Common Bodies: Women, Touch and Power in Seventeenth-Century England

Hardcover (Print)
Buy New
Buy New from BN.com
$40.90
(Save 9%)
Eligible for FREE SHIPPING details
Usually ships within 3-5 days details
Used and New from Other Sellers
Used and New from Other Sellers
from $29.18
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
(Save 35%)
Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (11) from $29.18   
  • New (5) from $31.54   
  • Used (6) from $29.18   

More About This Textbook

Overview

This pioneering book explores for the first time how ordinary women of the early modern period in England understood and experienced their bodies. Using letters, popular literature, and detailed legal records from courts that were obsessively concerned with regulating morals, the book recaptures seventeenth-century popular understandings of sex and reproduction. This history of the female body is at once intimate and wide-ranging, with sometimes startling insights about the extent to which early modern women maintained, or forfeited, control over their own bodies. Laura Gowing explores the ways social and economic pressures of daily life shaped the lived experiences of bodies: the cost of having a child, the vulnerability of being a servant, the difficulty of prosecuting rape, the social ambiguities of widowhood. She explains how the female body was governed most of all by other women-wives and midwives. Gowing casts new light on beliefs and practices of the time concerning women's bodies and provides an original perspective on the history of women and gender."This is a wonderful book . . . offering a new perspective on why men needed women to regulate each other and on why women were willing to do so. A provocative and persuasive piece of history."-Cynthia Herrup, Duke University

Author Biography: Laura Gowing is lecturer in history at King's College, London.

Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780300100969
  • Publisher: Yale University Press
  • Publication date: 11/1/2003
  • Edition description: New Edition
  • Pages: 272
  • Product dimensions: 6.50 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Table of Contents

List of figures
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction 1
1 Uncertain knowledge 17
2 The politics of touch 52
3 Consent and desire 82
4 'The child in me': perceiving pregnancy 111
5 Childbed conflicts 149
6 Precarious parenthood 177
Conclusion 204
Notes 210
Select bibliography 238
Index 249
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)