A Woman's Position in Serbia in the Second Half of the 19th - Early 20th Centuries and Manifestation of Trends to Emancipation

In the article, the problem of a woman's position in Serbia by the end of the modern history period is studied, woman emancipation processes are analyzed. The most important criterion of an urban woman's emancipation was her awareness of her unequal position and attempts to fix the situation. The Constitution of 1888 equalized the civil rights of men and women. So universal suffrage was introduced; therefore, a woman could participate in the political life of the state. The influence of the Western fashion was increasing, which allowed and encouraged outward chic. By the beginning of the 20th century, girls did not just do house work, but had a chance to show themselves in the field of culture, practice art. In villages, some traditions changed or disappeared. Modern researchers note that the dying of national ornamentation is connected with the transformation of the traditional culture influenced by the European fashion. The penetration of industrial products in Serbian rural market played a key role; it replaced similar hand-made things that required time and effort to produce them. The main problem was the discrepancy between the efforts of the state and the final result: the state's attempts to introduce universal education, especially for females, were consciously or unconsciously opposed. In Serbia, the system of female education developed mainly in cities. In 1846, a special ruling was passed about female schools; moreover, in 1845, in Parachin, the first female school was opened. In 1883, a law was passed about universal education. By the end of the 19th century, the system of female education was represented by primary female schools, by private female boarding houses and a female high school with about 8,000 students. In 1913, the Mariinsky Girls' Institute was transferred from Montenegro to Belgrade. The developing system of female education in the city contributed to the appearance of individual bright personalities, educated women. By the end of the 19th century, mentions are found about women in various spheres of public life: Draga Lyocic, Milovuk Catherine, Elena Dmitrievich, Isidora Sekulich, Milica Tomic and others. In the works, Serbian female writers openly raised questions and problems of freedom of women. In the beginning of the 20th century, Dmitrievich's novel New Women was published. In 1911, the Woman magazine was founded which promoted the ideas of emancipation and feminism in Serbian society. In 1903, a woman organization "Kolo srpskikh sestar" was founded in Belgrade. Activities of successful women influenced the woman's changing position in society, greater emancipation in the future. The author concludes that by the beginning of the 20th century the scope of women's rights was only outlined, but in cities the woman's status changed quite significantly.

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