Article ID: CBB087503676

The Green Years: The Role of Abundant Water in Shaping Postwar Constructions of Rural Femininity (2021)

unapi

This article offers one of the first studies to pay attention to the influence of abundant rain in advancing postwar agendas and shaping new constructions of rural femininity. Enriching an understanding of modernity, I use oral history testimony and private archives to illuminate women's emotional, social and sensory responses to plentiful water and the possibilities it fostered. While previous tropes had warned that close engagement with the elements would leave women 'unsexed' and drained of feminine vitality, the verdure that characterised the postwar era made the environment appear pliable, acquiescent and drought-proof, no longer threatening but actively inviting women's involvement. Informed by scientific agriculture, the modern rural woman, was constructed as 'feminine' and 'attractive' but also well-equipped to contribute her labour to the forward momentum of Australian farming.

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Article Katie Holmes; Ruth Morgan (2021) Placing Gender: Gender and Environmental History. Environment and History (pp. 187-191). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB087503676/

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Authors & Contributors
Marcus, Alan I.
Akers, Harry F.
Brassley, Paul
Eder, Sandra
Hirsh, Richard F.
Molle, Leen Van
Journals
Agricultural History
Historical Records of Australian Science
History of Psychiatry
History of Psychology
Publishers
Routledge
Four Courts Press
Johns Hopkins University
Louisiana State University Press
McGill-Queen's University Press
Oxford University Press
Concepts
Agriculture
Rural history
Gender identity
Femininity
Medicine and gender
Science and gender
People
Herodotos of Halicarnassos
Money, John
Wilkins, Lawson
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
18th century
21st century
17th century
Places
United States
Australia
Europe
Ontario (Canada)
Ireland
Mexico
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