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Totalitarian Life Under Fascism - Fry Collection Exhibit.
Excellent site with a difference. Set out like museum exhibits,
the University of Wisconsin-Madison's archive of printed items
relates to the fascist movement in Italy from 1922-1945. It
includes information and digital reproductions of original
documents exploring the nature of Italian fascism covering
political, educational, social, and racial policies. As a
starter go to the section:
Women and Fascism
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The Legacy of Liberal Patriarchy Extract
from the book "How Mussolini Ruled Italian Women" by
Victoria de Grazia.This extract looks at background: the
attitude towards womens rights in Italy before 1914.
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 Beyond
the Black Shirt Interesting review
article of the book on Fascist fashion by Eugenia Paulicellil
Looks at the attempts by the Fascist party to control fashion
and the fashion industry to create the the New Italian Woman who
would be "the model of femininity as represented by the
body-emphasizing cuts of knitted sportswear, and she would
accept her place in the patriarchal family, bound up in the
hand-tatted lace and embroidered aprons of traditional matronly
attire".
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Female beauty in the Fascist era Useful extract
from the book Bellissima: Feminine beauty and the Idea of
Italy by Stephen Gundle which draws attention to the fascist
intention to elaborate an alternative model of women. For the
new Fascist woman physical health and exercise were the best
basis for beauty.....
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Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali
A very detailed and useful review of the Perry Willson
book by Jane Slaughter, Professor of History, University of New
Mexico. A worthwhile read. The Massaie Rurali was the Fascist
Party's section for peasant women, which, with three million
members by 1943, became one of the largest of the regime's mass
mobilizing organizations. For the Google version of this book:
Family & Motherhood
Resistance to Fascist
Policies
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A Sense of a Self: Myths of Italian Resistance A
useful review of the Jane Slaughter book, Women and the Italian
Resistance, 1943-45. By Andrea Peto, Central European
University.
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Women Partisans 1958 marxist article by Pietro Secchia
provides an overview of some of the female resistance to fascism
in Italy
2. Stalin's Russia
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 Stalin
1927-39 Click to explore extensive links to other
aspects of Stalin's USSR or to return to your casahistoria
Stalin page. |
The role of women
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 Women
at the Gates: Gender and Industry in Stalin's Russia useful
review by Choi Chatterjee, California State University, of the
book by Wendy Z. Goldman
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Women and Youth Under Stalin This page has been created by
Katrina Van Gorp. Includes sections on: The roots of a
feminist movement; The reality of sexual equality under Stalin;
The effects of the 5 year plans; The burdens of a working women
§
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Women and Marxism Under Stalin, many laws from the 1920s
related to women's emancipation were undone in favour of
strengthening the family. Divorce and child support if
unmarried, became more difficult to obtain, abortion was made
illegal, and women lost rights in the family. This is a
selection of documents by Stalin about the role of women.
§
- Women and
Marxism List of extracts from marxist women (eg Rosa
Luxemburg). Very comprehensive
Women & the Economy
Women and art
- Nazi & Soviet
Art Includes the perception of women in Nazi and
Soviet political art movements
Women and the Purges
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 Gendercide
Watch: Stalin's Purges Under the dictatorship of Joseph
Stalin, tens of millions of ordinary individuals were executed
or imprisoned in labour camps that were little more than death
camps. Gender played an important role, and this site attempts
to show how the Purge period of Soviet history can be considered
the worst gendercide of the twentieth century.
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Gulag women An excellent site - especially as it details a
number of victims specifically and is well illustrated.
Especially good on camps.
Women and the Great
Patriotic War
3. Nazi Germany
The role of women
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Women in the Third Reich Concise overview from Holocaust
Memorial Museum
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 German Wife And Mother: The Role Of Women In The Third Reich
extract from
The Face Of The Third Reich by Joachim C Fest
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Women and children under Hitler Outline but worthwhile site
for an overview by Stephanie McKenna. §
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We Women in the Struggle for Germany's Renewal 1934 Article
by Erna Günther from the "Frauen Warte", the Nazi Party's
biweekly illustrated magazine for women. This 1934 article
explains what the role of women in the Nazi state was to be.
Rather than being active in politics and public life, they were
to form their homes and raise their children in ways consistent
with the Nazi worldview. Calvin Propaganda Archive
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Impact of Nazism on family life Well produced student page
on the transformation of German social life under Nazism. The
information is based on a summary of an excellent and detailed
account of social life in Germany between 1933 and 1945 by
Grunberger, R 1987, Social Life in the Third Reich.
Nazi Chic? BBC audio report (about 10mins). How fashion was
used as a tool of Nazi policy....
Nazi women: case studies
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Women of the Third Reich A series of biographies of women
linked to the History of the Third Reich
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Nazi Women Useful descriptions of a variety of women during
the Nazi period in Student projects of UC Santa Barbara
Women & art
- Nazi & Soviet
Art Includes the perception of women in Nazi and
Soviet political art movements
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Reich Art and
"Degenerate" Art Two well supported sites on art during the
Nazi period. Include examples of how women were to be
represented. Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional
Technology
Women & the
concentration camps
Eugenics &
sterilisation programmes
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Lebensborn: Sleeping with the Enemy Article about impact of
Lebensborn policy in occupied Europe. §
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Victims of Hitler's plan for a master race Article from The
Guardian on a 2006 meeting of lebensborn "children". Good
backstory information
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 Children of Shame – Norway’s Dark Secret From Deutsche
Welle. Places Lebensborn in context and relates to the story of
Frida Lyngstad, (She was the illegitimate child of a Nazi
officer and was in fact Norwegian) singer with Swedish pop
superstars Abba. In addition, a
BBC news report on Norway & Lebensborn, with witness
accounts can be seen and listened to
here.
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Revealed: Nazi scheme to kidnap 'Aryan' children from occupied
countries. By Allan Hall. Useful review article of German
historian Volker Koop's new book "Give a Child to the Fuehrer -
the Lebensborn Organisation". Lebensborn programme is clearly
outlined.
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Sterilization During the Third Reich Six months after Hitler
became Chancellor of Germany, the first German compulsory
sterilization law was created. Why did the Nazis do this and who
did they sterilize?
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Projekt Memorial Government funded memorial site in English
outlining the Euthanasia programme (also in German, Czech &
Polish versions.) Well presented and informative. Links to
euthansia/eugenics memorial sites. These well produced (with
government money) sites all contain detailed histories (Many are
also in English as well as German & Czech/Polish - just find the
link on each home page. If not click on Geschichte - history -
and google translate)
Women at war
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The Role of Women in Nazi Germany 1939-1945 How did Their
Status Change During the Second World War? Concise starter
article by Fiona Allison
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Frauen Warte This was the Nazi Party's biweekly illustrated
magazine for women. The issues here are a sample of those
published between 1935 and 1945, and provide interesting
examples of Nazi propaganda directed to women. By 1939, its
circulation was 1.9 million. See also these translations of
typical articles:
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Ready to Die, Ready to Live 1st June issue, 1940. It
encourages German women to have children, even in the midst of
war. It is also an example of the relentless Nazi drive for an
optimistic outlook on life.
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Comrade Nurse 1942 story presents nurses as partners
of the troops, but also emphasizes the Nazi anti-Bolshevist
propaganda line. All from Calvin Propaganda Archive
Aftermath
The continuum of sexual violence in occupied Germany, 1945-49
By Hsu-Ming Teo, University of Sydney, Australia. Difficult &
lengthy article from Women’s History Review, 1996, presenting a
historical explanation for the male sexual violence against
German women in Occupied Germany, 1945-49.
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A Woman in Berlin Excellent review of the 1945 (anonymous)
diary by Linda Grant who played a role in publicising the mass
rapes of Croatian and Bosnian women by Serb militias in the
1990's. The review gives many examples from the book of the
dehumanising process of the initial Red Army occupation as well
as placing the effect on Berlin's women in the context of modern
war. Finally it looks at the question of the evidence - how
trustworthy is it (the familiar question to students .......)
and comes up with an uneasy parallel.
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 Anonymous: A Woman in Berlin
This diary, written by a Berlin woman in her 30's during the fall of
Berlin illustrates clearly and forcefully the real meaning of defeat.
Interesting asides on the nature of the Russian conquerors: raised in a
society where they received but could not choose they had little concept
of "value", even of booty. Most of all it reveals the commonplace nature
& acceptance of rape or of attaching oneself to an Ivan lover - for
protection and survival. A very human diary of survival in year zero.
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4. China
before the Communist Revolution
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100
Celebrated Chinese Women
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Women and Confucianism Exploring Neo-Confucian Sayings. good
introduction to contemporary Chinese attitudes. Part of the
Classroom lesson series from
womeninworldhistory. Concise but with good witness support
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 One Thousand Years of Chinese Footbinding: Its Origins,
Popularity and Demise Detailed essay by Marie Vento from
Internet Women's History Sourcebook
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Footbinding Detailed, illustrated article from Women's
Studies, Towson University §
- Two articles on the "hidden" written language of Hunan
women:
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World of
Nüshu Research by Orie Endo of Bunkyo University on an
endangered system of writing invented by women for
communication among women. Basic layout, but a clear
explanation
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Much Ado about Nüshu
Laura Miller article
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Engendering the Chinese Revolution: Radical Women,
Communist Politics, and Mass Movements in the 1920s
Detailed, but relatively concise article by in Pacific
Affairs, Winter 1996/1997 by Paul Bailey. Looks at the
involvement of women in the years preparatory to revolution.
§
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Ling Lung View online, the pre communist Women's magazine
showing westernisation changes in a mostly-forgotten
Pre-Communist China. Published in the 1930s in Shanghai, China
at a time when women’s role in society, at least in that
sophisticated and foreign-influenced metropolis, was in rapid
transition. Well produced site.
5. Communist
China & Revolutionary Change
One child policy
- For whatever reasons, a number of these sites have been
removed (often from government education sites), perhaps
indicating a fear to upset a newly strong China.... Fortunately
the ones remaining here have been archived and are still
available.
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One Child Policy Australian School Resource material but
clearly set out with documentary support to all the key points
§
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Science, Modernity, and the Making of China's One-Child Policy
This 2003 article by Susan Greenhalgh is much more detailed: an
academic analysis of why the policy came about in 34 sides.
Consequences
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Long March of China's Women Continues by Nailene Chou Wiest
Reuters. Good article. Takes a personalised case-study approach
to look at the reality & impact of the changes.
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Case Study: Female Infanticide Focus: (1) India (2) China
Detailed article from Gendercide Watch
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Cover-up of China's gender-cide by Joseph Farah, in Western
Journalism Center/FreeRepublic, 1997 which refers to the
gendercide as "the biggest single holocaust in human history." §
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The Dying Rooms Trust Site for the Brian Woods BBC
documentary that showed if a Chinese infant girl is turned over
for adoption rather than being killed, she risks being placed in
one of the notorious "Dying Rooms". Although they are described
as orphans, very few of them actually are; the overwhelming
majority do have parents, but their parents have abandoned them,
simply because they were born the wrong sex." Woods estimated
that "up to a million baby girls every year" were victims of
this "mass desertion," deriving from "the complex collision of
[China's] notorious One Child Policy and its traditional
preference for sons. §
See the next section for the longer term
impact on Chinese women.
6. China after 50
years of communist change
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|
 Mao
Tse-Tung Click to return to your casahistoria page or to
explore extensive links to other aspects of China. |
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New women, old problems in China BBC. Looks at reality of
women in modern China.
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Growing Sex Imbalance Shocks China John Gittings in The
Guardian, May 2002. Describes a rise in the sex ratio of
newborn infants in China that suggests increasing numbers of
female foetuses are being aborted by parents intent on having a
male child.
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China's Widely Flouted One-Child Policy Undercuts Its Census
Elisabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times, April 14, 2000 looks at
the deception arising from the one-child policy
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Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion among Unmarried Women
in China: A Systematic Review Research article by Xu Qian et
al. BMC Health Services Research, Jan. 2004
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Red Light District 1999 study of prostitution in China by
Pan Suiming, People's University. Clearly presented
 Move
over Mao, today's Chinese revolution is sexual By David
J. Lynch, USA TODAY, 2003. Examines China's growing sex
industry.- Witness Accounts: Audio excerpts from a US PBS
12-part, half hour radio series on the heart and soul of China's
emerging women musical and performance artists. §
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A Daughter's View The daughter of China's first woman
conductor, Su Zheng, shares her difficulties living in the
shadow of her famous mother, and the responsibilities she shared
with her mother during the Cultural Revolution.
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COBRA - China Rocks! China's first all-female rock bands
talks about government censorship of rock lyrics, and the
hostility of male rock bands.
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Female Buddhist Monk In a remote section of northeast China,
a female Buddhist monk who has led her Manchu community for 50
years sings Buddhist chant, which historian Pi-yen Chen
analyzes.
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Tang Dynasty Today Members of the China Conservatory
recreate old musical traditions on ancient instruments. Are
modern audiences interested?
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Anti-Japanese Protest Songs 77 year-old composer Qu
Xi-xian, conductor Zheng Xiaoying, and a 13 year-old pianist in
Shenyang relay the experiences of writing and performing music
to protest the Japanese invasion of China. Professor Lu Xiaobo
discusses the role of non-violent protest.
7. Further Research
- Genesis is a mapping initiative, funded by the UK Research Support
Libraries Programme to identify and develop access to women's
history sources in the British Isles. The database holds
descriptions of women's history collections from libraries,
archives and museums from around the British Isles. Use it to
search the Genesis database by using a search box on the opening
page.
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 H-Women
Discussion Group Scholarly discussion to communicate
current research and teaching interests, to test new ideas and
to share comments on current historiography.
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WWW Virtual Library of Women's History This virtual library
contains a very comprehensive list of women's history in
institutions and organizations
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Uncovering Women's History in Archival Collections
Maintained by the Archives for Research on Women and Gender at
the University of Texas at San Antonio, this list is the most
comprehensive source of information about Internet sites related
to women's archival collections. Over 70 collections are
identified and listed geographically. A massive, serious, list
arranged geographically, this is the place for one-stop shopping
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Library
Collections Library collections of original sources
(letters, diaries, papers, etc.) on the topic of women's
history. From about.com
Documents
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Pictures, Photographs, Portraits and Posters Women's history
in images from about.com Includes several specialized
galleries including
17th century costume,
women and the Civil War,
pictures of the women's suffrage movement,
World War I,
World War II
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Documents of Women's History A growing library of documents
for studying women's history. Speeches, articles, biographies,
stories and more
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Etexts and Women's History: about.com Where to find etexts
on women's history on the Net.
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Other
Women's Voices Interesting site that takes you to passages
from over 125 women writers. The entries are on women who
produced a substantial amount of work before 1700, some or all
of which has been translated into modern English. Each entry
tells you about the print sources from which the translated
passages are taken; it also tells you of useful secondary
sources and Internet sites
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