Women's and gender history

Whalers dressed up as women and slept snugly together

At the same time, life on the whaling vessels was both boring and extremely dangerous, according to one researcher.

Reading Nikolai Astrup's paintings in light of his mother's art

A recent doctoral thesis highlights new perspectives on the famous painter. In particular, the influence of his mother, wife and handicraft provides new insights into his oeuvre.

Interactive technology and "co-creation" foster diversity at the museum

Digital technology and interaction with the public will help increase diversity and highlight women in the Technical Museum's exhibitions.

When the state apologises, history must be rewritten

When victims of state abuse achieve recognition, the identity of the entire people will change, according to Eirik Vatnøy. He has analysed the rhetoric of an Irish rights campaign for women detained in Catholic laundries.

Wants to make it easier to share experiences of abortion

The Women's Museum Norway recently launched the abortion exhibition HYSJ! (‘HUSH!’). Their goal is to create a space for talking about a topic that is still shameful for many women today.

The versatile Hamsun

New research demonstrates expressions of women’s liberation and homoerotic desire in Knut Hamsun’s works from the 1890’s.

Ancient objects shed new light on women’s role in the Viking raids

Kitchen equipment from the British Isles has been found in graves belonging to Viking women from aristocratic families. “We can gain new knowledge about women’s participation in the Viking raids by posing new questions to old findings,” according to researcher.

“Pandemics affect women and men differently”

Our knowledge about previous pandemics gives us invaluable information on how to handle today’s corona pandemic, according to researchers.

“Women’s historical contributions are still ignored”

“Women’s history brings forth knowledge concerning one half of humanity, and makes sure that the discipline does not become gender blind,” says professor of history at University of Oslo, Hilde Sandvik.

Calls for a revival of the artist Hannah Ryggen

“What was written about Hannah Ryggen in the eighties and nineties does not reflect the quality of her art and her significance during her own time,” according to art historian Marit Paasche.

Still embarrassing to talk about menstruation

“Norwegian women are perhaps not as modern and liberated today as we like to think,” says researcher Camilla Mørk Røstvik. She has examined how women – and some men – describe their experiences with menstruation in the twentieth century.

Queer lives find their way to the museum

How have the limits for what is considered acceptable sexuality been drawn and negotiated through history? This is the question we need to ask in order to understand not only the past, but also our present, according to Tone Hellesund.

The rocky road to sex change treatment in Norway

In the 1950s, the first successful gender reassignment treatment was carried out. Since then, major developments have taken place within medicine and law, but also when it comes to our perceptions of gender, according to historian Sigrid Sandal.

Simone de Beauvoir: From Sartre’s secretary to feminist style icon

When Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist classic The Second Sex was published in Norway in 1970, both sexuality and existentialism were downplayed. “She was made popular,” says Ida Hove Solberg, who has examined the Norwegian translations of de Beauvoir’s work.

The contraceptive pill: A story of sexual liberation and dubious research methods

In 1967, Norwegian women were finally allowed to decide for themselves when to get pregnant. The contraceptive pill has had enormous significance for women’s emancipation, but researchers doubt whether it would have been approved today.

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