Thursday, February 21, 2013
Obligations and Kerber
I have just finished my pre-read and the preface so this is by no means an extensive observation, however I am very excited to read this book. As students of history we all know have an understanding of women throughout history whether they were "covered" as Kerber calls it, under husbands and fathers identity or later not included in the 14th amendment. But I find it interesting that recently, 1980, someone tried to use this previous obligatory relationship between women and state to fight women being added to the draft. I also found her question of what would a "Bill of Obligations" look like? Could there be one based on obligations of citizens and I think her answer is no. There is a relationship and difference between rights and obligations for both men and women. Obligations of the people directly relate to the rights of people but how women are bound (obligated) to act as a citizen is different than that of men. It is Kerber's goal to call in to question obligations of women as citizens.
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I'm still in the early stages of reading as well, but I am intrigued by Kerber's examination of how obligations somehow outweighed protections (for women). With the discussion of Genovese still fresh in my mind, I see an interesting transition from his idea of paternalism to Kerber's argument of gender-based oppression cloaked in protectionism, particularly where rhetoric was concerned. I would have liked to talk more yesterday about how Genovese treated the intersections of gender and race and the idea that the planter somehow "protected" women of both races. Alas, a bad cold prevented me from talking too much--or maybe that's a good thing. At any rate, I am also glad to see a deeper discussion by Kerber of how the framers' ideas of liberty and freedom were contorted to subjugate women, even down to making sure that women were liable for treason even though they were granted so few rights in the same country to which they should have felt obligated. So it was that Abigail's famous request that they "remember the Ladies" was heeded.
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