An open window

Women’s work in the women’s press in the aftermath of the First World War

Bibliographic Data

ID21838151
AuthorsKathryn Montgomery Hunter (0000-0002-6775-6190, Victoria University of Wellington, corresponding author), Emma Ward (0000-0002-7579-3215, History Department, Te Arawhiti Office for Māori-Crown Relations, Wellington, New Zealand), Emma Kate WARD (0000-0003-4295-9167, Whakauae Research (New Zealand))
Year2021
Volume12
Issue1
Pages17-33
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFirst World War Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1947-5020 • E-ISSN: 1947-5039
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19475020.2021.1986415
OpenAlexW3202141778
LanguageEN
References cited11

The notion of the First World War being emancipatory for women has been, if not dismissed, then highly qualified. Understanding the postwar renegotiation of gender roles, however, is a complex task, especially in a society in which women’s enfranchisement had long been secured. This article aims to contribute to debates about women’s experiences of the transition from war to peace and is based on the weekly women’s pages in two New Zealand newspapers for the 24 months after armistice. The columns reveal that for a time, higher education and careers were promoted to women, before such encouragement waned and more traditional roles once again dominated the columns. There was, albeit briefly, an ‘open window’ for women in New Zealand during which time wartime experiences and disruption of norms created an environment of emancipatory thinking

Aesthetics · Art · First world war · Management · Media studies · Newspaper · Political science · Sociology · Window of opportunity · World War II · Australian History and Society · Engineering · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · History · Law · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact

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