Women's rights and women's lives in France, 1944-1968

Women's Rights and Women's Lives In France 1944-1968 explores key aspects of the everyday lives of women between the Liberation of France and the events of May '68. At the end of the war, French women believed that a new era was beginning and that equality had been won. The redefined postwar public sphere required women's participation for the new democracy, and women's labour power for reconstruction, but equally important was the belief in women's role as mothers. Over the next two decades, the tensions between competing visions of women's 'proper place' dominated discourses of womanhood as well as policy decisions, and had concrete implications for women's lives. Working from a wide range of sources, including women's magazines, prescriptive literature, documentation from political parties, government reports, parliamentary debates and personal memoirs, Claire Duchen follows the debates concerning womanhood, women's rights and women's lives through the 1944-1968 period and grounds them in the changing reality of postwar France. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Acronyms used in the text......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 Liberation......Page 22 Women in public life: the political arena......Page 48 House and home......Page 79 Marriage and motherhood......Page 111 Persistent inequalities: women and employment......Page 143 Women's rights......Page 180 May '68......Page 205 Notes......Page 227 Sources and further reading......Page 253 Index......Page 262 Book Cover 1 Title 4 Contents 5 Acknowledgements 10 Acronyms used in the text 12 Introduction 16 Liberation 22 Women in public life: the political arena 48 House and home 79 Marriage and motherhood 111 Persistent inequalities: women and employment 143 Women's rights 180 May '68 205 Notes 227 Sources and further reading 253 Index 262 Humanities 1. Liberation -- 2. Women In Public Life: The Political Arena -- 3. House And Home -- 4. Marriage And Motherhood -- 5. Persistent Inequalities: Women And Employment -- 6. Women's Rights -- 7. May '68. Claire Duchen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [238]-246) And Index. This volume explores women's everyday lives in France between the liberation in 1944 and May 1968. It considers in particular, the tensions created by competing visions of woman's "proper place" Claire Duchen explores women's everyday lives in France between the liberation and May '68 and considers the tensions created by competing visions of womanhood