SESSION 4

Respectability, Shame & the Moral Body

In this session we explore:

• The rise of respectability culture
• The role of confession and internalised moral surveillance
• Magdalene Laundries and Mother & Baby Homes
• How shame functioned as a powerful mechanism of social control

We also explore the long-term effects of this system, including patterns many women still recognise today:

• Hyper-responsibility and the pressure to hold everything together
• Burnout and emotional over-functioning
• A deep, often inherited vigilance around morality, reputation and belonging

Attention is also given to those who did not fit these norms, including lesbian women and unmarried mothers, whose lives were often erased, hidden or marginalised within the moral order of the time.

Seen in this light, the regulation of women’s lives was not only a matter of institutional control, but also something that entered the intimate fabric of family life shaping expectations, silence and identity across generations.

Understanding this history allows us to recognise how these pressures shaped the lives of Irish women, and how their echoes continue to appear in contemporary life today.

If this inquiry speaks to something in your own history, we invite you to join us.*

*If the cost is a barrier but the inquiry speaks to you, please contact us. We are open to exploring payment plans or other arrangements.