Are Women Taking over Power and Labour from Men? Gender Relations in Pre- and Post-colonial Greenland

Abstract

In pre-colonial Greenland, the breadwinner was traditionally the hunter. The ability to hunt and their role as breadwinners gave the men structural power and prestige. In order better to understand contemporary gender relations in Greenland, this paper examines “structural power” where men, traditionally due to being the breadwinners, were the powerful ones in the household. It is argued that, even though more women have become breadwinners today, the structural power of men still persists but might be undergoing changes.     

Family breakdown in nineteenth- century Netherlands: Divorcing couples in The Hague

As in other European countries, divorce became a social issue in the Netherlands from the beginning of the 1880s on. At the same time, divorce rates rose considerably. To examine whether the public debates were reflected in the behavior of Dutch couples, an empirical study was conducted of divorce in the second half of the nineteenth century. Use was made of a case-control research design in which the social characteristics of all marriages which ended in divorce were compared with those of a random sample from the marriages which ended in widowhood. The author analyzed a group of 2,300 marriages contracted in The Hague from their inception until their dissolution by death of divorce. All migrants were followed to their new place of residence. Multivariate (proportional hazards) analysis showed that the highest probability of divorce was found among persons who had already gone through a divorce before. Other factors related to divorce were high mobility, low ages at marriage, and large age and religious differences between spouses. Higher social classes had relatively high divorce risks.     

Naming for kin and the development of modern family structures

It is generally assumed that the conjugal family—the family that lived independently from extended kin—came into existence in the Netherlands relatively early, and that a new attitude towards children, characterized by an emphasis on the individuality of the child, developed at more or less the same time. To test whether this more narrow range of kin and the stronger emphasis on the individuality of the child translated itself also in a deviation from the traditional practice of naming newborn children for kin, the article analyzes naming patterns in a rural area of the Netherlands during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The conclusion is that the rise of the conjugal family and the new attitude that recognized the child as an autonomous individual had no impact on the degree of naming for kin. In a more general sense, the findings raise doubts about the idea that changes in family structures and mentality directly express themselves in changes in naming practices.     

The proper age to marry: social norms and behavior in nineteenth-century Netherlands.

"The article compares publicly discussed norms concerning the proper age at marriage for men and women in nineteenth-century Netherlands, and the actual trends present in the empirical evidence about marriage age. Medical professionals (the hygienists) expressed the belief that marriage at too young an age was damaging both to public hygiene and the family's health; other commentators stressed the connection between young marriages and poverty. Yet such norms were put forward vaguely, allowing other influences on marriage age to come into play. Consequently, data on marital behavior suggest considerable diversity in the population, with age at marriage varying strongly by class, sex, and region. Generally, age at marriage did not begin to fall until the period 1860-1870, and even after that decade class differences remained strong."     

Family breakdown in nineteenth-century Netherlands: divorcing couples in The Hague.

This is an analysis of divorce trends in the Netherlands in the second half of the nineteenth century. "Use was made of a case-control research design in which the social characteristics of all marriages which ended in divorce were compared with those of a random sample from the marriages which ended in widowhood. The author analyzed a group of 2,300 marriages contracted in The Hague from their inception until their dissolution by death or divorce. All migrants were followed to their new place of residence. Multivariate (proportional hazards) analysis showed that the highest probability of divorce was found among persons who had already gone through a divorce before. Other factors related to divorce were high mobility, low ages at marriage, and large age and religious differences between spouses. Higher social classes had relatively high divorce risks."     

Priest,parishioner and posterity: A Dutch urban legend or historical fact?

This article analyzes the influence of priests on the number of children among Dutch Catholics between 1935 and 1970, based on a survey held among old retired priests and priests who had abandoned the priesthood as well as their parishioners. Whereas we heard dramatic testimonies of meddlesome priests, which are popularly considered to be undisputed fact, these practices were found to have disappeared earlier than generally assumed due to the process of modernization within the Church. Interviews with both priests and parishioners showed the prominent role played by the transfer of religious values in the parental home, sexual taboos and by the lack of information about sexuality and birth control.