New Designs in Menswear

This Short-Lived Political Party Embraced Socks With Sandals

The Men’s Dress Reform Party (MDRP) called for liberation from dark, tightly-knit textiles...and had some ties to the eugenics movement.
Woman sitting on chair, putting on stockings

Why Women Burned Their Stockings in the 1930s

The average 1930s American woman bought up to 15 pairs of silk stockings a year—until, that is, women boycotted the fabric behind an essential garment.
Ching Shih Pirate

Cheng I Sao, Female Pirate Extraordinaire

Learn more about Cheng I Sao, a female pirate who dominated the coast of the Kwangtung Province between 1795-1810.
Woman looking at men whispering

The Pioneers in the Fight against Sexual Harassment

Some of the first precedent-setting sexual harassment cases were filed by women who were African-American, working class, or both
Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart Taught America to Fly

Amelia Earhart taught America to fly. How Earhart and other women pilots of her day helped overcome Americans’ skepticism about flight.
Amelie Mauresmo

The Sexual Politics of Wimbledon

At Wimbledon, tennis is about more than tennis. The story of Amélie Mauresmo illustrates the complex sexual politics of women athelete’s bodies.
Ruth Mazo Karras

Ruth Mazo Karras

Ask a Professor offers an insider’s view of life in academia. Up this month: Ruth Mazo Karmas, Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.
Source: Confederation Centre Art Gallery

Caroline Louisa Daly Is Finally Getting Her Due

The works of the Canadian painter Caroline Louisa Daly were for years incorrectly attributed to Charles Daly, a municipal bureaucrat turned artist.
Fishing Victorian

How the Victorians Went Camping

If you’re going camping this summer, will you rough it on a wilderness hike, or relax in a ...
Mae West

How The “Fag Hag” Went From Hated to Celebrated

At its core, the relationship between single women and gay men has longstanding historical roots.