K hříchu i k modlitbě - Žena devatenáctého století – Lenderová Milena (2016)

This monograph examines the position of women, especially from the urban middle class, in the Czech lands during the “long” nineteenth century, while also considering developments in Central and parts of Western Europe. It draws on source materials including personal diaries, correspondence, memoirs, women’s periodicals, contemporary medical, philosophical, educational and legal literature, feminist texts and visual materials. Its primary focus is the course of a woman’s life through childhood, adolescence, marriage and motherhood, as well as the obligatory model of femininity cultivated particularly among the middle classes. It discusses women’s place in the household, hygiene and clothing, girls’ education and the gradual opening of secondary and university education, and women’s entry into the labour market, all of which became significant only towards the end of the century. A separate chapter explores women’s relationship with art, including female writers, painters and theatre artists. It also follows the efforts of early feminists such as Karolina Světlá, Žofie Podlipská, Eliška Krásnohorská and Teréza Nováková to secure decent treatment, privacy, education, professional opportunities and economic independence, as well as the support offered by men including Vojtěch Náprstek and T. G. Masaryk. The book also describes the gradual rise in the number of educated and financially independent women, including teachers, office workers, governesses, doctors, painters, writers and journalists, and the legal changes that eventually brought women equality and the right to vote.