How Training Bras Constructed American Girlhood
In the twentieth century, advertisements for a new type of garment for preteen girls sought to define the femininity they sold.
Doris Day Changed Us Forever
What did women coming of age in the 1950s think of Doris Day in Calamity Jane? Does her filmography have the same meaning now?
Why Did the Suffragists Wear Medieval Costumes?
Medieval costume was a standard feature of US women’s suffrage parades, often with one participant designated as Joan of Arc.
The Latent Racism of the Better Homes in America Program
How Better Homes in America—a collaboration between Herbert Hoover and the editor of a conservative women’s magazine—promoted idealized whiteness.
On the 100th Anniversary of the Negro Leagues, a Look Back at What Was Lost
A century ago, teams from eight cities formally created the Negro National League. Three decades of stellar play followed.
How Saint George’s Dragon Got Its Wings
As time went on, the dragons in Russian iconography slowly became more Western in style—just like Russia itself.
Darwin in Love
Charles Darwin, who of all people should have known better, married his first cousin. Did his love for Emma color his later works?
Paul Krugman: Everything Is Political
An interview with the Nobel prize-winning economist on what to do about the “zombie ideas” that animate contemporary political discourse.
The Gospel According to Kanye West
On the making of gospel music, from Gospel Pearls to Jesus Is King.
Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered
The queer history of the pansy and other flowers.