Gender Inequalities in Rural European Communities During 19th and Early 20th Century

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

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2. The Curse of Athena: Female Illiteracy in the Greek Countryside

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 1-25

3. ‘Caught in the Spider’s Web’. Women’s Schooling in the Rural Communities in Italy and in Parts of the Balkans

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 27-47

4. Hera, the Greek Goddess of Marriage: A Comparison Between Greek and Italian Peasant Women

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 49-71

5. Spreading the ‘Word of God’. Women-Missionaries and Protestant Education in the Balkans, Greece and Italy

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 73-90

6. Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest: Women’s Social Life in the Villages

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 91-121

7. Euterpe, the Muse of Music: Women’s Position as Seen through Folklore Songs and Dances (Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries)

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 123-154

8. Back Matter

   Pages 155-164

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This book provides an overview of women’s opportunities for schooling, their social activities, and the social biases they faced in rural communities in Greece, Italy and parts of the Balkans during the 19th and early 20th century. It examines such topics as female illiteracy, the efforts of women-protestant missionaries to expand knowledge through Protestantism, the prejudice against education for women, the socio-economic context, the roles women fulfilled, and the structure of the patriarchal family. The book approaches these issues from the perspective of pedagogy and social history. The fundamental questions discussed by the book are: How was female education viewed by the country folk? What was the role of women in the private and the public sphere? How did peasant women respond to the challenges of the ‘modern’ world? Were they free to express their feelings and ambitions? In what way? Were they happy?

• Feminist Movements in the 19th Century
• Female Schooling in Rural Greece
• Higher Education for Girls
• Women’s Social Status in the 19th Century
• Schooling of Village Women in the Balkans
• Married Women’s Lives in Peasant Greek and Italian Communities
• Protestant Female Missionary Educational Attempts
• Patriarchal Family in the Communities of Southern Europe
• Women’s Status through Dance and Vocal Performances
• Peasant Women in Greece

• Independent Researcher, Glyfada, Greece

  Polly Thanailaki

Polly Thanailaki holds a Ph.D. in Modern History from Democritus University of Thrace, Greece  and  is a visiting scholar at Harvard University, USA. She currently collaborates with the University of Piraeus.

She is the author of the following books in Greek: Ameriki kai Protestantismos (Kastaniotis Publishers 2005), Americanica oneira kai Ierapostolikos Romantismos (Papazisis Publishers 2011), and Gynaikeies Martyries Stis Selides tis Historias (Papazisis Publishers 2013). The above books received very good reviews both in Greece and in the USA. The author has also published a significant number of papers in peer- reviewed  international journals, in Greek  journals,  as well as in collective books. She  has also  presented a number of  papers in international conferences. Polly Thanailaki has also given invited talks in  Greek and American Universities. Her works have been cited  by many researchers. She has participated in  international Women’s Fora and she was the coordinator for Gender Equality with the Institute IGMEA, in Greece.

Her field of research is based on Modern History where she mainly focuses on female education and culture, as well as on Gender Equality in an international perspective.

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