ABSTRACT
Gender differences and inequalities are central to modern nationalism as it has been practiced in most Western countries. The very centrality and rootedness of gendered divisions in the functioning of modern nations and the constructions of national identities continue to obscure the relations between the two in much public opinion. The limitation of women’s power (social, economic, and political) is intricately tied to modern nationalism. In defining the national citizenry during the revolutionary era, ruling elites in both France and the United States deliberately excluded women from many political and economic rights. In so doing, they created starkly different roles for men and women in the modern nation-state (A ccampo 2004; H unt 1992; S cott 1996). While, of course, these roles drew on existing gender norms, tying them to nationalism legitimized and reinforced them over time, imbuing them with patriotic associations, in which fulfilling traditional gender roles is seen to promote the good of the nation (M osse 1996; N ash 2005; Y uval-Davis 1997).
