Understanding Women in Scotland

Abstract

This article explores obstacles to understanding the history and contemporary experiences of women in Scotland, and to the development of feminist research in Scotland. It is argued that explanations which invoke Scottish male chauvinism and misogyny alone are insufficient, and that the marginalization of women in Scotland is produced both by male domination within Scotland, and by English cultural and political hegemony within the UK. The article comments on the relationship of the concept of ‘Britishness’ to that of ‘Scottishness’ (and other identities within the UK) and illustrates how the frequent confusion of ‘British’ with ‘English’ serves to obscure Scottish experience. It is also argued that the place of Scotland within the British state has led to the creation of an institutional framework that disadvantages women, and a system of government that excludes women. This implies that feminist debates on the state in Britain require a specific focus on the form of the British state, and in the context of constitutional change in particular this is important for the development of future strategies. It is argued that the double marginalization of women in Scotland is not just a problem in relation to the development of feminist research, but is also a political problem in that it contributes to a degree of alienation from feminism in England. The article concludes by arguing for the necessity of recognition of difference, but also for dialogue, as the basis for feminist alliances in different parts of the UK.

A stairheid rammy

“…Discussions concerning Scottish identity have often been framed as a negotiation of cultural identity and national belonging in the context of wider British statehood (McCrone 2017). However, historically, women and gender have taken a secondary role in these debates at best (Howson 1993;Breitenbach, Brown, and Myers 1998).…”

‘A Crime of Almost Unspeakable Cruelty and Wickedness’: Gender, Agency and Murder in Scotland – The Case of Jeannie Donald

“…(Abrams, 2006: 3)By analysing a child murder perpetrated by a woman that occurred in Aberdeen, this article aims to expand the scope of gender analysis in Scotland, as well as the geographical boundaries of existing research on this topic. Overall, the article aims to challenge the notorious and, arguably, misogynistic statement by McDairmid that ‘Scottish women of any historical interest are curiously rare’ (cited in Breitenbach et al, 1998: 44).…”

“…Inevitably, when focusing on a relatively small and specific section of a population – in this case violent women within a localized community of Scotland – issues of specific cultural practices and ‘differences’, compared to the rest of the United Kingdom generally, and to England in particular, require acknowledgement. The article therefore seeks to avoid any confusion between ‘Britishness’ and ‘Scottishness’ so as not to obscure the specific political and cultural nature of the Scottish experience (Breitenbach et al, 1998: 44).…”

“…At a different level, Brown and Ferguson have argued that ‘women in Scotland suffer a double disadvantage of marginalisation within a male-dominated Scotland, as well as marginalisation within an English-dominated Britain’ (2002: 1). Moreover, while Scottish people have been regarded as ‘a more brutal and hardened people’ (Kilday, 2007: 5), Scottish women have been portrayed as ‘essentially passive and restrained’ (Brown and Ferguson, 2002: 3), within a broader ‘misogynistic and sexually repressed’ culture (Breitenbach et al, 1998: 45). While such a portrayal may be accurate in certain geographical locations during specific eras, it is equally accurate to state that such characteristics are not unique to the Scottish population, but are also applicable at certain times in certain places within the rest of the United Kingdom and beyond.…”

A New Trumpet? The History of Women in Scotland 1300–1700

“…It has been argued that Scottish women have been affected by a double marginalization, first by virtue of being women and therefore excluded from mainstream Scottish history, and secondly by being Scottish and therefore largely ignored by women's history in Britain. 70 Ironically, the first synthesis of recent work on Scottish women 1450 -1650 appeared in a study of women in early modern Britain. But is it possible or even desirable to write a history of 'British women'?…”