Suffragists, Sistahs, and Riot Grrrls


Essay One:
Representations of Women in 19th-Century Media

Description: Based on your research in 19th-century U.S. mass media archives (journals, magazines, newspapers), write an essay delineating and analyzing 19th-century representations of women and the ideals and images of "womanhood" they construct. (You may draw on both pictures and words in your search for "images" and "ideals.") As Barbara Welter makes one argument about women in 19th-century media in her article "The Cult of True Womanhood"; you will be looking at other materials as a context for making your argument. Your essay should make use of one or more class readings (including Welter's, if you wish) as appropriate, as well as the material in 19th-century print sources, and should reach a conclusion (make an argument) about the politics of the representation of women in that period. The finished essay is to be 600-1000 words long. Use an accepted parenthetical citation form (consult a writer's handbook or online resources). Include copies of the historic material that informs your argument. The essay is due in class on Thursday, February 15.

Purpose: Exploring 19th-century print resources will provide you with important research skills and will enrich your study of women's activism and thought in that period by delineating the dominant thinking that prompted those protests. You will also be beginning to work on the final essay for the class, which will be a historical survey of changing visions of women and women's response to those ideals.

Method: After your group has been assigned a collection to research, consult

Ruth Dickstein's Guide to Research in 19th-century media
to locate the appropriate resources. Begin exploring, taking notes on what women are represented, how they are presented, what women are missing, etc. You will also want to ask who is writing the articles? for whom are they written? where do they appear? is the journal or newspaper mainstream? conservative? progressive? for a mostly Euro-American audience? for a minority or immigrant audience? Focus your research on a manageable set of documents. Formulate your argument, drawing on the 19th-century materials and class readings and discussions. Here are some helpful hints on argumentation.

Evaluation: Your essay will be graded on its successful completion of the terms of the assignment, on complexity and originality of thesis, argumentation, organization, style, and mechanics (including citation form). Essays that arrive at all late will be substantially penalized.