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Stray Wives: Marital Conflict in Early National New England (review)

Second, Bingham is concerned with the text itself, recognising that the press supplied influential terms notably ‘flapper’ and ‘the dole’. Third, he is aware of the importance of reception by the audience, including market research surveys of press readership. Bingham’s sources are the five main popular national daily morning newspapers of the period. His rationale for selection was largely based on gathering a broad spectrum of class perspectives, an understanding of class as existing aside from gender identity. This does not stop him from analysing the relationship between class and gender in the press. For example, he suggests it was the Left-wing papers that were most likely not to disrupt assumptions about female appearance, but who were willing to explore birth control and sexuality. The book has a satisfying and logical structure that reflects Bingham’s attempt to revise the work of historians that has tended to mine newspapers for one gender discourse. The first chapter sets the context with an overview of the development of the popular press from the late Victorian period. Taking its lead from a background of work in women’s and gender history, each following chapter then focuses on a particular ‘gender theme’: chapter two is the post-war modern young woman; chapter three is the housewife and mother; chapter four is political discourse; chapter five is fashion and sexuality; chapter six is the influences of the Great War; and chapter seven is a focus on masculinity. Drawing upon a wide spectrum of newspapers, chapters begin with editorial perspectives on the theme in question. Evidence and case studies then follow. Bingham’s imagination has notably been captured by women and water, with mixed bathing, bathing belles and bathing beauties appearing throughout the study. Particularly interesting is chapter seven’s discussion of ideals and anxieties of masculinity. The broad scope of the chapter includes sportsmen and film stars gradually replacing imperial conquerors and explorers in the pantheon of male heroes, effeminacy, violence against women, and quiet advice to men to become more involved in the domestic sphere and to be more aware of the emotional needs of their wives and children. This book successfully shows the gendered complexities of the British interwar popular press. Standing on the shoulders of a wide range of women’s and gender history it takes media history to the next stage. It also serves as a case study of change and modernity in gender relations during the inter-war years. Though popular dailies have often been marginalised as an historical source due to their vulgarity, commercialism and superficiality, this is a very scholarly and sombre look at the popular press.