A Brief History of Women in Quebec by Denyse Baillargeon (review)

In A Brief History of Women in Quebec, Denyse Baillargeon offers a synthetic history of Franco-Canadian women from colonisation to the present day. Her purpose is to ‘illuminate the historical experience of all Quebec women by bringing out the economic, social, political, and ideological forces that have shaped that experience’ (p. vii).

Divided into eight chapters, the text moves chronologically through the colonial period, nineteenth-century industrialisation, interwar modernity, postwar transformations, second-wave feminism, and neoliberal society. Within these chapters, six key themes are tightly woven: domestic work and employment, demographics, education, religion, law, and the social and political activities of women. These themes are crucial in carrying the narrative successfully across chapters and promote a cohesive reading. Baillargeon is careful to note the limitations of her approach, recognising both that using a geographical framework is unconventional given the timeframe and that the scope of her material means that no topic can be fully explored.

In organising the narrative in this way, the text achieves three aims. First, Baillargeon dispels myths of gendered histories in Quebec. The text does an excellent job of disproving commonly held assumptions about Quebec being a matriarchal society, and the fallacy of separate sphere ideologies. Her second aim is to prove that Quebec’s history is a product of an intimate relationship between Roman Catholicism and French nationalism. Baillargeon demonstrates that these two institutions simultaneously encouraged a patriarchal society in which women were called to (re)produce a strong French nation, but that these expectations were often not reflective of real women’s experiences. Baillargeon’s third aim is to demonstrate the need to rethink the place of women’s history. Rather than functioning as auxiliary to ‘general history’, Baillargeon argues that the history of women ‘cannot be dissociated from the historical fabric as a whole’ for it is ‘indispensable’ to understanding the past (p. 222).

Baillargeon’s writing style makes the text an enjoyable read. Its fresh take on survey-style synthesis makes it a welcome challenge for undergraduate students wishing to move beyond the standard textbook format. Its shortcomings are few but worth mentioning. First, little comparison is made with women’s experiences outside of Quebec or the growing cultural influence of the United States. The text is effective, but without a comparative element it can be difficult to see what makes the experience of Quebec women unique. Second, Baillargeon’s actors are mostly heteronormative and there is little discussion of sexual orientation or gender nonconformity. This may be reflective of representation in Quebec at the time. If so, this needs to be stated explicitly.

Baillargeon’s text is ambitious but successful. It reaches for breadth over depth while maintaining a nuanced presentation of life in Quebec through the last 400 years. It is an excellent source for anyone studying Canadian history, especially those interested in social history or Quebec.