Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp

public sphere. Those belonging to the first group were performing their occupation,
whilst the others were forced to apply for any job which helped them
survive. A move into the public sphere also implied a break with the ritual orders,
whose significance in the historical memory of that time was undoubtedly
strong. The ritual hair-cutting clearly placed women in the position of being
dependent persons chained to their homes. Another move into the public sphere
– support extended to the reformist endeavours and a clear revolt against the
Catholic Church –was again followed by severe punishment. The three phenomena,
the persecution of witches, mothers with illegitimate children and
supporters of the Reformation, were related to the women’s activities outside
their homes. It was precisely this move that was followed by the most severe
punishment. Punishment harsher than that inflicted on men was necessary
as a result of the fact that the punishment did not only relate to the violation
itself, but to non-compliance with the fundamental postulates relating to the
relations between the genders. Cruel punishments were designed to break a
woman’s will and to prevent any subsequent thoughts about her autonomous
position.
Therefore, the destiny of Slovenian women did not differ in any way from
the destiny of women in other parts of Europe. The finding that women were not
considered as anything more than moving wombs and were simply inferior, which
is the result of recent research into women’s past, is fully applicable to Slovenian
history. Such an erosion of substance, reification or suppression was manifested
most dramatically in the trafficking of women as slaves or brides. The difference
between the two is insignificant. In both cases, the consequences for the women
were the same. They were owned by a person who they did not choose for themselves.
The only difference might possibly be in the living conditions of the two
groups. However, no conclusion can be made simply on the basis of the different
statuses. To put it simply, a woman’s body was available. Such availability must
have produced the most severe consequences for a woman’s sexuality.
Within this context, one should agree with Rosi Braidotti, who claims
that any debate about the true originality or pre-sociality is futile: any originality
will become evasive as soon as one starts talking about it and, apart from
that, debates about it somehow imply a consent to the established difference
which in itself is not necessarily original. Despite that, one must not overlook
the effects exerted by the events described in the lives of women. The facts
about the social construction of gender must therefore be supplemented by the
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