At the Tokyo Olympic Games 2021, women will compete in all thirty-three available sports. In the British team, women will outnumber their male counterparts for the first time in history. By contrast, at the 1948 Olympics, women were restricted to…
Author: WHN
‘Love Thy Neighbour’: Neighbourly conflict in early modern Nantwich, by Sarah Fox
In 1663 Anne Knutsford, licensed midwife and moneylender, was issued with an inhibition by the parish of Nantwich against practicing midwifery for ‘lyeing, sweareing and curseing’ amongst other allegations. As if to confirm the charges, Anne allegedly ‘abused the authority…
Tattooed Women: a misleading notion of empowerment and agency
It is often claimed that tattooed women are a symbol of modernity, defying the restricting beauty standards of society.[1] Nonetheless, more wide-ranging research reveals that this is a generalised and too simplistic a view of tattooed women. My research on…
When sources hurt: Researching anti-trans ideologies as a trans person, by Rebecca Hickman
My project delves into the political strategies and concepts that have powered the trans rights movement in the United Kingdom over the past half-century, particularly the concept of ‘recognition.’ The aim of my research is to understand what ‘recognition’ has…
‘Unfit and untrained, physically and morally, to stand so sudden and violent a change of environment’ : Irish Female Emigration to Britain in the Late Twentieth Century
[i]My life-long fascination with the role of gender in shaping women’s working lives began when, at the age of six, a doctor asked me if I wanted to be a nurse when I grew up. When I answered that I…
Bringing Ourselves Along with Us: The Realities of Historical Writing
I am a minoritized scholar – something that is usually clear by looking at me – working with disenfranchised communities: Black women in nineteenth century France. But I state it clearly when I speak to classes or do more formalized…
Herstories Student Conference – 8 March 2021
On 8th March 2021 the Women’s History Network held a student conference called Studying Herstories. Due to the Covid pandemic, this took place online enabling a wide range of speakers and attendees from different backgrounds, institutions, and career stages to…
WHN Undergraduate Dissertation Prize 2021
The Women’s History Network is offering one £250 prize for an undergraduate dissertation on any aspect of women’s or gender history (though substantially focused on women) written during the 2020-2021 academic year. We welcome research on any period and place:…
Women’s History Spring 2021
Special Issue: Doing Women’s History. The Spring 2021 special edition issue of Women’s History is available now for purchase. The digital version of this edition is available free to all members – see details below.