2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

This panel interrogates the transgression of the normative practices of childrearing and the patronym in western Europe and the American colonies. Emily Romeo’s paper examines how women’s motivation for infanticide evolved alongside changing attitudes about sexuality in northern and southern colonies through the seventeenth century. Rachel Chrastil broadly examines the pathways to childlessness in northwestern Europe, both outside of and within marriage, from the early modern period through the nineteenth century. Carolyn Eichner examines the issue of legitimacy in nineteenth-century France, focusing specifically on the link between the matronym and illegitimacy, and the impossibility of a legitimate matronym.

Together, the panel interrogates the nature and motivation of transgression.  In what ways do economic constraint, concern for reputation, and racial boundaries shape motivations?  What may be stated openly, and what must be concealed?  How have women pressed claims of legitimacy or tried to compensate for their transgressions?  Should we understand these transgressive acts as claims of rights and recognition, or are they better understood as survival mechanisms?  Through the examination of these alternatives, the panel will illuminate normative expectations for women in the west as they evolved over time and place, and the ways in which women challenged these strictures.