The Fashion of the Salvation Army
Regulated dress promoted unity with the organization and distanced members, especially women, from both secular life and conventional Protestantism.
Street Harassment in Victorian London
Middle- and upper-class women complained about “so-called gentlemen” who stared at them, blocked their paths, and followed them as they tried to shop.
How Bill Russell Changed the Game, On and Off the Court
NBA player and coach Bill Russell was a leader and legend, fighting for civil rights even as racists harassed him from the sidelines.
See Jane Use a Speculum
In the pre-Roe era, a collective of women known as The Janes took reproductive health into their own hands.
Staying Cool with Hand Fans
Fans are much more than convenient cooling devices. They make fashion statements, serve as status symbols, and silently spread political propaganda.
Policing Abortion
A study on the criminalization of abortion in the late 1800s through the 1940s reveals that the law was often used against working-class women.
Visualizing Trans Identities
Photography played an important role in determining gender categories and presentations for both scientists and trans individuals in interwar Germany.
Palmyre’s Belle Époque Lesbian Bar
By providing sexualized entertainment to tourists, the bar owners of Montmartre made visible and even celebrated the quarter’s queer culture.
Can a Woman Be a Genius?
Many Edwardian progressives and utopians put their hopes in the exceptional individual who was able to overcome obstacles with a force of will.
Paying Moms to Breastfeed in Medieval Europe
The idea of offering remuneration to women for breastfeeding—even their own children—wasn’t unusual in late medieval and early modern Europe.