THE RESISTANTES - RESEARCH PROSPECTS

Does a specific feminine resistance exist, distinct from that of men ? Was the ideal of the housewife/mother which was established between t he thirties and the fifties favorable or unfavorable to women's commit ment to the Resistance ? Did the modes of this commitment reproduce th e gendered division of roles ? Like any social history, that of women is seen through the history of representations, bur in this case, the way men and women themselves viewed their resistance complicates our u nderstanding. The resistantes were not feminist in the current meaning , so that they tended to underestimate their personal participation. P ostwar censuses only show the minority of women who wished to declare their contribution. The nature of female activities partly explains th is under-evaluation: the resistance at home like the harbouring of cla ndestine people fitted in with the ''woman's natural vocation''. Likew ise, ''feminine'' jobs like secretarial tasks or social work were held by women in the underground movement. In this repertoire of action, o ther acts broke with tradition, like military intelligence, organisati on of housewives' demonstrations, or armed resistance. But neither the se practices nor the ordeals endured by arrested resistantes led to a change in woman's image at the Liberation.