Abstract
This study focuses on divorces in the Principality of Samos, which existed from 1834 to 1912. The process of divorce is described according to the laws of the rincipality, and divorces are examined among those published in the Newspaper of the Government of the Principality of Samos from the last decade of the Principality from 1902 to 1911. Issues linked to divorce are investigated, like the differences between husbands and wives regarding the initiation and reasons for requesting a divorce. These differences are integrated in the specific social context of the Principality, and the qualitative characteristics are determined in regard to the gender ratio of women and men that is articulated by the invocation of divorce. The aim is to determine the boundaries of social identities of gender with focus on the prevailing perceptions of the social roles of men and women. Gender is used as a social and cultural construction. It is argued that the social gender identity is formed through a process of “performativity”, that is, through adaptation to the dominant social ideals.
Highlights
The divorce rate has been increasing since the Restoration and into the twentieth century
The aim of this study is to evaluate the negotiation of boundaries in the social identity of gender within the specific framework of the Principality of Samos (1834–1912)
We studied official applications and decisions on divorces published in the Newspaper of the Government of the Principality of Samos during the semesters of 22 June to 31 December 1902 and 9 January to 9 August 1903, as well as during the years spanning 2 January to 28 December 1904, 3
Summary
The divorce rate has been increasing since the Restoration and into the twentieth century. As Riessman (1990) suggested, gender is linked to different perceptions of what a marriage should provide and different reasons for divorce. Gender is seen in this study as a social and cultural construction (Rosaldo and Lamphere, 1974; Evans, 2003; Maruani, 2005). It has been asserted that gender interacts with the concepts of class, race, and ethnicity (Lord, 2005; Moore, 2006). The sense of social gender identity is formed through a process of adjustment to dominating social ideals (Butler, 1990)
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