Citation

Lanza JM. Hist. Fam. 2008; 13(1): 71-84.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1016/j.hisfam.2008.01.003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article argues that Parisian widows, in taking over a guiding role in the household, upset normative gender roles. One result of that change was violence in the household between widows and their adult sons. In asserting their authority, widows found unlikely allies in the institutions of the State, legal structures and the guild system. Ultimately, widows' roles in their families demonstrated the ways that gender roles were fluid in lived experience, as opposed to the ways they were articulated in rhetorical texts.