Searching for the New Woman in Nottingham: Cycling, Fashion and Feminism (1885-1925)
Lead Research Organisation:
Nottingham Trent University
Department Name: Sch of Art and Design
Abstract
Context:
This project is the first to examine the visual representations of the embodied 'New Woman' and to
locate the New Woman in Nottingham. Combining fashion history with visual and material cultural
analysis, my PhD assesses the value of Nottingham's rich history of cycling and the female workforce to
the feminist movement and New Woman discourses. A hotly contested yet under-researched construct in
feminist history, the New Woman was simultaneously an icon of first-wave feminism and symbolic of the
threat of the 'new', her 'mannish' fashions and educated state threatened patriarchal systems.
Nottingham - a 'distinctly feminised version of a modern city' (Daniels & Rycroft,1993) - with its history
of feminist activism (Roberts, 2022) and strong, industrious female workforce is the ideal locus.
Nottingham City Archives (including Raleigh, John Player) holds numerous photographs, advertisements,
and press-cuttings, sources overlooked in the historiography of the New Woman. A pilot study of this
material suggests that it presents the New Woman as a distinctly modern ideal of self-refashioning,
challenging the negative imagery that dominates the historiography and redressing the absence of
'coolness' in academic understanding of women of this period. My project supports critical work in arts
and humanities retrieving diverse histories and challenging established models of inclusion and
exclusion.
Key Questions:
What were the visual manifestations of the New Woman, both generally and within Nottingham?
How did the New Woman contribute to Nottingham's feminised status and industries 1885-1925?
What does visual evidence reveal about the cultural reception of the New Woman nationally and locally?
7 / 23
Did Nottingham's rich cycling history and the New Woman relate to the wider feminist cause?
Did Nottingham's female workforce embody the New Woman through fashion, physical activity and
political belief?
Methods:
-Qualitative analysis of key archives, including advertising, marketing, promotional material/press
cuttings, photographs.
-Case studies of key moments within the feminist movement between 1885-1925.
-Develop a coded visual database to support quantification and content analysis of visual signifiers.
-Frame analysis to organise, construct, and differentiate discourses regarding feminisms, the New
Woman and female cycling (Goffman, 1974).
Impact:
Fuller knowledge and understanding of the competing visions of the New Woman is critical to feminist
histories and wider questions of women's identity. Focus on the representation of cycling in such visions
is a new way to explore the agency and power of women in this period and the role played by design and
technology. Raleigh described bikes as 'freedom machines' in the 1890's (Raleigh, 2022). Yet the cycling
New Woman faced profound societal opposition, including the contention that cycling jeopardised their
reproductive potential (Jungnickel, 2018). Today the UK remains much further behind European countries,
with just one cycling trip made by a woman for every 4 by a man (CyclingUK, 2022). There's a
confidence - not competence - gap in women's cycling due, partly, to cultural pressure still placed upon
women to maintain their femininity (CyclingUK, 2017). Through a new history of Nottingham's New
Women culminating with a public exhibition, this project challenges continuing contradictions
surrounding women, cycling, and femininity.
Timeline (Months):
1-6: Induction, training in coding and working with archives (data collection and organisation)
6-12: Work closely with key archives (John Player, Raleigh, Nottingham City (photographic collections)
12-24: Conduct site visits, chapter plan, data analysis, review work to date (identify any remaining gaps
within knowledge).
24-30: Conference papers, chapter drafting, exhibition planning.
30-36: Chapter drafting, exhibition planning cont., review.
36-42: Chapter drafting/revisions. S
This project is the first to examine the visual representations of the embodied 'New Woman' and to
locate the New Woman in Nottingham. Combining fashion history with visual and material cultural
analysis, my PhD assesses the value of Nottingham's rich history of cycling and the female workforce to
the feminist movement and New Woman discourses. A hotly contested yet under-researched construct in
feminist history, the New Woman was simultaneously an icon of first-wave feminism and symbolic of the
threat of the 'new', her 'mannish' fashions and educated state threatened patriarchal systems.
Nottingham - a 'distinctly feminised version of a modern city' (Daniels & Rycroft,1993) - with its history
of feminist activism (Roberts, 2022) and strong, industrious female workforce is the ideal locus.
Nottingham City Archives (including Raleigh, John Player) holds numerous photographs, advertisements,
and press-cuttings, sources overlooked in the historiography of the New Woman. A pilot study of this
material suggests that it presents the New Woman as a distinctly modern ideal of self-refashioning,
challenging the negative imagery that dominates the historiography and redressing the absence of
'coolness' in academic understanding of women of this period. My project supports critical work in arts
and humanities retrieving diverse histories and challenging established models of inclusion and
exclusion.
Key Questions:
What were the visual manifestations of the New Woman, both generally and within Nottingham?
How did the New Woman contribute to Nottingham's feminised status and industries 1885-1925?
What does visual evidence reveal about the cultural reception of the New Woman nationally and locally?
7 / 23
Did Nottingham's rich cycling history and the New Woman relate to the wider feminist cause?
Did Nottingham's female workforce embody the New Woman through fashion, physical activity and
political belief?
Methods:
-Qualitative analysis of key archives, including advertising, marketing, promotional material/press
cuttings, photographs.
-Case studies of key moments within the feminist movement between 1885-1925.
-Develop a coded visual database to support quantification and content analysis of visual signifiers.
-Frame analysis to organise, construct, and differentiate discourses regarding feminisms, the New
Woman and female cycling (Goffman, 1974).
Impact:
Fuller knowledge and understanding of the competing visions of the New Woman is critical to feminist
histories and wider questions of women's identity. Focus on the representation of cycling in such visions
is a new way to explore the agency and power of women in this period and the role played by design and
technology. Raleigh described bikes as 'freedom machines' in the 1890's (Raleigh, 2022). Yet the cycling
New Woman faced profound societal opposition, including the contention that cycling jeopardised their
reproductive potential (Jungnickel, 2018). Today the UK remains much further behind European countries,
with just one cycling trip made by a woman for every 4 by a man (CyclingUK, 2022). There's a
confidence - not competence - gap in women's cycling due, partly, to cultural pressure still placed upon
women to maintain their femininity (CyclingUK, 2017). Through a new history of Nottingham's New
Women culminating with a public exhibition, this project challenges continuing contradictions
surrounding women, cycling, and femininity.
Timeline (Months):
1-6: Induction, training in coding and working with archives (data collection and organisation)
6-12: Work closely with key archives (John Player, Raleigh, Nottingham City (photographic collections)
12-24: Conduct site visits, chapter plan, data analysis, review work to date (identify any remaining gaps
within knowledge).
24-30: Conference papers, chapter drafting, exhibition planning.
30-36: Chapter drafting, exhibition planning cont., review.
36-42: Chapter drafting/revisions. S
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tamsin Johnson (Student) |