ABSTRACT
Israel did not deny the existence of a 'reality' in the past, but asked historians to 'admit the impossibility of living and writing outside of representation'. This perception of the complexity of the task of the historian of women and her positioning within the kaleidoscope is a hallmark of the writings of the nineties. The dimensions of a feminist critique of post-structuralist theories as far as they impinge on the writing of gender and women's history were emerging. Modern feminist historians wished to take part in the struggle against racial and colonial oppression. Gordon had identified two purposes in writing women's history, one of which was based on the claim that there was no objective truth within reach of the historian, 'there are degrees of accuracy; there are better and worse pieces of history'. The other was aimed at 'mythic power', the writing of history with the intention of achieving political change.
