A history of womens history : a study of history textbooks

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to show the public what is and what is not being discussed about women in current history textbooks and what was or was not being written in past history textbooks. I intend to show the changes over time in the amount of information written and in the detail written about women in a sample of history textbooks. In this thesis, I discovered and concluded that the amount of material published about women in history textbooks is lacking considerably. Despite the fact that we are living in the 1990s, there is still much information missing about women in modern history textbooks. In my study I intended to explore what types of facts were missing in texts. I found that detail concerning specific notable women and in-depth discussions about their lives and accomplishments were missing, as well as detail about the average woman in everyday life. In addition, I discovered that most of the information written about the average woman was written diminutively. Rarely was there in-depth discussion about these women written in positive language. Instead, there were only informal discussions of the lower-class or the upper-class.

I have learned that despite all the changes in society concerning women, there is still inconsistency in the amount of information presented in history textbooks. Because women's achievements are barely covered in their history textbooks, it is possible that young female students could grow up thinking that they are not as smart or as capable of accomplishment as their male counterparts.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

1997

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Beiler, Rosiland J.

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Program

History

Subjects

Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic; Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Sciences

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0022720

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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