Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 5-2012 To Live, To Love, To Labor: Challenging the Rigidity of the Public and Private Spheres Mallory Neil Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Neil, Mallory, "To Live, To Love, To Labor: Challenging the Rigidity of the Public and Private Spheres" (2012). All Theses. 1349. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1349 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TO LIVE, TO LOVE, TO LABOR: CHALLENGING THE RIGIDITY OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERES A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts History by Mallory Caroline Neil May 2012 Accepted by: Dr. Alan Grubb, Committee Chair Dr. Stephanie Barczewski Dr. Michael Meng ABSTRACT Jürgen Habermas’s bourgeois public sphere theory led many historians to adopt new categories of social divisions. More specifically, gender historians utilized the theory in order to explain the exclusion of women from the political realm. Imparting male and female classifications onto the public and private spheres, in turn, led to the claim of complete social immobility for women. In the 1990s and 2000s, however, gender historians began to question the rigidity of the gendered spheres. This study adopts this line of argument by looking at the lives of Madame de Staël, George Sand, and Lucie Aubrac. These women present three different instances of female participation in the political realm. Women greatly impacted French history throughout the centuries. The French Revolution gave birth to radicals and conservatives alike, but it also provided the perfect backdrop for a woman to implant herself in the public sphere. Anne Louise Germaine de Staël was such a woman. Before and during the French Revolution, she used the men in her life to participate in politics. Always on the cusp of revolution, the country once again went into upheaval in 1848. George Sand was there, and she both immersed herself in passion and dedicated herself to political thought. Nearly a century later, in yet another revolutionary time in French history, Lucie Aubrac joined the Resistance under Vichy. A schoolteacher, a wife, and mother, she actively thwarted the social system in order to counter oppressive control. Studying these women shows how some women were capable of navigating the tentative relationship between the public and private spheres. ii DEDICATION To mom and dad, for telling me I make your hearts happy. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Graduate school has been a journey, and many people helped me along the way. To Dr. P. C. Anderson, thank you for your invaluable words of wisdom. I wish to someday inspire others in the same way you have inspired me. I am also very grateful to my thesis committee. Dr. Alan Grubb served as my advisor and thesis chair. He once told me I wrote with passion, and that is something for which I will always strive. Dr. Stephanie Barczewski was crucial in the development of my historiographical knowledge. She challenged me to question my understanding of history, but never will I question the influence she has had on my academic career. Another member of my committee, Dr. Michael Meng, showed me the importance of engaging lectures and thought-provoking seminars. To each of you, I offer my sincerest thanks. I also want to recognize my fellow graduate students who embarked on this journey with me. I was lucky to be surrounded by such blossoming talent. Your friendships are blessings for which I am infinitely grateful. Madeleine Forrest and Parissa DJangi are two extraordinary individuals. The moments we shared are as countless as they are priceless, and I will cherish them always. I have the best family; of this I am absolutely sure. My sister and brother-in-law are two of my greatest champions. Thank you, Ashley and Shane, for never doubting me. Last, but in no way least, I want to thank my parents, Kenneth and Melinda Neil. Thank you for encouraging me to read, to write, to try. I have made it this far because of you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. iv INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Jürgen Habermas and the Bourgeois Public Sphere ................................ 2 Using Habermas to Endorse the Gendered Public and Private Sphere .................................................................. 6 Disputing the Gendering of the Bourgeois Public Sphere ................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER I. THE NOTORIETY OF ACTION ................................................................ 21 II. THE COEXISTENCE OF REALMS .......................................................... 52 III. THE REALITY OF SURVIVAL ................................................................ 85 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 114 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................. 117 A: Ce beau candidat ........................................................................................ 118 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 119 v INTRODUCTION THE SEPARATION OF SPHERES The term “other” is fascinating. It does not mean “the same” or “similar to.” It does not try to show comparison. Grand meta-narratives spanning long time periods or sweeping landscapes avoid the discussion of the word, but it constantly attracts historians. In fact, this five-letter word connotes a whole field of history dedicated to the research and analysis of what society deems “different.” With the introduction of post- modernism, history of the “other” grew into a rejection of the consensus history accepted by a portion of the historical community. When applied to historiography, the “other” opens up the fields of post-colonialism, race, and even gender. Social interaction between “others” and the dominant groups does not occur by itself. Instead, it takes a combination of individuals, social structures, and governments. Their relationship to one another creates a larger social discourse. Post-modernists and cultural historians are not the only groups to analyze the organization of culture. In using political and economic theory, Jürgen Habermas researched and wrote on the creation and transformation of the bourgeois public sphere. Habermas argued that with the introduction of a more politically cognizant population, some power transferred from the government to the people. This created a sector of society dedicated to political and social discourse: the public sphere. At the same time, a private sphere within the household also developed. On its own, this theory may seem irrelevant to any other type 1 of history besides political. Its application, however, stretches across many genres of history, finding utility amongst gender historians. With the introduction of post-modernism and “other” history, gender historians attempted to find ways in which to enhance their scholarship. Feminists in the field found relevancy in Habermas. In discussing the role of women in society, gender historians adopted the bourgeois public sphere theory in order to explain the separation of genders. The combination of the second wave of feminism with Habermas created a whole school of thought. The gendered public and private spheres grew to be one of the dominant approaches within the French historiographical community of the 1980s and 1990s. Recently, however, other historians have called into question the rigidity of the gender divide. Exploring the lives of Madame de Staël, George Sand, and Lucie Aubrac shows how women were capable of maneuvering between the public and private spheres. Jürgen Habermas and the Bourgeois Public Sphere Jürgen Habermas spent his life trying to understand systems of power. He attended the Universities of Göttingen and Bonn, followed by the Institute for Social Research, where he studied philosophy and sociology under Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno.1 Perhaps the impact of his childhood can best be seen through his decision to join the Frankfurt School of thought, which “views contemporary Western society as maintaining a problematic conception of rationality inherently destructive in its 1 “Jürgen Habermas Biography,” The European Graduate School: Graduate and Postgraduate Studies http://www.egs.edu/library/juergen-habermas/biography/. 2 impulse towards domination.”2 Living under a totalitarian dictatorship spurred Habermas in joining the school that strove to show how technology and economic progress changed,