“He asked him if he had seen the doctor having connection with a nurse.” Archives pose constant distractions. I’ve lost […]
Poking Holes in Political Memes: History, the Welfare State, and the Trope of the Founding Fathers
An elderly man behind me in the checkout line at the grocery store asked me what I do. When I […]
A Letter to the Lady in Pants: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker and the History of Women (Un)Worthies
“WALKER, Mary Edwards (Nov. 26, 1832 – Feb. 21, 1919), Civil War medical worker, dress reformer, and eccentric.” So begins […]
Tea Kettles and Turpitudes: Abortion and Material Culture in Irish History
In 1932, a Donegal woman was brought up on criminal charges after she attempted miscarriage by consuming both pills as […]
But It’s Vintage Lifestyle Change: Surveying the History of American Orthorexia with the Whole30
Before I go any further, let me make one thing perfectly clear: this article is about a diet. Yes, I […]
Women, Animals, and the Poetry of Activism
“What could be more calculated to produce brutal wife-beaters than long savage cruelty toward the other animals?”1 When Edith Ward […]
Mommy Wars of Yore: Classism and its Casualties
Most of us are familiar with the Mommy Wars. The Internet is the battlefield, and woman is pitted against woman […]
“The Only Menstrual Murderess”: Blood, Guns, and a Theory of Female Crime
[gblockquote]Lizzie Borden took an ax And gave her father forty whacks And when she saw what she had done She […]
Denver’s One-Lung Army: Disease, Disability, and Debility in a Frontier City
This post originally appeared on REMEDIA. In 1879 the famous showman, P.T. Barnum joked that, “Coloradoans are the most disappointed people I […]
Whipped: An Editor, a Lady, and the (Not So) Humorous History of Women’s Anger
In 1859, the popular men’s magazine The National Police Gazette, known for its coverage of sport, saucy ladies, and other […]
