Den svårerövrade offentligheten. Kön och religion i emancipationsprocessen

Abstract

In this article it is argued that the understanding of the emancipation process during the 19th century in Sweden will be deepened if the religious context is analysed. Up to now most historians have been "religion blind" and therefore the process has not been properly understood. Sweden was still a Lutheran country and within the ideological framework of Lutheranism woman had a God-given role as wife and mother in the household. She could not like a man - who was considered persona publica — enter the public arena without restrictions, because it had sexual connotations. Through philantropic work women in some way entered the public arena, but in accordance with the Lutheran interpretations of roles of men and women this was understood as an extension of the household rather than as a public office or service. This pattern should be taken into account when the emancipation process is further analysed and the roles of men and women in today's society are being discussed.