![]() | The American New Woman Revisited: A Reader, 1894-1930 Subjects: Women -- United States -- History; Minority women -- United States -- History; Feminism -- United States -- History; Women’s rights -- United States -- History; In North America between 1894 and 1930, the rise of the "New Woman" sparked controversy on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. As she demanded a public voice as well as private fulfillment through work, education, and politics, American journalists debated and defined her. Who was she and where did she come from? Was she to be celebrated as the agent of progress or reviled as a traitor to the traditional family? Over time, the dominant version of the American New Woman became typified as white, educated, and middle class: the suffragist, progressive reformer, and bloomer-wearing bicyclist. By the 1920s, the jazz-dancing flapper epitomized her. Yet she also had many other faces. Martha H. Patterson is an associate professor of English at McKendree University in Illinois and the author of Beyond the Gibson Girl: Reimagining the American New Woman, 1895-1915. |
![hidden image for function call](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/1x1.png)