Suzanne Dixon - Böcker

How have women, at different times and in different places, been perceived when they cross the sharp boundaries between public and private realms? This broad-ranging study, edited by professors Garlick, Dixon, and Allen, points to enduring themes about women who acquire political power and/or become public figures. The assessments describe domineering dowagers, witches, and scheming concubines in various cultures in ancient, medieval, and modern times. Teachers and students interested in feminist theory, in the role of women historically, and in politics and history generally, will find this a useful sourcebook.This interesting collection demonstrates the continuing ambivalence toward women in positions of power and authority, and shows how women have been limited by gender-coded lines drawn between their roles in the public and private sphere, in the home and the polis. The evaluations by historians, literary critics, and present-day scholars illustrate the views toward women in ancient Egypt, Rome, Byzantium, medieval Iceland, China's Ming Dynasty, Machiavelli's time, the Victorian era, and today. Also covered is the political representation of women in a variety of cultures and historical periods.

It can be difficult to hear the voices of Roman children, women and slaves, given that most surviving texts of the period are by elite adult men. This volume redresses the balance.An international collection of expert contributors go beyond the usual canon of literary texts, and assess a vast range of evidence - inscriptions, burial data, domestic architecture, sculpture and the law, as well as Christian and dream-interpretation literature. Topics covered include:* child exposure and abandonment* children in imperial propaganda* reconstructing lower-class families* gender, burial and status* epitaphs and funerary monuments* adoption and late parenthood.The result is an up-to-date survey of some of the most exciting avenues currently being explored in Roman social history.

Examining the remarkable life of Cornelia, famed as the epitome of virtue, fidelity and intelligence, Suzanne Dixon presents an in-depth study of the woman who perhaps represented the ideal of the Roman matrona more than any other.Studying her life during a period of political turmoil, Dixon examines Cornelia's attributes: daughter of Scipio Africanus, wife of an aristocrat, and mother of the Gracchi; and how these enabled her to move in high echelons of society.For students and scholars of classical studies and Roman history, this book will give students a glimpse into the life of Cornelia, and of the influence she had on the period.

Examining the remarkable life of Cornelia, famed as the epitome of virtue, fidelity and intelligence, Suzanne Dixon presents an in-depth study of the woman who perhaps represented the ideal of the Roman matrona more than any other.Studying her life during a period of political turmoil, Dixon examines Cornelia's attributes: daughter of Scipio Africanus, wife of an aristocrat, and mother of the Gracchi; and how these enabled her to move in high echelons of society.For students and scholars of classical studies and Roman history, this book will give students a glimpse into the life of Cornelia, and of the influence she had on the period.

It can be difficult to hear the voices of Roman children, women and slaves, given that most surviving texts of the period are by elite adult men. This volume redresses the balance. An international collection of expert contributors go beyond the usual canon of literary texts, and assess a vast range of evidence - inscriptions, burial data, domestic architecture, sculpture and the law, as well as Christian and dream-interpretation literature. Topics covered include:child exposure and abandonmentchildren in imperial propagandareconstructing lower-class familiesgender, burial and statusepitaphs and funerary monumentsadoption and late parenthood.The result is an up-to-date survey of some of the most exciting avenues currently being explored in Roman social history.

The Roman Mother, first published in 1988, traces the traditional Roman attitude towards mothers to its republican origins, examining the diverse roles and the relative power and influence associated with motherhood.The importance of the paterfamilias with his wide-ranging legal rights and obligations is familiar, but much less attention has been devoted to the equally interesting position and duties of mothers and the particular limitations on their actions. The author considers the legal position of the mother, the status of the widow and her testamentary position; the official promotion of parenthood by Augustan legislation; and the duties of mother to sons and daughters and vice versa, as they altered throughout the children’s lives. Literary stereotypes of ideal senatorial mothers and of wicked step-mothers also have their part to play in interpreting the Roman view of motherhood, and the influence of such values on the course of Roman history.

The Roman Mother, first published in 1988, traces the traditional Roman attitude towards mothers to its republican origins, examining the diverse roles and the relative power and influence associated with motherhood.The importance of the paterfamilias with his wide-ranging legal rights and obligations is familiar, but much less attention has been devoted to the equally interesting position and duties of mothers and the particular limitations on their actions. The author considers the legal position of the mother, the status of the widow and her testamentary position; the official promotion of parenthood by Augustan legislation; and the duties of mother to sons and daughters and vice versa, as they altered throughout the children’s lives. Literary stereotypes of ideal senatorial mothers and of wicked step-mothers also have their part to play in interpreting the Roman view of motherhood, and the influence of such values on the course of Roman history.

Child Care and Culture examines parenthood, infancy, and early childhood in an African community, revealing patterns unanticipated by current theories of child development and raising provocative questions about 'normal' child care in the human species. Comparing the Gusii people of Kenya, whose practices were intensively observed from the combined perspectives of social anthropology, pediatrics, and developmental psychology, with the American white middle class, the authors show how divergent cultural priorities create differing conditions for early childhood development.

Roman women were either luxurious sluts or domestic paragons - at least according to the elite men who wrote Roman history and poetry. These authors, preoccupied with masculine pursuits, introduced women into their works to make a moral point. Even Roman tombstones and the law showcase feminine virtues and reflect biases about "female nature". We also have our own prejudices about ancient Rome and Roman women. Derived from film, television and sensational novels, these prejudices affect the way we "read" the ancient material. So how do we retrieve the lives of "real women"? In this treatment Suzanne Dixon presents a range of examples to support her argument that our ideas of what we "know" about women's work, sexuality, commerce and political activity in the Roman world have been shaped by the format, or genre, of each ancient source. She sugguests ways in which we can read the evidence (including what is left out) more critically. she considers legendary heroines like Verginia and Lucretia and what they tell us about Roman attitudes to rape and women's chastity.She has a sympathetic take on notorious bad girls like Clodia and Messalina and tries to retrieve less spectacular women from the meagre non-literary sources. She introduces us to a huge cast of Roman women, not only the larger-than-life decadents of the Roman orgy, but the small traders of Ostia, the spinners, prostitutes and barmaids celebrated in Pompeian graffiti and the prosperous businesswomen and landowneers of Rome and the Bay of Naples.