The Icelandic Canadian - 01.05.2008, Page 22

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #2
112
socially constructed and changeable; and, a
gender group identity (e.g., women as a
social group share certain characteristics).
Prentice et al., (1996) points out that pio-
neer women preferred to refer to them-
selves as part of the “woman movement,”
which included the participation of all
types of women from various cultural
groups and ethnicity (p. 190).
Women were expected to be the angel
of the household, the nurturer of the child
and supporter of their husbands in their
private, isolated world. Prentice et al.,
(1996), note that, “What was new and con-
fining about the ideal of domesticity was
the increasingly sharp distinction it made
between the domestic world of women and
the public world of men, the growing
emphasis on the mothering role, and the
negative reactions that greeted most devia-
tions from the norm” (p. 157). Regardless
of these restrictions, as settlers marched
across the North American continent dur-
ing the nineteenth century and into the
1900s, women fostered education, social
reform, and laid solid foundations of reli-
gious faith, and established friendships
among each other (Carter, 2002; Kinnear,
1998; Prentice et al., 1996; Weiss & Rinear,
2002). It is perhaps possible to view women
as performing service activities that were of
a leadership nature. These strategies of ser-
vice can now be linked to a definitive theo-
ry: Servant-Leadership. A servant-leader
was described by Greenleaf (1970/1991) as:
servant first. It begins with the
natural feeling that one wants to
serve.
Then conscious choice brings
one to aspire to lead. The differ-
ence manifests itself in the care
taken by the servant- first, to make
sure that other people’s highest
priority needs are being served.
The best test is: do those served
grow as persons; do they, while
being served, become healthier,
wiser, freer, more autonomous,
more likely themselves to become
servants? And what of the least
privileged in society: will they
benefit, or, at least, not be further
deprived? (p. 7)
Women, both culturally and by defini-
tion, were not and could not be leaders.
But, service to others, for the good of oth-
ers, was deemed a moral obligation and the
right thing to do. Mentors and role models
for women were found in the neighbor
next door or a farmwife on the next
acreage, or a mother, grandmother or
female church member. The support and
example of these women for other women
was as a catalyst for dreaming and believing
in possibilities.
Most of what was written at that time
about women was related to their connec-
tion to men. As Katherine Carter (2002)
observed, “Women’s records were saved
for what they revealed about the lives of
important men or about historical
moments made significant by men’s
involvement. Women’s lives have not
always been considered historically impor-
tant” (p. 7). Their actions were seldom
recorded in the history books. But Carter
(2002) stresses that, “the best history is
biography and that reading the details from
lives of individual women can do much to
broaden and challenge our understanding
of Canadian history” (p. 6). Permanent
monuments did not exist to honor or illu-
minate the contributions of pioneer
women. Of significance is the fact that
women were not permitted to vote, a rule
which also included convicts, the insane,
and immigrants. Women only received the
franchise in Manitoba in 1916 (Prentice et
al., 1996, p. 114, 234).
The Dictionary of Manitoba
Biography by J. M. Bumsted (1999) lists
approximately 1,670 names in total. There
were 172 names of females in that list or
approximately 10% of the total. These
numbers do not provide an accurate repre-
sentation of the Manitoba women who
made contributions to their province. Only
recently have women’s issues or stories in
Manitoba been given attention by female
historians and those interested in educa-
tional development, such as: Armstrong
(2000); Kinnear (1998); Prentice et al.,
(1996); and van de Vorst (2002). Because of
the ongoing immigration, relocation of
people, and vastness of the prairies, many
lives disappeared into obscurity and little if