Monday, July 1, 2013

I Didn't Know That...

I didn't know that women were still dealing with birthright issues into the 1980s. I had a basic understanding before reading that men had more freedom to move about and marry foreigners and keep their citizenship, but women struggled when marrying foreigners. Specifically Kerber discusses in her "Marriage with a Foreigner" section that "not until 1989 did a federal court affirm maternal birthright citizenship for a women born abroad before 1934." The fight for women's seems so "Victorian," but Kerber makes sure to make it clear that the fight for rights did NOT end with the 19th Amendment.
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4 comments:

  1. Andrea (Davis) MiskewiczJuly 1, 2013 at 3:57 PM

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  2. Andrea (Davis) MiskewiczJuly 1, 2013 at 3:59 PM

    Here is a clip that I found of Linda Kerber discussing citizenship:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4JDTts_kA

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  3. UnknownJuly 1, 2013 at 6:06 PM

    Andrea,

    I think this is a great comment and exactly what Kerber was hoping to spark. During the Historical Methods and Theory Seminar (HIST7000) we discussed the development of both Women's and Gender Studies. I think that Kerber would really appreciate your comment. I think that part of the reason she wrote her book was to challenge the assumption that the 19th Amendment ended the call of women for equal rights under the law. Many of the writers in Women's and Gender Studies are committed to raising consciousness. If authors do not continually challenge the law, the patriarchy and other systems of oppression remain entrenched both in law and culture.

    Mark

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  4. UnknownJuly 1, 2013 at 8:53 PM

    I also thought the "Marriage to a Foreigner" chapter was really interesting. In general, the entire discussion about the citizenship limbo that some people were in was enlightening since I've never really considered the complications American-born defectors or even women married to tories had to deal with after independence.

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