HST2522 - Gender and the Georgians: Sex and Society in Britain 1714-1837

HST2522: Gender and the Georgians: Sex and Society in Britain 1714-1837

20 credits (Semester 2)

Module Leader: Dr Kate Davison (2024-25)

Module Summary

Eighteenth-century Britain witnessed great change: historians have argued for a ‘revolution’ in industry, the ‘birth of a consumer society’ and the emergence of a ‘public sphere’ of political debate; global trade expanded, towns grew, and new Enlightenment ideas flourished. In this context, gender identities and roles were redefined, understandings of the body debated, and notions of masculinity and femininity contested. This module explores these ideas about gender, and how they informed the experiences of women and men, from polite fashions to the criminal underworld, bluestocking sobriety to drunkenness in gentlemen’s clubs, and from ‘subcultures’ of homosexuality to the first ‘feminists’.

Teaching 

The module is taught via 11 weekly lectures, and 11 weekly seminars.

Assessment

Please see this page for assessment details: Level 2 assessment

Module Aims

Gender history is one of the most innovative fields of research and this module aims to give students knowledge of its key interests, methods and theories through the study of eighteenth-century Britain. We will explore the multiple—and at times contradictory—ideas attached to concepts of femininity and masculinity, and how they related to people's experiences in diverse areas of life. We will do this by considering topics such as fashion and the world of goods, ideas about the body and race, sexuality, urban culture, crime and criminality, working life, sociability, and political participation. Through its focus on gender in eighteenth-century Britain, more broadly the module aims to help students to understand and evaluate relevant historiographical debates and to articulate their thoughts clearly in writing and speech.

Selected Reading

• Tim Hitchcock, English Sexualities, 1700-1800 (Basingstoke, 1997)

• Anthony Fletcher, Gender, Sex, and Subordination in England, 1500-1800 (London, 1995)

• Erin Mackie, Rakes, Highwaymen, and Pirates: The Making of the Modern Gentleman in the Eighteenth Century (2009)

• Robert B. Shoemaker, Gender in English Society, 1650-1850: The Emergence of Separate Spheres? (London, 1998)

• Sonya Rose, What is Gender History? (Cambridge, 2010)

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of ideas about gender in eighteenth-century Britain, as well as their relation to the lives and experiences of women and men.

• Evaluate historiographical debates attached to the topic of gender in eighteenth-century Britain.

• Critically interpret written and visual primary sources, and identify their significance for historical debates.

• Create lucid, convincing and well-organised arguments in writing and speech.