Constructing the gendered body: Girls, health, beauty, advice, and the girls' best friend, 1898-99

Women's History Review

Volumn 15, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 253-275

  Webb, Alisa ^a  

^a UCFV   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 34347285733     PISSN: 09612025     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09612020500529671     Document Type: Article

References (120)

1. See, for example, J. N. Burstyn (1980) Victorian Education and the Ideal of Womanhood (London: Barnes & Noble Books)
2. C. Dyhouse (1981) Girls Growing up in Late Victorian and Edwardian England (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul)
3. J. Giles (1995) Women, Identity and Private Life in Britain, 1900-1950 (London: Macmillan).
4. P. Tinkler (1995) Constructing Girlhood: popular magazines for girls growing up in England, 1920-1950 (Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis). For this article, I have chosen to focus on the first two years of the paper's publication for two reasons: first, because as the paper was just starting out, Harmsworth as the editor was more forthcoming during this period about his aims with the paper, including its nature and intended audience; and second, after the first two years the paper changed its format. It became significantly larger, cost more, and dedicated more space to fiction - something worth examining at a later time.
5. see M. Cadogan & P. Craig (1976) You're a Brick Angela! A New Look at Girls'Fiction from 1839-1975 (London: Gollanz), pp. 127-129
6. K. Drotner (1988) English Children and Their Magazines, 1751-1945 (New Haven: Yale University Press), pp. 121, 147, 165;
7. S. Mitchell (1995) The New Girl: girls' culture in England, 1880-1915 (New York: Columbia University Press), p. 30.
8. For an excellent summary of changes in print culture during the late Victorian era, see C. L. White (1970) Women's Magazines, 1693-1968 (London: Michael Joseph), pp. 58-92.
9. G. A. Cranfield (1978) The Press and Society: from Caxton to Northcliffe (London: Longman), pp. 217-222.
10. Jones, of Jocelyn's, The Typewriting Girl, Girls' Friend, 2(73), p. 190.
11. L. Holcombe (1973) Victorian Ladies at Work: middle class working women in England and Wales, 1850-1914 (Hamden: Archon Books), p. 107.
12. W. Mitchinson (1991) The Nature of Their Bodies: women and their doctors in Victorian Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press), pp. 58-59.
13. See also A. Digby (1989) Women's Biological Straight-jacket, in S. Mendus & J. Rendall (Eds) Sexuality and Subordination: interdisciplinary studies of gender in the nineteenth century (London: Routledge), pp. 192-220.
14. Mitchinson, The Nature of Their Bodies, p. 58
15. M. Poovey (1987) 'Scenes of an Indelicate Character': the medical treatment of Victorian Women, in C. Gallagher & T. Laqueur (Eds) 'The Making of the Modern Body: sexuality and society in the nineteenth century (Berkley: University of California Press), pp. 137-169, p. 147.
16. This is echoed by D. Gorham (1982) The Victorian Girl and the Feminine Ideal (London: Groom Helm), pp. 85-89
17. C. Dyhouse (1981) Girls Growing Up in Late Victorian and Edwardian England (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul), chapters 1 and 4
18. E. Showalter (1972) Victorian Women and Menstruation, in M. Vicinus (Ed.) Suffer and Be Still: women in the Victorian age (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), pp. 38-44
19. J-M. Strange (2000) Menstrual Fictions: languages of medicine and menstruation, c. 1850-1930, Women's History Review, 9, pp. 607-628
20. P. Vertinsky (1990) The Eternally Wounded Woman: women, doctors, and exercise in the late nineteenth century (Manchester: Manchester University Press), pp. 39-68.
21. Strange, 'Menstrual Fictions', p. 612.
22. See also Gorham, The Victorian Girl, pp. 85-89, 103-105
23. A. C. Peterson (1976) Brain Fever in Nineteenth Century Literature: fact and fiction, Victorian Studies, June, pp. 445-464.
24. Tales of a Tea-Shop: Pretty Ella Stacey's Love-Story (1899) Girls' Friend, 2(85), pp. 336-335.
25. Under a Ban (1899) Girls' Friend, 2(71), pp. 164-165.
26. A University for Girls: Girton College (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(40), p. 313
27. Miss Marion Carlyon (1898-99) The Duke's Ward, Girls' Best Friend, 1, Issues 41-53.
28. How to Keep Well (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(58), p. 56.
29. M. L. Stewart (2001) For Health and Beauty: physical culture for Frenchwomen, 1880s-1930s (London: Johns Hopkins University Press), pp. 152, 158. Gymnastics, calisthenics, and dance were also presumed to improve coordination, patience, endurance, and attractiveness.
30. A Handsome Figure: Exercise for Girls (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(1), p. 4.
31. K. McCrone (1984) Play Up! Play Up! And Play the Game! Sport at the Late Victorian Girls' Public School, Journal of British Studies, 23, pp. 106-133
32. K. McCrone (1988) Sport and the Physical Emancipation of English Women, 1870-1914 (London: Routledge).
33. P. Marks (1990) Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers: the New Woman in the popular press (Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press), p. 65
34. Mitchinson, 'The Nature of'Their Bodies, p. 65.
35. See Marks, Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers, pp. 174-203
36. McCrone, Sport, pp. 177-185
37. How to Keep Well: Proper Food (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(59), p. 64.
38. For a discussion of British eating habits see P. J. Atkins (2000) Milk Consumption and Tuberculosis in Britain, 1850-1950, in A. Fenton (Ed.) Order and Disorder: the health implications of eating and drinking in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (East Linton: Tuck-well Press), pp. 83-95
39. J. Burnett (1979) Plenty and Want: a social history of diet in England from 1815 to the present day (London: Scolar Press)
40. S. Freeman (1989) Mutton and Oysters: the Victorians and their food (London: Victor Gollancz);
41. C. A. Wilson (Ed) (1994) Luncheon, Nuncheon, and Other Meals: eating with the Victorians (Stroud: Alan Sutton)
42. D. J. Oddy (2000) Paradox of Diet and Health: England and Scotland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in Fenton, Order and Disorder, pp. 45-63. It should also be noted that many foods were now increasingly safe owing to the public health acts and food adulteration legislation.
43. B. Harrison (1996) Not Only the 'Dangerous Trades': women's work and health in Britain, 1880-1914 (London: Taylor & Francis), p. 24.
44. Stewart, For Health and Beauty, pp. 196-197.
45. See also J. Giles (1995) Women, Identity and Private Life in Britain, 1900-50 (London: Macmillan), pp. 67-69.
46. Annie F.J. (1898) letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1(45), p. 367.
47. How to Keep Well (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(57), p. 44. This series of articles was supposedly written by a female doctor.
48. Lady Mary B. (1898) Looking Smart, Girls' Best Friend, 1(8), p. 59.
49. For a discussion of changing corsets see M. Davies (1982) Corsets and Conception: fashion and demographic trends in the nineteenth century, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 24, pp. 611-641
50. E. Ewing (1971) Fashion in Underwear (London: B.T. Basford)
51. C. Finch (1991) 'Hooked and Buttoned Together': Victorian underwear and representations of the female body, Victorian Studies, 34, pp. 337-363
52. B. Rudofsky (1971) The Unfashionable Human Body (New York: Doubleday)
53. A. Krugovoy Silver (2002) Victorian Literature and the Anorexic Body (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
54. V. Steele (2001) The Corset: a cultural history (London and New Haven: Yale University Press)
55. L. Summers (2001) Bound to Please: a history of the Victorian corset (Oxford and New York: Berg).
56. Davies, 'Corsets and Conception', p. 619
57. Finch, 'Hooked and Buttoned Together', pp. 343-344
58. Silver, Victorian Literature and the Anorexic Body, p. 35. Unfortunately, as Finch argues, even prostitutes sometimes took to the corset, angering their 'social betters'.
59. Rudofsky, The Unfashionable Human Body,p. 111.
60. This is echoed by J. Jacobs Brumberg (1988) Fasting Girls: the emergence of anorexia nervosa as a modern disease, pp. 175-177 (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press)
61. Summers, Bound to Please, p. 19.
62. How to Keep Young (1899) Girls' Friend, 2(86), p. 339.
63. How to Keep Well: Sensible Dress (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(60), p. 72.
64. How Nervous Headaches can be Banished (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(13), p. 97.
65. Lady Mary B. (1898) Looking Smart, Girls'Best Friend, 1(8), p. 59.
66. Steele, The Corset, pp. 66-85;
67. Ewing, Fashion in Underwear, pp. 68-78.
68. For a history of the development of this particular figure see C. Buckley & H. Fawcett (2002) Fashioning the Feminine: representation and women's fashion from the fin de siecle to the present (London: I. B. Tauris), pp. 40-41.
69. See also Brumberg, Fasting Girls, pp. 165-166.
70. Good Looks: What Are Yours Worth? Girls' Best Friend, 1 (32), p. 254.
71. Finch, 'Hooked and Buttoned Together', pp. 341, 348-349
72. Fanny L, (1898) Letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1(12), p, 94.
73. Weary One (1899) Letter, Girls' Best Friend, 2(63), p. 95.
74. Alice (1899) Letter, Girls' Friend, 2(75), p. 208.
75. See, for example, How to Become Beautiful: By a Professional Beautifier (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(44), p. 358.
76. The Perfect Woman (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(38), p. 303. The 22-26 inch waist is particularly important given the fact that the ideal waist measurement, with a corset, was 17-20 inches during this period. See previously cited sources re: corsets.
77. How to Become Beautiful: Proper Weight for Women (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(51), p. 414.
78. The Value of a Good Figure: It Does Not Need a Pretty Face (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(1), p.1.
79. Average Weight of Englishwomen (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(26), p. 201.
80. Nelly (1899) letter, Girls'Best Friend, 2(78), p. 250.
81. How Thin Girls Can Put on Flesh (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(22), p. 173.
82. See also How to Become Beautiful (1898) Girls'Best Friend, 1(44), p. 358.
83. Buckley & Fawcett, Fashioning the Feminine, pp. 17, 32.
84. What Makes a Pretty Girl? (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(4), p. 25.
85. Articles on how to achieve clear skin appeared often in the Girls' Best Friend. For additional examples, see How to Become Beautiful (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(45), p. 366
86. How to Keep Well: Care of the Skin (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(65), p. 110
87. Beauty Aids (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(69), p. 144.
88. Beauty Aids: Useful Advice for All Kinds of Girls - Pretty and Passable (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(68), p. 130.
89. Poor Connie (1898) letter, Girls'Best Friend, 1(45), p. 367.
90. Maggie (1898) letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1(32), p. 251.
91. Alfred Harmsworth (1899) editorial, Girls' Friend, 2(86), p. 339.
92. Lady Gray (1899) Careful Hairdressing, Girls' Friend, 2(89), p. 381.
93. Nice White Hands (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1 (17), p. 129.
94. How to Become Beautiful (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(49), p. 399.
95. Beauty Hints: Pearly-White Teeth (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(2), p. 13.
96. How to Become Beautiful (1898) Girls' Best Friend, 1(47), p. 382.
97. Eva (1898) letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1(44), p. 359.
98. Advertisements for the 'Dido Dentifrice Company' ran only three times in the paper. This particular quotation is from (1898) volume 1, issue 38, p. 303.
99. B. Rees (1977) The Victorian Lady (London: Gordon & Cremonesi), p. 144.
100. How to Become Beautiful (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 1(51), p. 414.
101. How to Become Beautiful (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 1(52), p. 419.
102. Troubled One (1898) letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1(15), p. 118.
103. May S. (1898) letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1(21), p. 166.
104. Millie( 1898) letter, Girls' Best Friend, 1 (37), p. 294.
105. Anxious (1899) letter, Girls'Friend, 2(79), p. 255.
106. M. Angeloglou (1965) A History of Make-Up (London: MacMillan)
107. L. Belicka Keranen (2000) 'Girls Who Come to Pieces': women, cosmetics, and advertising in the Ladies Home Journal, 1900-1920
108. in C. A. Stabile (Ed) Turning the Century: Essays in Media and Cultural Studies (Colorado: Westview Press), pp. 142-165
109. K. Peiss (1996) Making Up, Making Over: cosmetics, consumer culture, and women's identity, in V. de Grazia & E. Furlough The Sex of Things: gender and consumption in historical perspective (Berkeley: University of California Press), pp. 311-336
110. Rees, The Victorian Lady.
111. See, for example, Some Old Time Beauty Secrets (1898) Girls'Best Friend, 1(33), p. 254.
112. Many blurbs and short articles included recipes such as this and one particular feature, Golden Hints for Women (1899) Girls' Best Friend, 2(53), p. 8, recounted many of them in a full-page article.
113. Peiss, 'Making Up', p. 314.
114. A Girl's Crowning Glory (1898) Girls'Best Friend, 1(4), p. 25.
115. Nice White Hands (1898) Girl's Best Friend, 1(17), p. 129.
116. Utterly Alone (1898) 1(1), p. 2.
117. Utterly Alone (1898) 1(3), p. 18.
118. A. (1899) Letter, Girls'Friend, 2(70), p. 155.
119. C. Kent (1977) Image and Reality: the actress and society, in M. Vicinus (Ed.) A Widening Sphere: changing roles of Victorian women (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), pp. 94-116 (pp. 114-115)
120. Keranen, 'Girls Who Come to Pieces', p. 152