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…
Category: Blog
The Women’s History Network blog
‘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…
Female Petitioning to Monarchs and the Criminal Process in England, 1660-1702 by Emily Rhodes
In browsing the English State Papers in the National Archives at Kew or the State Papers Online database, one of the most common types of documents you will encounter are petitions to the crown. Within this subset of records, there…
The bizarre 1858 ‘Princes Park Crinoline Case’: 13-year-old girl is key witness in Liverpool’s highest-attendance trial by Tony Whittaker
Pleasant autumn weather on Monday 1 November 1858 prompted governess Jane Marsh (20) to give her two charges, Mary Hayes (13½) and sister Alice (12), a break from studies. After an early lunch, they bid farewell to two younger sisters…
The Decriminalisation of Abortion in The Maritime Provinces of Canada and Scotland by Amy Joyce
The Maritime Provinces of Canada and Scotland have strong historical ties that link the areas closely. In both places, the decriminalisation of abortion in the late 1960s was a milestone in women’s history but sparked fierce pro-choice and pro-life debates…