McLaren, Angus

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i ts p o l i c i e s a n d procedures r e m a i n e d w o e f u l l y i n c o n g r u e n t w i t h its f o r m a l s tand o n ecc les iast i -ca l p a r i t y . B o y d a n d B r a c k e n r i d g e p r o v i d e so m u c h use-f u l i n f o r m a t i o n that i n a d e q u a c i e s a n d o m i s -s i o n s i n the i r w o r k are p a r t i c u l a r l y f r u s t r a t i n g . T h e last t w o sect ions l a c k e d the t h o r o u g h n e s s a n d t h e m a t i c u n i t y of the f irst t w o . P e r h a p s because i t is closest to m y o w n research interest, I f o u n d the c h a p t e r o n career*miss ionar ies espe-c i a l l y d i s a p p o i n t i n g . T h e a u t h o r s suggest, for ins tance , that despite the m i s s i o n a r i e s ' u n c o n -v e n t i o n a l roles a n d their u n i q u e o p p o r t u n i t i e s a b r o a d , they were n o t n o t a b l y ac t ive o n b e h a l f of w o m e n ' s r i g h t s . B u t they d o n o t c o n s i d e r the p o s s i b i l i t y that the f e m i n i s t energies of s u c h w o m e n m a y have been aroused a n d absorbed by the o f ten t e m p e s t u o u s p o l i t i c s of the m i s s i o n f i e l d (as was the case for m a n y late n i n t e e n t h -c e n t u r y C a n a d i a n P r e s b y t e r i a n m i s s i o n a r i e s ) . T h i s c h a p t e r , i n fact, reflects the scarc i ty o f c o m -p l e t e d s tudies to date o n the b a c k g r o u n d s a n d career experiences of w o m e n m i s s i o n a r i e s . O t h e r i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n s a l s o r e m a i n l a r g e l y u n e x -p l o r e d . F o r e x a m p l e , w h a t p a r t d i d P r e s b y t e r i a n w o m e n p l a y i n the s o c i a l g o s p e l , a m o v e m e n t i n w h i c h the i r c h u r c h p l a y e d a l e a d i n g r o l e , a n d w h i c h w a s at least c o m p a r a t i v e l y s y m p a t h e t i c to w o m e n ' s r ights? H o w i m p o r t a n t were f a m i l y , m a r i t a l a n d s o c i a l ties i n c o n s t r a i n i n g w o u l d - b e P r e s b y t e r i a n feminis t s f r o m c r i t i c i z i n g u p h o l d e r s o f the status q u o ? D i d P r e s b y t e r i a n w o m e n a t t e m p t to use the r e l a t i v e l y m o r e l i b e r a t e d p o s i -t i o n o f t h e i r M e t h o d i s t sisters as a lever to i m p r o v e the i r o w n ? A n d h o w d i d they r e s p o n d to the r a d i c a l c r i t i q u e s o f C h r i s t i a n a n t i - f e m i n i s m p u b l i s h e d i n the 1890's by E l i z a b e t h C a d y S t a n -t o n a n d M a t i l d a J o c e l y n Gage? T h e case of C a d y S t a n t o n — h e r s e l f a f o r m e r P r e s b y t e r i a n — i s p a r -t i c u l a r l y re levant : her Woman's Bible was d i s -a v o w e d even by other p r o m i n e n t f e m i n i s t s , a n d regarded by m o s t c l e r g y m e n as s i m p l y b e y o n d r i d i c u l e . I n a l l l i k e l i h o o d , h a d l e a d i n g Presbyter-i a n w o m e n m o u n t e d a p u b l i c c r i t i q u e , h o w e v e r c a u t i o u s , of the i r c h u r c h ' s s e x i s m , it w o u l d h a v e cost t h e m their p l a c e w i t h i n the c h u r c h estab-l i s h m e n t . A n d that p lace , as B o y d a n d B r a c k e n -r i d g e demonstra te , i n v o l v e d a g o o d deal of p o w e r a n d pres t ige , i f n o t f o r m a l a u t h o r i t y . P r a g m a t i c self-interest m u s t surely be added to d e n o m i n a t i o n a l l o y a l t y a n d s c r i p t u r a l l y rooted c o n s e r v a t i s m as e x p l a n a t i o n s for Presbyter ian w o m e n ' s quiescence . T h a t b e i n g the case, it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g that s o m e of the best p u b l i c i z e d a n d most f o r c e f u l ca l l s for w o m e n ' s r i g h t s w i t h i n the c h u r c h came f r o m m e n . F i n a l l y , the usefulness of this w o r k w o u l d have been c o n s i d -erab ly increased for n o n - P r e s b y t e r i a n readers if the a u t h o r s h a d i n c l u d e d at least a brief descr ip-t i o n of the P r e s b y t e r i a n system of c h u r c h g o v e r n -m e n t a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n , a n d a table l i s t i n g the several P r e s b y t e r i a n d e n o m i n a t i o n s discussed i n the v o l u m e , a b b r e v i a t i o n s a n d dates of u n i o n s . Ye t these c r i t i c i s m s s h o u l d not obscure the fact that Presbyterian Women in America is a w e l l -w r i t t e n , v a l u a b l e b o o k , o n e that takes us b e y o n d genera l i t i es a b o u t " s o f t " f e m i n i s m to the r e a l i -ties of a speci f ic case. R u t h C o m p t o n B r o u w e r Y o r k U n i v e r s i t y N O T E S 1. Elizabeth Howell Verdesi's In But Still Out: Women m the Church. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), focuses mainly on the first half of the twentieth century and does not include women's work in and on behalf of foreign missions. "Traitors to the Masculine Cause": T h e Men's Campaign for Women's Rights. S y l v i a Strauss. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982. Pp. 290 S y l v i a Strauss states at the outset that her p u r -pose i n w r i t i n g "Traitors to the Masculine Cause": The Men's Campaign for Women's Rights was to trace the e v o l u t i o n over m o r e t h a n o n e h u n d r e d years of m a l e s u p p o r t for w o m e n ' s r i g h t s . T h i s is c lear ly a n i n t e r e s t i n g q u e s t i o n ; recent studies s u c h as Peter N . Stearns, Be a Man! (1979) a n d Jeffrey Weeks , Sex, Politics, and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality Since 1800 (1981) have revealed h o w l i t t l e we, i n fact, k n o w a b o u t the response of m e n — b e they f e m i n i s t s or a n t i - f e m i n i s t s — t o the n ine teenth-century debate over sex roles . Strauss p r o v i d e s a u s e f u l service i n b r i n g i n g together i n o n e b o o k the a c c o u n t s of a b o u t f i f ty m e n w h o (by one c r i t e r i o n or another) c o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d to have been o n the f e m i n i s t s ide. Indeed , her s tudy reads m o r e l i k e a b i o g r a -p h i c a l d i c t i o n a r y t h a n a m o n o g r a p h . T o g ive the true f l a v o r of her b o o k i t is best to i n d i c a t e br ie f ly w h a t she a c c o m p l i s h e s i n each chapter . I n c h a p t e r one, Strauss p r o v i d e s pot ted b i o g -r a p h i e s of those w h o m she ca l ls the " fa thers of f e m i n i s m " — D a n i e l Defoe, J o n a t h o n S w i f t , T o m P a i n e , C o n d o r c e t , C h a r l e s B r o c k d e n B r o w n , T h o m a s Spence , W i l l i a m T h o m p s o n , R o b e r t O w e n , J o h n Stuart M i l l , a n d G e o r g e J a c o b H o l y o a k e . H e r m a i n c o n c e r n is w i t h the B r i t i s h but w h e n it suits her p u r p o s e s she d r a w s i n A m e r i c a n a n d F r e n c h m e n . M o r e c u r i o u s is the fact that she bases m u c h of her i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the early " p h i l o s o p h i c a l f e m i n i s t s " o n the r e m i n i -scences of G e o r g e J a c o b H o l y o a k e , a m a n w h o s e b a d m e m o r y was so n o t o r i o u s that J . M . L u d l o w c l a i m e d that if H o l y o a k e said, " h e h a d d i n e d off a m u t t o n c h o p the c h a n c e w o u l d be ten to o n e it was p r o b a b l y a beefsteak." Strauss turns , i n chapter two , to the m e n w h o interested themselves i n the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a s i n g l e s t a n d a r d of sexua l m o r a l i t y . B e n j a m i n R u s h , A u g u s t e T i s s o t , J . H . K e l l o g g , T h o m a s G i s b o r n e , a n d C h a r l e s K i n g s l e y a l l m a k e appear-ances but Strauss focuses o n the m a i n m a l e c o n -t r i b u t o r s to the debate over p r o s t i t u t i o n — W i l -l i a m A c t o n , J a m e s Stansfe ld, a n d W i l l i a m Stead. She effectively e m p l o y s the i n f o r m a t i o n gathered by J u d i t h W a l k o w i t z i n her recent h i s t o r y of the C o n t a g i o u s Diseases A c t s b u t does not c o n t r i b -ute a n y t h i n g n e w to o u r k n o w l e d g e of n i n e -teenth-century p r o s t i t u t i o n . T h e "sex r a d i c a l s " — b a s i c a l l y the m e n w h o were active i n d e f e n d i n g recourse to b i r t h c o n t r o l — are discussed by Strauss i n chapter three. T h e ac t iv i t ies of P l a c e , C a r l y l e , K n o w l t o n a n d D r y s -da le are f a m i l i a r to those w h o have read F r y e r , Ledbet ter , a n d M c L a r e n ; for those w h o have not , this chapter w i l l p r o v i d e a s t a r t i n g p o i n t . O f course , m e n w h o o p p o s e d t r a d i t i o n a l s e x u a l codes c o u l d nevertheless s u p p o r t di f ferent f o r m s of m a l e d o m i n a n c e . I n chapter f o u r , Strauss deals w i t h th i s t r a d i t i o n of w h a t she c a l l s " d o m e s t i c f e m i n i s m " w h e n r e l a t i n g the a c t i v i -ties of J o h n H u m p h r e y N o y e s , W i l l i a m M o r r i s , K a r l P e a r s o n , E d w a r d B e l l a m y , a n d H a v e l o c k E l l i s . A n d s h i f t i n g f r o m s e x o l o g y to f i c t i o n , Strauss uses c h a p t e r f ive to r e v i e w the w o r k s of the l e a d i n g m a l e w r i t e r s — M e r e d i t h , H a r d y , A l -l e n , a n d S h a w — w h o treated the subject of the late n i n e t e e n t h century " n e w w o m a n . " T h e m e n i n v o l v e d i n suffrage a g i t a t i o n are deal t w i t h by the a u t h o r i n t w o chapters . T h e ear ly l i b e r a l s u p p o r t e r s — M i l l , B r i g h t , Fawcet t , C o u r t n e y , a n d D i l k e — a r e e x a m i n e d i n c h a p t e r s i x . C h a p t e r seven is devoted to defenders of the W S P U s u c h as P a n k h u r s t , S n o w d e n , K e i r H a r d i e , a n d P e t h i c k - L a w r e n c e . Strauss's b o o k has n o real c o n c l u s i o n b u t the last chapter o n m e n w h o w r o t e w o m e n ' s h i s t o r y — M i l l , E n g e l s , B u c k l e , M c C a b e , Blease, B r a i l s f o r d , a n d D e l l — p r o v i d e s a p a r t i n g o v e r v i e w . Strauss's b o o k is very m u c h l i k e a b i o g r a p h i -c a l d i c t i o n a r y . It has the s t rength of that sort of w o r k , t h o r o u g h n e s s ; b u t it a l so has its weakness , l ack of a n a l y s i s . N o s i n g l e , c lear a r g u m e n t emerges f r o m th is s tudy. If o n e h y p o t h e s i s h a d been p u r s u e d , p r e s u m a b l y m a n y of the m e n i n this b o o k — d r a w n f r o m E n g l a n d , F r a n c e , a n d A m e r i c a , f r o m the e ighteenth to the t w e n t i e t h centur ies , a n d f r o m a variety of p o l i t i c a l persua-s i o n s — w o u l d have been d r o p p e d a n d a m o r e s h a r p l y focused b u t m o r e r e w a r d i n g w o r k w o u l d have resul ted . Strauss makes the best defense of her b o o k i n the f irst l i n e of her preface w h e n she asserts that her subject " h a s been neglected i n the p a s t . " U n f o r t u n a t e l y , that is not q u i t e true. A s her o w n footnotes i n d i c a t e , every m a l e s u p p o r t e r of f e m i n i s m w h o m she treats has been the sub-ject of h i s t o r i c a l s tudy. I n q u a r r y i n g these second-ary a c c o u n t s , Strauss does p r o v i d e a h a n d y c o m -p e n d i u m of the e x i s t i n g l i terature o n n i n e t e e n t h -c e n t u r y m a l e f e m i n i s t s ; a n o r i g i n a l a p p r o a c h to the issue r e m a i n s to be p l o t t e d . A n g u s M c L a r e n U n i v e r s i t y of V i c t o r i a . Travailleuses et feministes: Les femmes dans la societe quebecoise. M a r i e L a v i g n e a n d Y o l a n d e P i n a r d , et a l . , Montreal: Boreal Express, 1983. Pp. 430. Maitresses de maison, maitresses d'ecole: Femmes, famille et education dans l'histoire du Quebec. N a d i a F a h m y - E i d a n d M i c h e l i n e D u m o n t , et a l . , Montreal: Boreal Express, 1983. Pp. 413. T h e r e are m a n y reasons for w o m e n ' s h i s t o r i -ans o f E n g l i s h C a n a d a to e n v y those of Q u e b e c . N o w that these t w o readers c o m p r i s i n g 32 a r t i -cles i n 843 pages j o i n the 513 page g e n e r a l sur-vey, L'Histoire des femmes au Quebec depuis quatre siicles p u b l i s h e d i n 1982, Q u e b e c s tu-dents a n d teachers have c l a s s r o o m m a t e r i a l s u n m a t c h e d for breadth a n d d e p t h i n a n y p a r t of C a n a d a . T h e Q u e b e c l i t e ra ture i n w o m e n ' s h i s -tory s h o w s a d i s c e r n i n g e c l e c t i c i s m i n m e t h o -d o l o g y a n d a k n o w l e d g e a b l e recept iv i ty to a w i d e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e — a m a t u r i t y w h i c h has n o t yet been so a p p a r e n t i n the p a r a l l e l l i ter -a ture o u t s i d e Q u e b e c . It is s t r i k i n g i n these v o l u m e s , n o t o n l y the degree to w h i c h Q u e b e c f e m i n i s t s are at tentive to the w i d e r N o r t h A t l a n -tic l i t e ra ture i n b o t h F r e n c h a n d E n g l i s h , but a l s o the t h o r o u g h n e s s of the i r c o m m a n d of the E n g l i s h C a n a d i a n l i terature , a traff ic i n i n s i g h t w h i c h appears f r o m e x a m i n a t i o n of the notes of m o s t o ther C a n a d i a n w r i t i n g i n w o m e n ' s h i s -tory, to be too o f ten i n e f f i c i e n t l y o n e w a y . F i n a l l y , there is i n this l i t e ra ture , n o t a b l y i n the w o r k of M i c h e l i n e D u m o n t a n d M a r i e L a v i g n e , a r e f r e s h i n g j o c u l a r irreverence t o w a r d a c a d e m i c p r e t e n s i o n a n d a n ins is tence u p o n the self-c o n s c i o u s i m b r i c a t i o n of p o l i t i c s i n s c h o l a r l y i n v e s t i g a t i o n at a level b e y o n d p o l e m i c , w h i c h is a n o t a b l y h e a l t h y s i g n i n a g r o u p a t t e m p t i n g to r e m a k e h i s t o r i c a l categories. T h e first of these v o l u m e s , o n w o r k i n g w o m e n a n d f e m i n i s t s , is s u b s t a n t i a l l y a r e p r i n t of ear l ier w o r k . H a l f of the s ixteen essays a p p e a r e d i n Les femmes dans la societe quebecoise—aspects his-toriques, w h i c h this c o l l e c t i o n supercedes. A l s o i n c l u d e d are S u s a n T r o f i m e n k o f f ' s " M u f f l e d V o i c e s " , w h i c h was p u b l i s h e d first i n this j o u r -n a l , M a r t a D a n y l e w y c z ' s " N u n s a n d F e m i n i s t s i n M o n t r e a l " f r o m Histoire sociale Social History a n d J e n n i f e r Stoddart ' s study of the D o r i o n C o m m i s s i o n f r o m the f irst v o l u m e of O s g o o d e Society p u b l i c a t i o n s . M o s t v a l u a b l e for t e a c h i n g p u r p o s e s a m o n g the n e w c o n t r i b u t i o n s is the e d i t o r s ' " W o r k a n d the w o m e n ' s m o v e m e n t : a v i s i b l e h i s t o r y " , w h i c h s u m m a r i z e s a n d s c r u t i n -izes the l i terature o n w o m e n ' s p a i d a n d u n p a i d w o r k , a n d female act iv is ts ' p l a c e i n p o l i t i c a l a n d r e l i g i o u s m o v e m e n t s w i t h i n a b r o a d t e m p o r a l , s p a t i a l a n d theoret ica l context . T h e d i s c u s s i o n of f emale w a g e d a n d n o n - w a g e d w o r k d u r i n g the process of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n is p a r t i c u l a r l y deft i n its c o l l e c t i o n f r o m a l l p o s s i b l e quarters to craft as c o m p r e h e n s i v e a s u m m a r y of research a n d reasonable inference o n this t o p i c as w e yet possess for C a n a d a or Q u e b e c . J o h a n n e D a i g l e ' s h i s tory of o r g a n i s a t i o n a m o n g M o n t r e a l nurses 1946-66 suggests the ways i n w h i c h w o r k a c t i o n was a m p l y c o n s t r a i n e d by the l o n g assoc ia t ions of n u r s i n g w i t h m o t h e r i n g , r e l i g i o u s v o c a t i o n a n d m o r e recently but as c o m p e l l i n g l y , w i t h the facade of s e p a r a t i o n f r o m s h o p f l o o r p o l i t i c s of p r o f e s s i o n a l status. If nurses since 1966, w h e n n u r s i n g a ids a p p e a r e d as a n e w level i n the hos-p i t a l female j o b h i e r a r c h y , have been at p a i n s to d i s t i n g u i s h the status f r o m the gender aspects of the i r o c c u p a t i o n , i t is c lear f r o m the w o r k of M o n a - J o s e e G a g n o n o n w o m e n i n the Q u e b e c l a b o u r m o v e m e n t , p a r t i c u l a r l y f r o m her n e w 

"Traitors to the Masculine Cause": The Men's Campaign for Women's Rights. Sylvia Strauss.

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"Traitors to the Masculine Cause": The Men's Campaign for Women's Rights. Sylvia Strauss.

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