This interdisciplinary volume examines the role of women at various stages of the civilization process under the question of the civilization of the female self. Gender-specific civilizations are described and analyzed in relation to Norbert Elias's theses on the historical genesis of the relationship between external and internal constraints. The book brings together historical, sociological, and theory-comparative essays that test the figurational sociological theses in the research fields of sports, bourgeois letter culture, sexuality, gender relations in court society, changes in family structures, and equality policies. The historically oriented contributions engage with Elias's theses on the history of civilization. The theory-oriented contributions compare figurational sociology with other theories.