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Hungarian Representations of Motherhood and Childlessness: an Analysis of Post-Communist Developments with a Focus on Nők Lapja Magazine

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Hungarian Representations of Motherhood and Childlessness: an Analysis of Post-Communist Developments with a Focus on Nők Lapja Magazine HUNGARIAN REPRESENTATIONS OF MOTHERHOOD AND CHILDLESSNESS: AN ANALYSIS OF POST-COMMUNIST DEVELOPMENTS WITH A FOCUS ON NŐK LAPJA MAGAZINE By TANYA ELIISE WATSON Institute of Women’s Studies, University of Ottawa A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ©Tanya Eliise Watson, Ottawa, Canada, 2014 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................ viii Why Study Hungary, Why Study Childlessness? .......................................................................... ix The Role of Nők Lapja Magazine ................................................................................................ xv Theoretical and Methodological Frameworks .......................................................................... xvii Intersectionality .............................................................................................................. xvii Gender and Nation ........................................................................................................... xix “Othering” and Constructions of Nation and Nationalism ................................................. xxi Understanding Contemporary Traditionalist Ideas .......................................................... xxiii Theorizing Childlessness ................................................................................................. xxiii Theorizing Power............................................................................................................. xxv Discourse Analysis ..........................................................................................................xxvii My Positionality as a Researcher ............................................................................................ xxix Chapter Summaries ................................................................................................................ xxxi CHAPTER ONE: A Brief Overview of Major Historical Developments in Hungary in Relation to Women’s Roles, with an Emphasis on the 20th and 21st Centuries ................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 Early History and the Threat of Invasion ..................................................................................... 2 18th and 19th Century Women’s Activism ................................................................................. 4 The 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution: Passion for Liberty and Women’s Political Participation...... 5 The Birth of Nationalism and the 1867 Compromise ................................................................ 10 The First World War and the Treaty of Trianon......................................................................... 13 Women’s Organizations in the Inter-War Period ...................................................................... 19 The Second World War and Nazi Occupation ........................................................................... 21 Soviet Occupation and the Last Democratic Elections of the 20th Century ............................... 27 The Beginning of Communism and the “Classical Socialist Period” (1947-1963) ........................ 32 Consolidation Under Kádár (1963-1982) ................................................................................... 40 Crisis of the Regime (1980s) ..................................................................................................... 42 The Immediate Post-Communist Period ................................................................................... 44 iii Hungary in the 1990s and 2000s .............................................................................................. 47 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER TWO: Developments in Pro-natal and Family Policies in Hungary from the 19th Century Onward, with a Focus on the 20th and 21st Centuries .................................................................. 62 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 62 Late 19th and Early 20th Century Policies ................................................................................. 64 Women and Family in the Classical Socialist Period .................................................................. 68 1949-1954: The Ratkó Period ................................................................................................... 72 1954-1966: A Revolution and a Relaxation of Restrictions ........................................................ 77 1967-1979: Changing Needs ..................................................................................................... 78 1970s: Abortion Restrictions Renewed ..................................................................................... 85 1980s: Waning Influence of Communism ................................................................................. 89 1990s: Dominant Discourse of Motherhood ............................................................................. 93 2000s: The Emphasis on Motherhood Intensifies ....................................................................103 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................109 CHAPTER THREE: Studying the Popular Hungarian Women’s Magazine Nők Lapja with a Focus on Representations of Childlessness ................................................................................................112 Introduction ............................................................................................................................112 Brief History of Nők Lapja Magazine: Its Communist Roots ......................................................114 Nők Lapja Magazine after the Fall of Communism ...................................................................117 Why Nők Lapja is a Valuable Resource ....................................................................................123 Studying Nők Lapja..................................................................................................................127 Who is Excluded byNők Lapja ..................................................................................................135 Women without Children―Excluded but Provided a Limited Space.........................................139 Who is the Focus in Nők Lapja .................................................................................................146 Women without Children: What Is and What Is Not Sayable ...................................................152 Disbelief ..........................................................................................................................153 Questioning Childlessness ...............................................................................................155 Pathologizing Childlessness .............................................................................................158 The “Character” of Childless Women ...............................................................................161 The “Divide” Between Childless Women and Mothers ............................................................164 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................165 iv CHAPTER FOUR: Constructions of Motherhood and Nationalism in Nők Lapja .............................168 Introduction ............................................................................................................................168 Singletons—or Spinsters?........................................................................................................169 The Singleton As Helpless ................................................................................................170 Challenging Negative Conceptions of Singlehood .............................................................171 Singlehood, a Temporary Condition .................................................................................173 Singlehood as Problematic...............................................................................................174 Singletons are Not Feminists ...........................................................................................175 Work/Life Balance for Hungarian Mothers ..............................................................................178 Women Pushed out of the Workforce .............................................................................179 Women as Mothers First .........................................................................................................186 Motherhood and the Nation ...................................................................................................188 Defining “Hungarianness” for Readers .............................................................................188
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