Women Making News: Gender and Journals in Modern Britain (review)

Michelle Tusan introduces her book by stating that "between 1856 and 1930 female proprietors published over 150 political journals and newspapers targeted at female audiences" (l). So it is perhaps not surprising that the most valuable features of this carefully researched book are (l) the Appendix, "A Bibliography of British Women's Advocacy Periodicals," which also offers an invaluable location file, and (2) the book's bibliography itself. Each of these sections offers an exhaustive listing of sources, not previously unknown, but scattered widely and not before available in such complete and concentrated form. The titles in the Appendix can be-and no doubt have been-checked against the Waterloo Directory for accuracy, but on the whole this appears to be a definitive presentation. Together, these references provide the foundation for endless new research in the rapidly evolving field of women's journalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The book's subtitle, "Gender and Journals in Modern Britain," aptly summarizes the objectives of this study, which are twofold: first, to chart the rise, from the 1860s onward, of new specialized periodicals conducted by women and promoting such diverse agendas as suffrage, international and domestic feminism, social reform, education and employment opportunities for women, and more specifically, temperance, anti-vivisection, anti-Contagious Diseases Acts, spiritualism, and votes for women; and second, to illustrate how the women's press provided new and unusual forms of employment for women.

It is important to note that carrying on these ventures was often fraught with difficulties. Most were privately funded, either by the editor herself or by some small advocacy society. Advertising was virtually nonexistent. Circulation and distribution were uncertain. Copy was usually at the mercy of unpaid female staff. For most it was a constant struggle to keep afloat from issue to issue. The Woman's Signal is a prime example of a journal begun with high energy and optimistic ideals that failed after only three and a half years due to lack of financial and readership support. However, as nonprofit enterprises these publications were free to promote political and social ideas which were not part of the common culture.

From the rich bibliographical background which the author has provided she constructs chapters on such topics as the origins of the women's political press in Britain, the rise of women in the political community, suffrage advocacy, women's periodicals in wartime, and the assessment of political culture after World War I. As Tusan asserts: "The multiplicity of opinions among women in a host of movements . . . all found expression within the pages of women's periodicals" (6). As the twentieth century progressed, the interwar years diluted the strength of women's advocacy journalism in favor of a united effort against a common enemy, but at its zenith it had represented an important chapter in the rise of female activism. Anyone wishing to chart that rise and all of these movements will do well to consult this volume as a starting point.

The author has also done fellow scholars a service by identifying and locating many new archival sources for research into women's activism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While much of this material has been known to researchers, many other sources are newly identified. By pulling all these bibliographical and archival references together Tusan has made a real contribution to future research.