Remaking Betty Boop in the Image of a Housewife
Betty Boop was literally designed to be a bombshell, but around 1935, her creators decided to change her appearance.
Co-Living, the Hot New Trend of 1898
Chicago's "Eleanor Clubs" were designed to give young, working women affordable and congenial places to live.
When Hortense Powdermaker Studied Hollywood
This anthropologist's research on contemporary American society probes the tensions between business and art in the film world.
Who Really Wrote The G-String Murders?
Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous burlesque star of the 1940s, wrote a series of letters published by Simon & Schuster that may prove her authorship.
The Origins of Women’s Soccer
The British Ladies Football Club held their first match at Alexandra Park in Crouch End, London in 1895.
Sor Juana, Founding Mother of Mexican Literature
How a 17th-century nun wrote poetry, dramas, and comedies that took on the inequities and double standards women faced in society.
To Reduce Infant Mortality, Train the Babysitters
“Little Mothers’ Leagues,” a program started by Dr. S. Josephine Baker at the turn of the last century, taught school-age girls to care for babies.
Judith Butler: The Early Years
Before Judith Butler's 1990 book Gender Trouble, the influential gender theorist wrote a series of essays that offer easier access to her ideas.
The Filipino Novel That Reimagined Neocolonial Gender
Revisiting an essential Asian American work, beloved for its synthesis of neocolonialism, postmodernism, and central queer and female characters.
How War Revolutionized Ireland’s Linen Industry
During the Napoleonic Wars, Irish women, who had traditionally only spun flax into thread, took over the traditionally male job of weaving linen as well.