Monthly Archives: June 2012
‘the only black-out is the black-out in my soul’
British women’s poetry of the Second World War by Anne Powell … experiences connected with the blitz, the shopping queues, the home front, deserted wives, deceived husbands, broken homes, dull jobs, bad schools, group squabbles, are so much a picture
A brief history of feminism
By Claire Jones Many people think of feminism as beginning with the women’s movement of the 1970s, but feminism was around even before bras had been invented - let alone burned. Women scholars were arguing for a fairer deal for
Women and the bicycle
By Claire Jones In the mid 1880s, the emergence of a new, relatively stable and easy to ride ‘safety bicycle’ provided women with a chance for mobility, increased independence and freedom from the confines of the home. Women took to
Davies and Davison
Is commemoration a matter of deeds versus words? The famous tragic incident when suffragette Emily Davison fatally threw herself in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby, 1913, remains engraved on the public’s memory. Indeed, many of you
Cleopatra: A Biography
by Duane W. Roller (Oxford University Press, 2010) hardback, rrp £14.99 Reviewed by Christina Riggs Mother of four. Sailor. Author. Medical student. Not exactly the sexpot of Shakespearean lore and Hollywood legend. But history suggests that there was much more
Beautiful For Ever
Madame Rachel of Bond Street – Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer by Helen Rappaport (Long Barn Books, 2011) paperback, rrp £8.99 Reviewed by Issy Shannon. How could any woman resist the blandishments of a shop promising eternal beauty? In 1863, at
Jane Whorwood, 1612-1684
Secret Agent and confidante of Charles I who played a key role in the English Civil War By John Fox Early life No portrait of Jane Whorwood has been found. She was born in 1612 to a Scots official of
Suffragists and Suffragettes
An overview of the Votes for Women campaign By Claire Jones Introduction Before the 1832 Reform Act most men and all women did not have the vote. This act created a wider franchise but used the term ‘male person’, specifically
Women in Hospital Service in World War One
A brief overview by Anne Powell, author of Women in the War Zone : Hospital Service in the First World War A researcher’s story Between 1975-1977 and 1982-1985 I lived in Mons, Belgium, where my husband had two appointments on
Mary Somerville (1780-1872)
Mathematician, astronomer, translator By Claire Jones Context It was difficult for a woman to reconcile the conflicting identities of ‘woman’ and ‘scientist’ in the nineteenth century. Theories of sexual difference of the time constructed women as less capable of abstract
