Saarimäki Pasi

Biography

I am Pasi Saarimäki, a post-doctoral researcher in Finnish History. My main research interests are sexuality and the institution of marriage in Finland in the late 19th century and in the early 20th century. In my doctoral dissertation (”Naimiset normit, käytännöt ja konfliktit”, 2010) and also later years, I studied sexual behavior, sexual norms, courtship, marrying, marital problems and the maintenance of illegitimate children in rural central Finland in the late 19th century. In future, I will start a project which concerns adulterous relationships in Finnish countryside. On the other hand, my research interest focuses on Finnish public debate concerning divorces. Both individuals and organizations participated in this discussion which concerned mostly a new marriage code which was under preparation in the early 20th century. Simultaneously they tried to define a good and bad marriage. Gender is an important analytical tool in all of those above mentioned research subjects, and I am interested in what sort of differences between men and women there are to perform their own gender. However, recently I have written a commissioned research, which concerns cultural political networks of Viljo S. Määttälä.

Research Interest

Early Modern Morals, Gender Studies