Parliamentary Discourse on Women's Work (1918–1924)

Abstract

This paper examines discourse on women's labour in the Czechoslovak Parliament between 1918 and 1924, when its legislative activity was at its peak.The unicameral Revolutionary National Assembly (1918–1920) was in session, and following the first parliamentary elections (1920), the bicameral National Assembly (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) was established; its first term ended in 1925. The paper examines whether parliamentary discourse on women's work was linked to the prevailing public discourse and what role women and men played in shaping it.The paper concludes that parliamentary discourse did not differ from the prevailing public discourse. Female legislators contributed to shaping this discourse primarily during debates on the abolition of celibacy and the protection of motherhood and, together with men, shared the woman-as-mother paradigm.