Writing Gender History

How has feminist scholarship changed history? At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is clear that scholars no longer imagine that it is possible to write history, whether of the political, military, social, economic, or intellectual varieties, without taking gender into account. Downs's book explores the evolution of historical writing about women and gender from the 1930s until the early twenty-first century. The discussion moves from women's history to gender history, and then to poststructuralist challenges to women's and gender history. Designed to be accessible to students, discussion focuses neither on abstract theory nor on historiography per se, but rather upon the practical application of theory in historical scholarship on women and gender.