The sex reform movement and eugenics in interwar Poland

Gawin, Magdalena

doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2008.03.001

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…In rejecting this communist past, political elites in many post‐communist states harked back to the golden age of the inter‐war period and its traditional values and norms – although this did, of course, require them to forget certain aspects of the period's greater sexual freedom and female emancipation (see Gawin 2008; Plach 2006; Thomas 2005; Zarnowska 2004). As this period was held up as the opposite of the abnormal communist experience, ‘traditional’ thus became equated with ‘normal’, with traditional gender and sexual roles seen as ‘an important aspect of the nostalgia for ‘normality’’ (Watson 1993: 472–3).…”

Section: Causes Of Homophobiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Nationality and sexuality: homophobic discourse and the ‘national threat’ in contemporary Latvia

Mole

2011

Nations and Nationalism

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This article seeks to understand why attitudes towards homosexuality in Latvia appear to be more intolerant than in all other EU member states. It argues that, while the impact of religion, the legacy of communism and post-communist transition have all played a role in shaping attitudes towards homosexuality in Central and Eastern Europe, these factors do not explain sufficiently the divergence among post-communist states and, in particular, do not account for Latvia's extreme position. While acknowledging that intolerance towards non-heteronormative sexuality cannot be explained by a single factor but is the cumulative effect of a range of social influences, this study argues that homosexuality is particularly reviled in Latvia because it has been constructed discursively as a threat to the continued existence of the nation in its desired ethnic form and to the core values defining Latvian national identity.

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Section: Causes Of Homophobiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Nationality and sexuality: homophobic discourse and the ‘national threat’ in contemporary Latvia

Mole

2011

Nations and Nationalism

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“…Experts who took part in it -and who usually advocated liberalization -soon spread the ideas of 'conscious motherhood', that is, preventing unwanted pregnancies with family planning. Conscious motherhood as an idea and as the agenda of socially concerned Polish leftist groups has its roots in the interwar period, 29 but in the late 1950s, a group of intellectuals, journalists, and doctors (gynaecologists) decided to renew this notion and established the Society of Conscious Motherhood. Its first meeting was organized by the League of Women and the editors of the daily Z _ ycie Warszawy (Life in Warsaw).…”

Section: The Development Of Polish Expertise On Sex After 1956: Abortion Conscious Motherhood and Sexologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Modern Marriage and the Culture of Sexuality: Experts between the State and the Church in Poland, 1956–1970

Jarska

2019

European History Quarterly

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Through an analysis of archival documents and the published writings of experts, this paper explores the relationships between the emerging field of sexology, the state, and the Catholic Church in post-1956 Poland, as these relationships play an important role in the history of sexuality under state socialism. In the period in question, experts in sexuality, mainly medical doctors, focused on how to improve sexual relations within marriage. They developed a notion known as the ‘culture of sexuality’ based on progressive values such as equality, rationality, and psychological health. Experts drew a connection between an improvement in people’s marital sex lives and the health and welfare of both society and the nation. The Party-State supported these developments and also used them to their advantage in their political struggle with the Catholic Church. However, the experts’ proposal to restrict access to abortion (in 1961) was met with decisive resistance on the part of the Party-State.

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“…The problem of traffic in women and children in the Second Republic of Poland, in particular in relation to international organizations and transnational cooperation, is taken up much less frequently in Polish historical studies, but several discrete case studies exist (Szczygłowski 2005;Gołdyn 2006aGołdyn , 2006bGołdyn , 2009Gołdyn , 2013Antonów 2013aAntonów , 2013bAntonów , 2019Zakrzewski 2015;Dulak 2016). Polish historians have showcased the profound connection between the fight against the traffic in women and children in the Second Polish Republic and campaigns and initiatives that aimed to solve other social problems (Glensk 2014) such as prostitution (Sikorska-Kulesza 2004;Rodak 2006;Grata 2013;Krzemiński 2013;Kuźma-Markowska 2013;Lipska-Toumi 2014), venereal disease (Bołdyrew 2011; Rodak 2017) and public health (Cianciara 2011;Magdalena Gawin 2006, 2008. Polish interwar legal reforms (Głogowski 2014) concerning prostitution were thus always conceptualized as a means to deal with broader administrative issues, such as policing (David Petruccelli 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Closing the Abyss of Moral Misery”: Poland, the League of Nations and the Fight against the Trafficking of Women and Children

Nithammer

2022

East Cent. Eur.

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The study focuses on the emerging Second Polish Republic and its involvement in the international fight against the trafficking of women and children under the auspices of the League of Nations. In conflict with all neighbouring states, Poland was highly dependent on support from the new Western Entente-backed international system and in turn had to adhere closely to existing conventions and newly negotiated international policies. Using the example of the ratification process of the League of the Nations International Convention against the Traffic in Women and Children of 1921, the study shows that internationalism in the interwar period had a significant impact on national policymaking and state-building. Thus, it provides a better understanding of how anti-trafficking efforts in Poland interacted with policies deployed by the League of Nations and how international and transnational activism affected the construction of state institutions.

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The sex reform movement and eugenics in interwar Poland

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Nationality and sexuality: homophobic discourse and the ‘national threat’ in contemporary Latvia

Nationality and sexuality: homophobic discourse and the ‘national threat’ in contemporary Latvia

Modern Marriage and the Culture of Sexuality: Experts between the State and the Church in Poland, 1956–1970

“Closing the Abyss of Moral Misery”: Poland, the League of Nations and the Fight against the Trafficking of Women and Children

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