity and significance of female members. Analysing available sources, they ask about the actual extent of power exercised by women, the nature of such power, and finally the models of women’s “careers” as provided for in PUWP. They observe failure in the equal rights policies, characterised by obstruction of women’s careers,, with no real career opportunities after Stalinism (as the generation of pre-war communist activists had retired), and by a lack of effective promotion instruments for women.

Pasqyrimi i pozitës së femrës në gazetën “Shpresa kombëtare” dhe në revistën “Mbleta”

Author(s): Esilda Luku / Language(s): Albanian Issue: 46/2016

In the early 1920s, women’s organizations “Shpresa kombëtare” of Valona and “Përlindja” of Koritza published two of the three female works of the printed media. Biweekly newspaper “Shpresa kombëtare”, edited by Marigo Posio, published six numbers during the period February 6 - May 25, 1921, while the monthly magazine “Mbleta”, under the direction of Evdhoksi Th. Gërmenji, came out in 8 numbers. Both these periodicals aimed at introducing the real economic, social and cultural situation of Albanian girls and women, as well as the potential alternatives to escape from darkness and isolation. They published not only the articles of the most popular activists of Albanian and foreign feminist movement, but also of the contemporary intellectuals who contributed through their analysis and publicistic writings to raising awareness on the necessity of increasing the level of education, economic independence and social participation. There were also informative articles on emancipation activities of feminist organizations, likewise charitable donations and patriot acts on behalf of the national question. Although the subject contents were not focused on the feminist causes and paper ephemera due to financial problems, the periodicals “Shpresa kombëtare” and “Mbleta” are of great importance to raise awareness of women on their rights and duties, as well as the need of moral, material and intellectual development to ensure equal treatment and a respected place in family and society.

„Megtettük-e azt, amit az eszményeink szerint meg kellett volna, hogy tegyünk?”

Author(s): Judit Acsády / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2016

Following the transition the question was raised by a number of researchers whether the soviet type emancipation policies of the state socialist countries had indeed resulted in women’s liberation and equality with men? (Corrin 1994, Einhorn 1993, Funk-Mueller 1993, Adamik 2000, Bollobás 2006, Fodor 2003, Schadt 2003, Takács 2015) This study raises the question whether the issue of women’s emancipation was part of the themes articulated by the democratic opposition under the Kádár regime or not. How did feminist voices emerge within the dissident circles, and how did samizdat publications deal with the question or silence it? Were activists in opposition different in this sense in Hungary from the activists of other ex-state socialist countries? Following a brief overview of the characteristic features of the democratic opposition in Hungary and the overview of the literature analysing women’s situation and gender relations both before and after the transition, some ex-activists’ memoires (manifested in recorded interviews) will be examined. How did they reconstruct gender relations and attitudes within opposition circles? Were these promoting or silencing initiatives concerning women’s issues?

Kobiety a działalność Czerwonego Krzyża na ziemiach polskich zaboru rosyjskiego w latach 1914–1916 na podstawie wspomnień lekarza Czerwonego Krzyża oraz Laury de Turczynowicz

Author(s): Agnieszka Drozdowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

The following article contains descriptions of the experiences of women during the First World War, based on the memoirs of a Red Cross doctor and Laura de Turczynowicz. The article depicts the circumstancesin which women learned about and reacted to the outbreak of the war. It outlines the difficulties brought about by the war and presents some examples of the disorganization of the Red Cross in the Polish territories under Russian rule. The author of the article discusses the duties of women in health organizations as well as the advantages of being amember of the Red Cross which determined women’s social position.

Дарнашките села в Сярско

Author(s): Georgi Mitrinov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2012

Inquiries on Homosexuals in Serbia During the Second World War

Author(s): Dejan Zec / Language(s): English Issue: 35/2016

Th is paper focuses in the issues regarding homosexuality in Serbia in the period of Second World War and the German occupation, how it was perceived by German occupying forces and their Serbian collaborators and what actions were taken against homosexuals in this period. Th e goal was to establish to a fair certainty what was the ideological framework of the oppressors, what was general policy towards homosexuals and whether this policy diff ered from policies in other parts of occupied Europe, but, considering the scarcity of saved sources, this was accomplished only conditionally. Also, the paper gives an account on previous research done on homosexuality and homosexuals in Yugoslavia and Serbia during the war, the legal status of homosexuals before and during the war and gives the account on available resources for further research. Th e paper is based on relevant literature and archival material.

Le manage aristocratique dans la politique intérieure bulgare à l’époque du Moyen Age

Author(s): Sashka Georgieva / Language(s): French Issue: 1/1994

FRANCUSKE FEMINISTKINJE I ANGLOIRSKI MODERNISTI : SIKSU, KRISTEVA, BEKET I DŽOJS

Author(s): Jennifer Berket / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 431/2005

Pišući tokom studijske posete Francuskoj koja se podudara s međunarodnim praznikom žena, ponovo sam pod utiskom korenite različitosti između engleskih i francuskih feministkinja u pristupu kulturnoj tradiciji. Ovaj esej za predmet ima jedno područje u kojem je ta razlika sasvim nedavno istaknuta. Već neko vreme imala sam nameru da pažljivije ispitam važnost koju su delu Samjuela Beketa i Džejmsa Džojsa pripisale dve vodeće francuske feministkinje: filozof i psihoanalitičarka Julija Kristeva, i spisateljica i filozof Elen Siksu.

Дейността на Димитър Ризов като български търговски агент в Скопие (1897-1899 г.)

Author(s): Snežana Radoeva A. / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2012

The present article discusses some specific aspects of the diplomatic activity of Dimitar Rizov as Bulgarian sales agent in Skopje during the period 1897-1899.