Abstract
When considering Elias' long-term perspective contained within the civilising process, the perspective described by the process of psychogenesis is fundamentally one of the transition in male public behaviour. Elias' own research was based around etiquette books aimed at codifying the good courtly behaviour of people, but in particular, that of young men.
This is understandable on the surface given the observable patriarchal structure of society throughout the ages however given that half the population experienced the same social transition, the question remains as to how and why the civilising process manifested amongst women's psychogenesis. It is therefore necessary to reject, as Alice Clark did over a century ago, the notion that women are a static factor in social development (Clark, 1919, p.1) and interrogate the implications of the civilising process on the neglected half of European society.