Constructing the Gendered Body: Girls, Health, Beauty, Advice, and the Girls’ Best Friend , 1898–99 1
2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 15; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/09612020500529671
ISSN1747-583X
Autores Tópico(s)Gender, Feminism, and Media
ResumoThis article addresses a missing element of late‐Victorian working‐class and lower middle‐class girls’ socialization about their bodies through an examination of one particular paper aimed at this group of readers: the Girls’ Best Friend. The Girls’ Best Friend, published and edited by Alfred Harmsworth, acted as a purveyor of social, cultural, and gender values, roles, and norms, helping to inculcate within upper working‐class and lower middle‐class girls the appropriate conventions of their sex. It reflects the dominant view that girls, as a result of their bodies, were inherently dangerous, unstable, and prone to nervous disorders. At the same time, it also reflected changing perceptions about girls’ health and beauty, intimately linking the two. Finally, the paper also reflected the changing social norms surrounding girls’ bodies, resulting in confusing and contradictory messages.
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