I got a chance to look at some objects from the archives in Glasgow Women’s Library. One object that particularly interested me was a postcard from the 20th century. The postcard is of a suffragette with a snake coming from her mouth, and a restraint to prevent her from talking clamped on her jaw. This particular postcard interests me because I feel it is an example of how normalised misogynistic humour was at that time. I also think the postcard was influencing young girls, and teaching them that women who voice their opinion are ugly and not to be tolerated.
The Spare Rib is a magazine from around the seventies that discussed gender and sexuality in a positive way. These were interesting to look at because I got to look at gender equality had a lot of different issues. The magazines were released in a time when sexism was a large concern in the media, women and young girls were being sexualised, men had higher expectations than women in terms of jobs and potential. The magazine challenged your average Cosmopolitan or Good Housekeeping, and encouraged women to earn their own money, and be independent. I thought it was amazing to see just how much feminism has changed in such a short time and how lucky we are to be able to reach our full potential and have more opportunities than older generations.
