Civilization Without Sexes: Reconstructing Gender in Postwar France, 1917-1927

by Mary Louise Roberts

Book Overview

In the raucous decade following World War I, newly blurred boundaries between male and female created fears among the French that theirs was becoming a civilization without sexes. This new gender confusion became a central metaphor for the War's impact on French culture and led to a marked increase in public debate concerning female identity and woman's proper role. Mary Louise Roberts examines how in these debates French society came to grips with...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226721221
• ISBN13: 9780226721224
• Release Date: March 1994
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This book changed my life!

ASTOUNDING in its clarity and intensity, this is truly a treatise of epic proportions. Dr. Roberts has succinctly yet completely touched on a much ignored subject, with insight and warmth. With so much of history focusing on the male experience of post-war France, this is truly refreshing. BUY THIS BOOK -- you won't regret it.

Well researched and Thought Out

I used this book for a paper on feminism in post WWI France. It was amazing. Her book reads very well, and is well documented. She supports her facts with statistics, but also real life stories from the men at the front and the women holding down the fort. It was a great book for anyone interested in gender roles and identity in post WWI France.

Hello Lou!

I have not read this book but I did take a Modern European History class with the author. That was in 1988 at Brown and she is still the best prof. I've ever had. If you read this, drop me (eli) a line at eg122@columbia.edu. I've ordered the book so soon I'll give a real review