Is Gender History just a Fancy Name for Women’s History?

The short answer is no. There are plenty of historians of women’s history who do not go into a detailed inspection of gender and there are plenty of gender historians who do not focus on women’s historical experiences in particular. To be sure, there are important connections between the two fields. Gender history developed in part from the field of women’s history and there are many historians, including me, who combine both fields in their research and writing. As well, both women’s history and gender history have helped to address the inadequacies of previously accepted male-centric histories, which had structured historical topics around the supposed achievements of great white men. Still, there are important differences between women’s history and gender history. While historians of women’s history foreground women as historical actors, historians of gender history focus on how ideas about what it means to be a man and a woman have shaped major historical struggles and events. Since we recently celebrated women’s history month, now is a good time to dissect the relationship between women’s history and gender history. As I suggest in my conclusion, both fields can help historians shed light on an emerging debate about civic rights that is taking form in certain social activist circles.   

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Mark Your Calendars!

I have exciting news. The University of Nebraska Press has scheduled my forthcoming book on the Equal Rights Amendment to be published October 2021. Mark your calendars!

To help with my book’s release, I have a new website. Check it out for news about my book, writing, and upcoming events. https://www.rebeccadewolf.com

Don’t worry, I will keep updating this site with blog posts, when I have the chance to write them. My new website will also contain links to my recent blog posts. So, it will be easy to navigate between the two sites.

You can pre-order Gendered Citizenship now. See the links below.

Hardcopy Edition

Paperback Edition

I Accept You, Just the Way You Are…

A month before the madness of COVID-19 descended upon us, I watched Marielle Heller’s brilliant film, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers, the beloved children’s’ television host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The film unearths the long-forgotten virtues of patience, listening, kindness, and the embrace of one’s feelings. I found the film transformational. Yes, even then, when many of us, myself included, enjoyed a relative confidence in the world’s security. Now, it seems, COVID-19 has ripped our world apart in ways that we had once refused to entirely admit were possible. From then till now, I have spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on Fred Rogers’ life and his teachings. In view of the current turmoil confronting us all, I think it’s time to lean more fully into Mister Rogers’ message. 

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