In western culture, ideas on emotions and gender differences have become closely entwined. The aim of this research was to investigate and comment on this relationship from a historical and gender perspective. The so-called Spectatorial writings of the eighteenth century served as the basis for this research. Written by, and for, the enlightened vanguard of Dutch society, these weekly magazines, sixty of which were researched, can be seen as the forerunners of our modern-day opinion papers. They were a wonderful source for demonstrating how historical circumstances, traditions and social mechanisms influence the ideas that people form about their own and other people’s emotional lives. The research made use of the concept 'emotional culture', defined as the total set of feeling rules, expression norms and emotion words as well as ideals, theories and popular convictions that guide the recognition , experience, evaluation, expression and knowledge of emotions and feelings within a certain group and period of time. This concept made it possible to analyse and connect the various types of emotions and various elements of the interpretative framework on which the Dutch Spectator-writers based their texts. The research also made use of the analytical concept 'gender’, defined as the meaning and position given to sexual difference in a society or culture. By means of these concepts, it was possible to demonstrate how variable the stereotype of 'the emotional woman’ has always been. It was also possible to carry out an initial analysis of the rise and fall of her male counterpart from the eighteenth century, 'the man of feeling'. The analysis from a gender perspective also demonstrated the wide extent to which gender stereotypes influence one’s appreciation of emotions. The Dutch Spectator writers’ intention in publishing their texts was to enlighten their fellow citizens and turn the tide of the ‘decline’ of Dutch society. This reform operation resulted in highly biased exposés on emotions and the way in which various groups within Dutch society dealt with their emotions. In their texts, the writers allotted sexual, social, religious, national and age differences enormous powers in terms of explaining this decline, but at the same time they presented them as factors of which the more negative aspects could be reduced by means of a better upbringing, more control, and setting a better example. In their descriptions of emotions in other nations, classes and religious convictions, sexual difference now played an obvious role. In around 1770, the Dutch spectatorial authors suddenly began to focus on other emotional phenomena, and the general tone of their texts on emotions became more positive. The research showed that the causes and consequences of this shift could be related to a number of wider social-cultural developments taking place throughout Western Europe at the time. Publications: Spectators van hartstocht. Sekse en emotionele cultuur in de achttiende eeuw, Hilversum 1998 More ... 'Historicizing the gender of emotions: Changing perceptions in Dutch Enlightenment thought', in: Journal of Social History 34 (2000-2001), p.55-75. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. '"Passies zijn als de winden". Natuur en cultuur in de emotietheorieën van de Verlichting', in: Psychologie en Maatschappij 24 (2000) p.122-136. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Spectators van hartstocht. Sekse en emotionele cultuur in de achttiende eeuw', in: Historica 22 (1999) nr. 1, p.6-8. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Het perpetuum mobile van de emotionele vrouw. Veranderende betekenissen van sekse en emoties ten tijde van de Verlichting', in: Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies 1 (1998) nr.4, p.14-26. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Thermometers voor mannelijkheid en vrouwelijkheid. De betekenis van sekse in de spectatoriale geschriften', in: De Achttiende Eeuw 26 (1994) nr.1, p.41-62. Summary. The article is available as Pdf.