Women's Input Research Articles

Women's input and decision-making in agriculture are associated with diet quality in rural Tanzania.

Women's empowerment is one critical pathway through which agriculture can impact women's nutrition; however, empirical evidence is still limited. We evaluated the associations of women's participation, input, and decision-making in key agricultural and household activities with women's diet quality. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional study of 870 women engaged in homestead agriculture. We used food frequency questionnaires to assess women's diets and computed women's diet quality using the Prime Diet Quality Score (PDQS) (range 0-42), which captures healthy and unhealthy foods. We evaluated women's decision-making in 8 activities, food crop farming, cash crop farming, livestock raising, non-farm economic activities, wage/salary employment, fishing, major household expenditures, and minor household expenditures. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) linear models were used to evaluate associations between (a) women's participation, (b) decision-making, (c) adequate input, (d) adequate extent of independence in decision-making in agriculture, and (e) adequate input in use of agricultural income with their PDQS. Adequate input was defined as input into some, most or all decisions compared to input into few decisions or none. Adequate extent of independence was defined as input to a medium or high extent compared to input to a small extent or none. Median PDQS was 19 (IQR: 16-21). Women's adequate input in decision-making on wage and salary employment (estimate: 4.19, 95% CI: 2.80, 5.57) and minor expenditures were associated with higher PDQS vs. inadequate input. Women with independence in decision-making on livestock production (estimate: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.05, 1.90) and minor household expenditures, and women with adequate decision-making in the use of income from wages/salaries (estimate: 3.16, 95% CI: 2.44, 3.87) had higher PDQS. Participation in agricultural activities was positively associated with PDQS. Women's participation and input in decision-making in wage and salary employment, livestock production, and minor household expenditures were strongly associated with the consumption of better-quality diets. Women participating in multiple farm activities were also likely to have better diet quality. This study adds to the growing evidence on the pathways through which women's empowerment may influence women's nutrition in rural Tanzania.

Public Preferences for Renewable Energy Options: A Choice Experiment in Rwanda

Rwanda has seen impressive economic growth in the past few years resulting from policy driven initiatives. However, one of the key challenges to economic development in Rwanda has been the provision of reliable and cost-effective energy. As a result, the country has planned to expand its renewable energy portfolio to meet its energy demand and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Meeting these goals requires a robust policy framework that considers the perspective of the public. Moreso, for women who have been disproportionately affected by climate change especially in developing countries. Gender equality is a key for the Rwanda strategy as gender gaps remain a barrier to equal benefits from energy access to all. Several challenges abound in providing access to electricity and reducing the dependency on wood fuel for cooking, hence deliberate effort needs to be made to ensure gender responsiveness in energy programs and policies. This study applied a choice experiment analysis to determine how renewable energy attributes (type of energy, ownership, impact on environment, distance and visibility, community job creation and renewable energy tax) impacts public willingness to pay for renewable energy development in Rwanda. A nationwide survey was conducted on 1,006 households from which 58.35% were women. We applied both the conditional logit (MNL) and random parameter logit (RPL) framework. We found that the Rwandan public has a high utility for the following issues: environmental impact, distance and visibility, and type of renewable energy, respectively. Further analysis focused on the gendered impacts of renewable energy revealed that women had the strongest preference for interventions with low impact on the environment. From a policy standpoint women's input should be incorporated in future decision-making processes through public participation to guide policymakers in developing beneficial renewable energy programs.

Exploring women's bargaining power in Haitian agricultural households

In farming households in Haiti, women's critical role in maize production is underresearched yet vital to the growth of the sector. This article explores factors that may increase women's bargaining power in negotiated decisions about production practices and income use in male-headed households. We find that women's participation in market activities is positively associated with greater input on decisions related to maize production. However, household economic status is more important for adoption of best practices and has a positive relationship with women's input on income use. Results point to various pathways for engaging women in new market opportunities.

The role of multi-dimensional women's empowerment in agriculture to improve the nutritional status of under-five children in rural cash crop producing, resource-limited settings of Ethiopia.

Little is known about the relation between the women empowerment in agriculture index, and health and nutrition outcomes among under-five children in Ethiopia. The study's objective was to examine women's empowerment in agriculture and its association with the nutritional status of children (6-59 months) in rural, cash crop producing, and resource-limited settings of Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted employing 422 households; having women of reproductive age group and children under-five. Stratified simple random sampling was used to identify households; a simple random sampling was used to select villages and households. Women empowerment in agriculture was measured by the abbreviated women empowerment in agriculture index. Even if the overall multi-dimensional five domains of empowerment index (5DE) was not a significant predictor of nutritional status in children (P > 0⋅05), sub-indicators had a pivotal role in child nutritional status. Disempowerment in decisions about input into production [AOR = 8⋅85], empowerment on control of income [AOR = 0⋅35] and availability of livestock [AOR = 0⋅38] were predictors of child stunting, whereas women's disempowerment in production decisions seems beneficiary for wasting, disempowered women have 84 % less likely to have wasted child than empowered women [AOR = 0⋅16]. Dietary and agricultural diversity [particularly livestock farming], and women's empowerment in production decisions were predictors of better nutritional outcomes in children. Therefore, a concentrated effort is needed towards strengthening the multi-dimensional empowerment of women in agriculture emphasising women's input into production decisions, dietary and agricultural diversification, mainly livestock farming.

Esperanto and Languages of Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia by Brigid O'Keeffe

Reviewed by: Esperanto and Languages of Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia by Brigid O'Keeffe Anna Vozna (bio) Brigid O'Keeffe, Esperanto and Languages of Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia ( New York; London: Bloomsbury, 2021). 266 pp., ill. Bibliography. Index. ISBN: 978-1-350-16065-1. Brigid O'Keeffe's book on the history of Esperanto is a fascinating read. Esperanto is an artificial language created more than a century ago by a Russian Jew, Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, who was aiming to overcome his marginalization in the Russian Empire by creating a new language that would allow participation in a more accommodating reality through a new means of talking and writing. By telling this old story, the book addresses questions that are as relevant for sociolinguists today as they were at the dawn of the Soviet Union. Namely, scholars working on language and identity have long been preoccupied with exposing linguistic and cultural hegemony and looking for solutions to transcend it. The history of Esperanto, as laid out by O'Keeffe, may be informative in this regard for scholars, regardless of whether their methodological preference is primordialism or social constructivism. Approaches informed by primordialism include claims for the indigenous status of a language or the need for its revitalization. Similarly, Esperantists challenged the languages of cultural hegemons, or rather the very structure of linguistic hierarchy. They believed that this structure reflected and reproduced oppressive categorization and discrimination against languages deemed nonprestigious or subpar taxonomically as "vernaculars" or "dialects." At the same time, like the proponents of constructivism, Esperantists believed that a new, more accommodating language rooted in a more equalizing worldview can be constructed to overcome old cultural hierarchies. Today, this attitude is demonstrated by the World Englishes movement as a response to the hegemony of a normative version of the English language (such as British English), or other similar solutions, which I will further refer to as language localization. O'Keeffe's account of Esperanto adds to modern sociolinguistic knowledge about language variants that are localized or revitalized as a means of resisting linguistic and cultural hegemony. One of the generally accepted observations by modern scholars has been the tendency of the communities practicing those language variants to remain exclusive and restrict joining them by their declared "constituencies." More often than not, the logic of exclusion followed by these communities is rooted in the very categorization and hierarchization systems they [End Page 296] aim to overwrite. As the book suggests, the community of practice of Esperanto speakers was not very different in this regard. Its boundaries and membership characterized it as rather exclusionary in terms of Eurocentricity, elitism, gender biases, and even occasional antisemitism. According to the author, Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, firmly believed that his language would be truly international, easy for anyone to learn. As a Russian Jew who found himself on the boundaries of the mainstream community of practice of Russian speakers in the Russian Empire, he set out to create a new more inclusive language. The history of the origins of his idea is detailed in chapter 1, "A Universal Language for a Globalizing World." However, as O'Keeffe demonstrates in her account of the linguistic composition of the new language, Zamenhof's world was effectively confined to Europe. He constructed a new global language based on European ones, thus making it significantly more accessible for speakers of European languages and users of Roman script. Chapter 2, "Pen Pals, Dreamers and Globetrotters," and chapter 4, "Comrades with(out) Borders,"further detail the barriers faced by aspiring Esperantists, including those involving income and gender. For instance, all one needed for participation in epistolary exchange in Esperanto was money for stamps, making it relatively affordable across different income groups. But traveling to Esperanto conferences and other inperson communication opportunities was limited to those in possession of significant disposable income for travel. Similarly, in pen-pal communication, women and men had equal voices, but when it came to the in-person events, conventional gender roles limited women's input. Esperanto convention organizers restricted women to being translators and secretaries as opposed to holding leadership positions. Another, almost painfully ironic, exclusion was that of the anti-antisemitic ideology that fueled...

La Consentida: Settlement, Subsistence, and Social Organization in an Early Formative Mesoamerican Community

In this book, Guy David Hepp presents detailed information from excavations he directed at La Consentida on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Importantly, he shows that this site is one of the first settlements (ca. 1900–1600 BCE) in Mexico and Central America found thus far. Archaeologists have debated the causes and nature of early sedentism and the rise of social hierarchy in Mesoamerica for decades. This book joins that debate. What is interesting is that the author argues that we should consider changes in social life along with shifting economics and ecology in the rise of permanent villages, agriculture, and social differentiation. The value of the book rests in its cogent presentation of current theories regarding the establishment of sedentary societies in the Americas and the supporting archaeological evidence. The author effectively presents data for environmental adaptation, interregional interaction, permanent settlement, and social differentiation at La Consentida. The author does not discuss religion or politics in the rise of village societies in great detail despite his consideration of socioeconomic status and ceremony in some chapters.This book contains a great variety of information on people's lives at this early village. The site has a small number of earthen mounds, but their existence points to an organized community and control over local labor. The findings suggest communal collective action for larger mound construction, of which there is a growing body of literature that the author does not engage much. It is possible that smaller domestic platforms existed here. However, they are harder to find in the deep soils accumulated at the site over the last 4,000 years. More excavations away from visible architecture would be needed to learn more about the smaller domestic, or perhaps even ritual, constructions.The completeness of the study is remarkable; the author analyzed most of the artifacts, animal bone, human burials, and architecture. One interesting find is the identification of one of the earliest pottery types in Mesoamerica. Furthermore, the pottery has strong affinities with the highlands and west Mexico rather than coastal sites. Some pottery may support the occurrence of feasting, as do the specific locations of select food remains. However, other pots were generally used for cooking and serving food. The author's analysis of the pottery appears in a helpful appendix containing photos, tables, and drawings.Many insights on the ancient diet at La Consentida were gleaned from examining ground stone tools, stonecutting tools, human bone, and animal remains. Analyses of plant remains are not provided. The data point to the exploitation of a nearby bay and rivers, making the subsistence adaptation at La Consentida different from the known estuary sites in the region. The acquisition of crocodiles and catfish rather than shellfish and saltwater species for food was an interesting discovery. However, chemical assays of human bone and the later importance of ground stone point to the increasing importance of maize in later times. Thus, the author shows that maize agriculture actually did not coincide with population growth and social differentiation at La Consentida, as others would believe. Obsidian cutting tools from different sources in Mesoamerica also signal far-ranging social and economic ties, as does the pottery. The interpretations of ceramic figurine iconography bolstered the author's reconstructions of social organization and social differentiation. Yet the prevalence of nude female figurines begs a treatment of gender and women's input in community structure, artifact manufacture, and religious ideology.In the end, this is an excellent book, and it is one of the best I have read recently in Mesoamerican archaeology. It is well written and tightly organized, and it presents extensive data to back the author's theoretical positions on the establishment of village societies. His scholarship and knowledge of the archaeology of the first Mesoamerican communities are impressive. A big advantage of the study rests with the extensive laboratory work on different artifact types, and not just pottery or stone tools, for instance. Instead, the author examines a great deal of evidence in an admirable manner. Other archaeologists may dispute the author's conclusions, but his contributions are clear: we need to consider regional differences in the rise of communal living in Mesoamerica and never lose sight of the social conditions involved in culture change. Sedentary populations, agriculture, interregional interaction, and the evolution of elites came about at the same time, and one of these, such as agriculture, did not singlehandedly drive changes in the others.

Arbeid van vrouwen in Limburg in de twintigste eeuw: een stille revolutie

Female labour force participation declined in Limburg from a relatively high level at the start of the twentieth century to a relatively low level at the end of that century. In this article this “silent revolution” is analysed by focussing on the development of women’s labour in agriculture, in the South Limburg mining district, and in the Maastricht glass and pottery industries. The high level of female labour force participation was, firstly, caused by a high labour input of women in small farming predominating in Limburg agriculture well into the 1950s, secondly, by the many women, both married and unmarried, employed in the Maastricht glass and pottery works. In the mining districts, by contrast, women’s paid labour was almost absent (apart from employment of young, unmarried women in the clothing industry). The relative decline of female labour in the Province of Limburg is foremost a consequence of the growth of mining relative to agriculture. But in agriculture and the Maastricht industries female labour declined as well, due to the exodus of young women out of agriculture in the first, and of changes in production and employers’ policies in the second case.

Addressing the Needs of Abused Chinese Women Through a Community-Based Participatory Approach.

Intimate partner violence against women is a priority global health issue. It has had serious negative consequences on women's health and has led to huge burdens on the community. Numerous interventions have been demonstrated to have positive effects, and the majority of them have been developed using a top-down approach. However, the specific needs of abused Chinese women have not been fully addressed; incorporating women's input seems to be an essential element for the success of any intervention. This article describes the experiences and success in using a community-based participatory approach (CBPA) to develop a culturally appropriate intervention for abused Chinese women in order to address their multifaceted needs. A CBPA was adopted in this study to develop a culturally appropriate intervention in order to address the multifaceted needs of abused Chinese women. A core group of six participants (three abused Chinese women, one researcher, and two social workers who provided community services for abused Chinese women) was formed in a local community center in Hong Kong. The three Chinese women were recruited from the local community center, and according to the Abuse Assessment Screen they had been in an intimate relationship in the preceding 12 months and had been abused by an intimate partner. Three core group meetings were conducted over 6 weeks for intervention development. An integrated multicomponent intervention was developed, comprising a four-part, women-centered program called "Women-centred, we are with you." The program was implemented and completed over 4 months (October 2015 to January 2016). Eighteen abused Chinese women participated in the intervention. A CBPA provides actual empowerment spirit for abused Chinese women. This approach was well accepted by the women and enabled them to develop more culturally appropriate interventions in fulfilling their specify needs. Researchers can consider using a CBPA to develop and tailor a culturally appropriate intervention for groups such as abused Chinese women in order to improve their health and eliminate disparities by addressing their specific and multifaceted needs.

On the sociology of women and women in sociology

This text was inspired by the work of Alice Salomon, a German social scientist active in first decades of the 20th century. It discusses the auxiliary and later creative role of women in sociology globally, from the mid-20th century until now. It is focused on the input of women to social theory. In the last part, the article discusses the role of women in Polish social sciences, but particularly the lack of systematic research on this issue.

Sex and the city: reflexões sobre a representação parlamentar feminina e as eleições municipais de 2008

Scholars have only recently started paying attention to the involvement and contribution of women in the social-political arena. In several institutions, the so-called “gender studies” are not exactly welcomed and it is not rare to fi nd that specialists in the fi eld are secretly marginalized. Examining the variety of existing social theories, we can clearly see that the female role lacks in space in political analysis and this situation is not easily addressed. This article intends to contribute to the efforts to increase the body of studies regarding women’s institutional presence in politics and their participation as candidates in local municipal elections. The article is also aimed at analyzing the input of women in the local legislative branch and their improvement/effi ciency in the Town Hall (Câmara dos Vereadores) elections in the last three polls. The comparative perspective is the method of choice, and the focus rests on the 2008 elections, however the 2004 and 2000 polls will also be studied. The variables used are electoral systems, social, economical and cultural factors, as well as other political aspects.

Perspectives of Women with Disabilities on Reaching Those Who Are Hard to Reach

Healthcare needs of women with disabilities are often neglected, even for women who are well connected to the community and to the healthcare system. So-called "hard-to-reach" women, whose degree of disability impedes use of community resources, have even greater difficulty obtaining health care. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the perceptions of women with mobility and sensory limitations about several healthcare issues that may affect them: barriers to obtaining care, sources of information about health issues, ways to improve access to care, and ways to help hard-to-reach women overcome barriers to health care and health information. Researchers conducted six focus groups, comprising 43 women with limitations of mobility, hearing, or vision. To validate the women's input, researchers conducted two additional focus groups: the first comprised female physicians with special interest in the health care of women with disabilities, and the second included professional administrative staff of agencies that provide services for people with disabilities. In several cases, members of the physician and agency focus groups were themselves women with disabilities. In addition, 16 women with disabilities participated in an online survey; their responses were used to validate the findings of the face-to-face focus groups. Transcribed data were content analyzed and 10 themes identified. Seven of those themes are discussed in this article: communication barriers; lack of knowledge and awareness among healthcare providers; access issues; working the system; system issues; outreach to healthcare providers; and reaching hard-to-reach women. The findings of this study can provide direction to development of more effective outreach to hard-to-reach women with disabilities, resulting in better integration of healthcare services for this population.

The need for female leadership in international professional organisations

The proportion of women entering psychiatry is gradually increasing and among psychiatrists in clinical leadership positions women comprise an increasing proportion.Yet few women are taking up leadership positions in international professional organisations. These organisations aim at e.g. improving the care for the mentally illpromoting parity in the provision of care to the mentally illpreserving the rights of these patients andprotecting the rights of psychiatrists.All areas where the input of women may contribute significantly to the outcome of any intervention.Other key domains relate to: the development of ethical standards and procedures how to monitor their observance.the growth of educational programs to be offered globallythe mentorship of junior colleagues or colleagues working in professional isolationThe need to develop strategies to overcome the inner as well as outer obstacles preventing women from due representation in these organisations will be discussed and suggestions for strategies to overcome the obstacles outlined.

Women's input into household decisions and their nutritional status in three resource-constrained settings

To understand the role of women's input into household decisions as a possible factor contributing to women's undernutrition in settings where HIV/AIDS and drought have constrained household resources. Three cross-sectional surveys of non-pregnant women in partnerships without a birth in the last 3 months were analysed. Factors associated with chronic energy deficiency (CED), defined as body mass index of<18.5 kg m(-2), were assessed among 1920 women in Zimbabwe, 2870 women in Zambia and 6219 women in Malawi. Prevalence of CED was 4.2% in Zimbabwe, 13.5% in Zambia and 6.7% in Malawi. In Malawi, women with less input into decisions were more likely to have CED. After multivariable adjustment, each additional decision made by the partner increased the odds of CED in Malawi by 1.08 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.15); each additional decision made by the woman decreased the odds of CED by 0.90 (95% CI 0.88-0.97). Malawian women with all the final say or with partners with no final say had significantly more CED than expected (odds ratio (OR)=2.88, 95% CI 1.42-5.83 and OR=1.64, 95% CI 1.06-2.52, respectively), and removing these points increased the magnitude and significance of the linear trends. In Zambia, the relationship was found for urban women only and no associations were found in Zimbabwe. Input into household decisions may be a key factor in the cycle of drought and CED. Women with both low input and CED may lose productive capacity, putting them at greater risk of food insecurity and potentially HIV/AIDS in high prevalence settings.

Negotiating livelihoods beyond Beijing: the burden of women food vendors in the informal economy of Limbe, Cameroon*

As a response to the trappings of globalisation and the commoditisation of the sphere of production, women continue to play a crucial role in securing livelihoods by guaranteeing access to food in rural, peri‐urban, and urban areas. Based on a survey of food vendors, this paper evaluates women's input through informal earnings, the coping strategies devised to stave off poverty occasioned by the economic meltdown, the travails of meeting the daily demands of family survival and the influence on gender relations.The profile of vendors indicate that most are assuming greater headship of households, they straddle between the home and their business premises with attendant effects on time, mobility, health and labour. Amid these hurdles, the vendors are barely able to address the basic needs of their families. However, they are becoming economically empowered as they exercise greater leverage in intra‐household resource allocation. These minimal gains are offset by a heavy tax burden, the poor regulatory framework for informal sector activities and the incessant crackdown by municipal authorities. Reconciling the trade‐off between income generation and care‐giving hinges on drawing additional labour from the family‐especially the girl child and some supportive family relations.

A Model of Consumer Participation: The Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative

AbstractThe issue of linking research and policy is not unique to health care of the elderly; it has been articulated by numerous stakeholder groups, including those with specific diseases, such as breast cancer. A method of enhancing these links is now being systematically addressed in the Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative with the input of women with breast cancer. The Initiative consists of a number of components and demonstrates a model of consumer participation at multiple levels in setting the agenda for research and policy development, thus enhancing accountability in the transfer of research findings into policy. The concept of consumer participation in linking research and policy is transferable to other diseases and other population groups, such as seniors.

A Model of Consumer Participation: The Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative

The issue of linking research and policy is not unique to health care of the elderly; it has been articulated by numerous stakeholder groups, including those with specific diseases, such as breast cancer. A method of enhancing these links is now being systematically addressed in the Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative with the input of women with breast cancer. The Initiative consists of a number of components and demonstrates a model of consumer participation at multiple levels in setting the agenda for research and policy development, thus enhancing accountability in the transfer of research findings into policy. The concept of consumer participation in linking research and policy is transferable to other diseases and other population groups, such as seniors.

Do Schooling and Work Empower Women in Developing Countries? Gender and Domestic Decisions in Sri Lanka

Our work challenges and points out the limitations of the theoretical presumptions underlying the relationship between empowerment, education, and employment that have been emphasized in both the exiting literature and the current rhetoric to “empower” women in developing countries. We use survey, life history, and focus group data to empirically examine the relationship between schooling, paid work, and power in domestic decision making for young, married women in Sri Lanka. We argue that the relationship between education, work, and women's control of household decisions is conditioned by the larger social context, and as such, it is likely to reflect the extent to which the division of labor and access to information and economic resources are the bases of domestic power in the society under consideration. Our results make a strong case for the need to move away from broad-based conceptualizations of women's empowerment to a consideration of the specific arenas and dimensions along which women can have power. In focusing on the domestic arena alone, we find that there are important differences in both the nature and determinants of the financial as opposed to the social and organizational dimension of power in Sri Lankan households. Women who control one of these aspects of family decisions do not necessarily control the other, and while education and employment play an important role in determining women's input in financial decisions, they are largely immaterial in determining household decisions related to social and organizational matters. Our results also demonstrate the importance of going beyong simplistic and limited measures of schooling and work to consider more fundamental structural factors involving family, social, and economic organization.

Between tradition and modernity: Bulgarian women during the development of modern statehood and society, 1878–1945

Abstract The paper attempts to draw the general outlines of women's input in the establishment of the modern Bulgarian state and society in the period 1878–1945. Set against the background of traditional roles and attitudes that were prevalent at the end of the nineteenth century, women's contributions include active participation in the nation's economy and labor force, disproportionately significant representation among the educated elite, nationally and internationally recognized achievements in the arts, and the establishment and promotion of Bulgarian feminism. The paper suggests that a detailed study of the public role played by women will achieve a more accurate understanding of the modernization process in the Balkans since women have tended to act in a trend-setting manner. Furthermore, Bulgarian feminism is viewed as an example of the existence of elements of a civil society in the region.

Women's Position and Family Planning in Egypt

In this report, data from the 1988 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey are used to address some of the most frequently raised questions about the relationship between gender inequality and reproductive behavior. The findings from binomial and multinomial logit models show that while the relationship between women's position and fertility control in Egypt is complex, some clear, broad patterns exist that have important theoretical and policy implications. First, although women's status in Egypt is clearly multidimensional, the reproductive aspect of women's position has a strong connection with the nonreproductive dimensions. Second, the case of the continued use of education and employment as proxies of women's position, especially in relationship to fertility control, is considerably discredited by the results. Finally, the findings indicate that Egyptian culture supports gender equality in the form of interaction and negotiation rather than women's autonomy.

Women of the Progressive Conservation Movement: 1900–1916

Nowhere has women's self-conscious role as protectors of the environment been better exemplified than during the progressive conservation crusade of the early twentieth century. Although that role has been rendered all but invisible by conservation historians, women transformed the crusade from an elite male enterprise into a widely based movement. In so doing, they not only brought hundreds of local natural areas under legal protection, but also promoted legislation aimed at halting pollution, reforesting watersheds, and preserving endangered species. Yet this enterprise ultimately rested on the self-interested preservation of their own middle-class life styles and was legitimated by the separate male/female spheres ideology of the nineteenth century aimed at conserving true womanhood, the home, and the child. In his book The Fight for Conservation (1910), Gifford Pinchot praised the women of the progressive era for their substantial contributions to conservation. He cited the conservation committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution (chaired by his mother), the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, founded by ladies, which carried out some of the earliest work done in that state, the national forests preserved by Minnesota women, and the Calaveras Big Trees set aside by the women of California after a nine year fight.' Writing his definitive history of the progressive conservation campaign in 1959, Samuel Hays also acknowledged the enthusiasm of women's organizations for conservation and their staunch support, until 1913, for Pinchot as leader of the movement. Historians Robert Welker (1955) and Stephen Fox (1981) amplified other female contributions, especially to the Audubon movement and the hiking clubs, while admitting that much remains to be learned regarding women's role in conservation.2 Behind these brief tributes to their substantial contributions lies an untold story of immense energy, achievement, and dedication by thousands of women. Although only the most prominent women appear in recent historical studies, without the input of women in nearly every locale in the country, conservation gains in the early decades of the century would have been fewer and far less spectacular. 57