The Struggle for the Breeches: Gender and the Making of the British Working Class (Studies on the History of Society and Culture)

Linking The Personal And The Political, Anna Clark Depicts The Making Of The Working Class In Britain As A Struggle For The Breeches. The Late Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Centuries Witnessed Significant Changes In Notions Of Masculinity And Femininity, The Sexual Division Of Labor, And Sexual Mores, Changes That Were Intimately Intertwined With Class Politics. By Integrating Gender Into The Analysis Of Class Formation, Clark Transforms The Traditional Narrative Of Working-class History. Going Beyond The Sterile Debate About Whether Economics Or Language Determines Class Consciousness, Clark Integrates Working People's Experience With An Analysis Of Radical Rhetoric. Focusing On Lancashire, Glasgow, And London, She Contrasts The Experience Of Artisans And Textile Workers, Demonstrating How Each Created Distinctively Gendered Communities And Political Strategies. Workers Faced A Sexual Crisis, Clark Claims, As Men And Women Competed For Jobs And Struggled Over Love And Power In The Family. While Some Radicals Espoused Respectability, Others Might Be Homophobes, Wife-beaters, And Tyrants At Home A Radical's Love Of Liberty Could Be Coupled With Lust For The Life Of A Libertine. Clark Shows That In Trying To Create A Working Class These Radicals Closed Off The Movement To Women, Instead Adopting A Conservative Rhetoric Of Domesticity And Narrowing Their Notion Of The Working Class. 1. Introduction -- Pt. 1. Women And Men In Plebeian Culture. 2. Setting The Stage: Work And Family, 1780-1825. 3. Men And Women Together And Apart: Plebeian Culture And Communities. 4. Plebeian Sexual Morality, 1780-1820. 5. The Struggle For The Breeches: Conflict In Plebeian Marriage -- Pt. 2. The Search For Solutions. 6. Sin And Salvation: Men, Women, And Faith. 7. The Struggle Over The Gender Division Of Labor, 1780-1826. 8. Manhood And Citizenship: Radical Politics, 1767-1816. 9. A Wider Vision Of Community, 1815-1820 -- Pt. 3. Domesticity And The Making Of The Working Class, 1820-1850. 10. Sexual Radicalism And The Pressure Of Politics. 11. Equality Or Domesticity: The Dilemma For Labor. 12. Chartism: Domesticity And Politics. 13. Chartism And The Problem Of Women Workers. 14. A Difficult Ideal: Domesticity In Popular Culture And Practice -- 15. Conclusion -- Appendix On 1841 Glasgow Census Sample. Anna Clark. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 377-401) And Index. Frontmatter List of Illustrations and Tables (page xi) Acknowledgments (page xiii) 1 Introduction (page 1) PART ONE WOMEN AND MEN IN PLEBEIAN CULTURE (page 11) 2 Setting the State: Work and Family, 1780-1825 (page 13) 3 Men and Women Together and Apart: Plebeian Culture and Communities (page 25) 4 Plebeian Sexual Morality, 1780-1820 (page 42) 5 The Struggle for the Breeches: Conflict in Plebeian Marriage (page 63) PART TWO THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS (page 89) 6 Sin and Salvation: Men, Women, and Faith (page 92) 7 The Struggle over the Gender Division of Labor, 1780-1826 (page 119) 8 Manhood and Citizenship: Radical Politics, 1767-1816 (page 141) 9 A Wider Vision of Community, 1815-1820 (page 158) PART THREE DOMESTICITY AND THE MAKING OF THE WORKING CLASS, 1820-1850 (page 175) 10 Sexual Radicalism and the Pressure of Politics (page 179) 11 Equality or Domesticity: the Dilemma for Labor (page 197) 12 Chartism: Domesticity and Politics (page 220) 13 Chartism and the Problem of Women Workers (page 233) 14 A Difficult Ideal: Domesticity in Popular Culture and Practice (page 248) 15 Conclusion (page 264) Appendix on 1841 Glasgow Census Sample (page 273) Notes (page 275) Bibliography (page 377) Index (page 403)