Liberating Histories: Women's Movement Magazines, Media Activism and Periodical Pedagogies

Lead Research Organisation: Northumbria University
Department Name: Fac of Arts, Design and Social Sciences

Abstract

Liberating Histories is the first comprehensive study of feminist print activism in the UK from the beginnings of the Women's Liberation Movement in 1968 to the present day. The project develops new methodologies for interpreting print and digital media and adapts these methodologies for teaching media literacy skills in the classroom. Distinctively, this project not only draws on existing periodical archives, but also works in collaboration with the creators and consumers of feminist periodicals to generate a new archive of resources that will be made publicly accessible via the project website. These resources include filmed public events, podcasts, digitised content from feminist periodicals, first-person testimonies from activists past and present, and an innovative 'Periodical Pedagogies' toolkit to facilitate the study of periodicals by scholars and students. The website will host the first online Interactive Guide to Feminist Periodicals, providing overviews of their content and form(s) as well as a 'Periodical Pedagogies' toolkit that will present scholars, educators and students at Key Stages 4 & 5 with strategies for analysing periodicals. In addition, the project team will assemble an advisory group of teachers, students, media stakeholders and policymakers to develop a flexible 'Active Reading' workshop for students at KS 4 & KS 5 that uses periodicals to improve media literacy within the framework of the National Curriculum. A 'Periodical Pedagogies' symposium will share these findings and build a transatlantic network of world-leading academics, archivists and activists to exchange good practice, resources and new research.
While recent scholarship has usefully mapped the work of British suffrage periodicals (DiCenzo et al 2011), twentieth-century women's magazines (Winship 1983; Forster 2015), and feminist periodicals in the US (Beins 2017), Liberating Histories dedicates itself to the study of feminist periodicals that have emerged in the UK since 1968. Using this material, Liberating Histories will define the role that feminist periodicals have played in debates about gender-based violence, reproductive rights and intersectionality, while connecting these issues to contemporary campaigns such as #MeToo, #WhyIStayed and #EverydaySexism.
The project will make a major contribution to scholarship on periodicals through the monograph Women's Activism, Periodical Form and Political Feeling, the first comprehensive study of feminist print activism in the UK from the beginnings of the Women's Liberation Movement in 1968 to the present day, and a special issue of Feminist Media Studies devoted to 'Media Activism in Transition'. Both publications develop new methodologies for analysing the representation and mediation of print and digital activism.
With its focus on post-1968 periodicals, Liberating Histories is uniquely poised to capitalise on the existence of a living readership. By putting out calls through mailing lists, feminist organisations, and media outlets (including R 4's Woman's Hour), the project will invite a range of readers to create written, audio or video testimonies to share their views about feminist periodicals. Contributors will deposit their testimonies on the project website, creating a rich, expandable and freely accessible archive of readers' voices that will be of substantial use and interest to scholars, practitioners and the public alike. The Women's Library will host some elements of this archive of original testimony and pedagogic resources, ensuring they remain publicly accessible beyond the duration of the project.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title Liberating Histories Podcast: For Girls by Girls with Ione Gamble and Sally Orson-Jones 
Description What happens when girls make magazines? In this episode Sally Orson-Jones of cult girls' magazine Shocking Pink (1979-1982) and Ione Gamble of zine-zeitgeist Polyester (2015-) discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of creating magazines as young women. How does content created by girls reveal and interrogate the biases of mainstream media? What is the role of girls' magazines in generating a sense of feminist community? And why is there a photograph of a vulva in the second issue of Shocking Pink? 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2024 
Impact Podcast released 8th March so impact not yet possible to gauge. 
 
Title Liberating Histories Podcast: Internationalist Feminism with Shaila Shah and Sue O'Sullivan 
Description The internationalism of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) tends to be overlooked and underplayed. In our first episode, we bring together Sue O'Sullivan of Spare Rib (1972-1993) and Red Rag (1972-1980) and Shaila Shah of Outwrite (1982-1988) and WIRES (1975-1985) to discuss feminism's 'international turn' in the early 1980s. With a focus on the feminist internationalist newspaper Outwrite and WLM's magazine of record, Spare Rib, Sue and Shaila talk candidly about diversifying editorial collectives, plenty of mixed feelings, and burning the midnight oil to 'get the mag out'. Finally, they reflect on the role of media activism during a time of real reconfiguration and change. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2024 
Impact Not evident yet - podcast just released. 
 
Title Readers' Testimonies 
Description Seven Readers' Testimonies have been captured on audio, video or in written accounts and these are hosted on the Liberating Histories website. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact This is an ongoing initiative that provides readers of feminist magazines with the opportunity to talk about the influence they had on their lives. 
URL https://liberatinghistories.org/testimonials/
 
Description Liberating Histories has introduced a new generation of readers to the magazines of the Women's Liberation Movement as well as giving voice to activists, readers and magazine makers past and present.
Exploitation Route Resources on the Liberating Histories website will provide researchers with valuable information about women's movement magazines.
Sectors Creative Economy

Education

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

 
Description Teachers and students have used the resources on The Handmaid's Tale that are freely available on the Liberating Histories website. Workshops delivered on The Handmaid's Tale by members of the Liberating Histories team have demonstrated impact through feedback received by schools, teachers and students. Activist organisations such as HOWL (History of Women's Liberation), the Nottingham Women's History group, the Women's Library and the Feminist Library have provided initial feedback on the positive impact of the project on raising awareness of the work these organisations are doing.
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

 
Title Online Interactive Guide to Women's Movement Magazines 
Description Online Interactive Guide to Women's Movement Magazines (8 entries so far on Mukti, Outwrite, Red Rag, Scarlet Women, Shocking Pink, Sappho, Shrew, Shifra and Spare Rib). 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact No noticeable impact so far. 
URL https://liberatinghistories.org/resources/periodicals-guide/
 
Title Teaching The Handmaid's Tale with Feminist Magazines 
Description These three power point guided exercises focus on the A level set-text, The Handmaid's Tale. They are freely available on the Liberating Histories website. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Teachers are using these resources to support teaching in the classroom. 
URL https://liberatinghistories.org/resources/the-handmaids-tale/
 
Description Collaborative Work with the English Association 
Organisation English Association
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution 'Periodical Pedagogies: Using Magazines as Resources for Teaching Literature in the Classroom' online workshop for the English Association
Collaborator Contribution The English Association organised and advertised this online event. It was recorded and is hosted on the EA website.
Impact This online workshop on 'Periodical Pedagogies' was recorded (see url above) which is hosted by the English Association.
Start Year 2023
 
Description Feminist Lending Library 
Organisation The Feminist Library
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Liberating Histories is using magazines from the Feminist Library in workshops on the A Level Text, The Handmaid's Tale. In doing so, the project is showcasing the Feminist Library's collection as well as the histories of the Women's Liberation Movement.
Collaborator Contribution The Feminist Library has loaned Liberating Histories copies of women's movement magazines to use for research and in workshops with schools.
Impact Activist Reading workshops have taken place across the UK and will continue to run until the end of the project.
Start Year 2022
 
Description Nottingham Women's History Group 
Organisation Nottingham Women's History Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Liberating Histories is drawing on the testimonies of the Nottingham Women's History Group to highlight the impact of magazines on women's activism.
Collaborator Contribution The Nottingham Women's History group has donated magazines to the Liberating Histories archive for research and to use in workshops with schools.
Impact Collective readers' testimony recorded in May 2023 for the Liberating Histories archive.
Start Year 2023
 
Description '80s Dinner Party: The Politics of Feminist Food Writing' 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact A blog for the History Workshop on Sheba Feminist Press' Turning the Tables: Recipes and Reflections from Women (1987).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/feminism/80s-dinner-party-the-politics-of-feminist-food-writing/
 
Description 'Sticking Together: How the Women's Liberation Movement was Made with Magazines' (Leeds Beckett) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact This was a presentation at Leeds Beckett University delivered as part of the celebrations around International Women's Day.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Activist Legacies 2: A Roundtable Discussion 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Activist Legacies 2, 25 May 2023, hosted by Northumbria University. Speakers: Penny Remfry (Scarlet Women), Sharan Dhaliwal (Burnt Roti), Amy Mae Baxter (Bad Form), Roseanne Rabinowitz (Bad Attitude), Kate Taylor (illustrator for Spare Rib) and Fanny Tribble (illustrator for Trouble and Strife). This roundtable discussion brought together feminist magazine makers across the generational and digital divide.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Activist Legacies Roundtable 1 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Activist Legacies Roundtable, hosted by the Women's Library at the LSE on Thursday 22nd September provided a unique insight into feminist periodical culture from the early seventies right up to the present day. Bringing together Marsha Rowe from Spare Rib (1972-93), Sally Orson-Jones from Shocking Pink (1981-92), Shaila Shah from Outwrite (1982-88) and Kemi Olemoru from gal-dem (2015- ), this discussion revealed the extent to which feminist media, whether print or digital, face many of the same challenges. The discussion also compelled us all to think about some of the key differences. Listening to Kemi talk about the pressure of working as a journalist and editor in the digital age, with a 24-hour news cycle, captured a sense of what it's like to work in an environment where there is a constant demand for content. This suggested that the whole idea of a 'periodical', a publication that appears daily, weekly or monthly, has been replaced by a constant flow of news that organises our lives in different ways. While it might be an obvious thing to say, the roundtable highlighted the difference that media makes; in other words, it allowed us to reflect on the ways in which media not only reflects but shapes feminist debate. We'll be using the next few blogs to reflect on this further and also to pull out some of the fascinating details about the magazines' origin stories, the fraught issue of funding, conflicts within the magazine collectives and some of the campaigns and issues that continue to dominate feminist media.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://liberatinghistories.org/category/event/
 
Description Activist Reading Workshop (Gateshead College) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Liberating Histories Team delivered an Activist Reading workshop to students from Gateshead College on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. The session used women's movement magazines to think about key feminist campaigns and issues in the UK and around the world. This provided students with the opportunity to think about the relation between text and context, an aspect of the A level assessment that students find particularly challenging as evidenced in AQA examiner reports.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Activist Reading Workshop (Highdown School) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact An Activist Reading Workshop on The Handmaid's Tale was delivered to sixth form students at Highdown School in Reading. Feedback demonstrated that the workshop helped students to better understand how the novel draws on contemporary feminist debate.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Activist Reading Workshop (Schools in North East) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Liberating Histories Team delivered an Activist Reading workshop to students from schools in the North East on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. The session used women's movement magazines to think about key feminist campaigns and issues in the UK and around the world. This provided students with the opportunity to think about the relation between text and context, an aspect of the A level assessment that students find particularly challenging as evidenced in AQA examiner reports.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Activist Reading Workshop (St Mary's School) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact An Activist Reading workshop on The Handmaid's Tale was delivered to sixth form students at St. Mary's School Buckinghamshire. Feedback demonstrated that students had a better understanding of how the novel draws on and responds to contemporary feminist debates.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Activist Reading Workshop (Sunderland College) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Liberating Histories Team delivered an Activist Reading workshop to students from Sunderland College on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. The session used women's movement magazines to think about key feminist campaigns and issues in the UK and around the world. This provided students with the opportunity to think about the relation between text and context, an aspect of the A level assessment that students find particularly challenging as evidenced in AQA examiner reports.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://liberatinghistories.org/resources/
 
Description Feminist Media: Now and Then (South Shields) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This public event was hosted by The Word in South Shields.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Lecture for Durham Zine Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact This lecture, delivered at the Durham Zine Festival in June 2023, showcased the work of the Liberating Histories Team and linked women's movement magazines to feminist zine culture. The team also participated in a zine making workshop which radically transformed their thinking about the importance of creativity in the classroom.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Liberating Histories Website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The Liberating Histories website is aimed at a range of audiences including academics, students, teachers, activists and third sector organisations. There is a 'resources' page where which will hold material for students and teachers. There is also an archive of 'readers' testimonies' that will provides first-hand accounts of the influence of women's movement magazines on readers' lives. In addition, the website itself showcases the illustrations and cartoons that appeared in feminist magazines. In this way, visitors to the website gain some insight into the lively and witty visual cultures of women's movement magazines.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://liberatinghistories.org/
 
Description Liberating Histories Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This was a workshop at the City Library, Newcastle in March 2023. Feedback on this event led to the project team thinking critically about how to engage non-academic audiences.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Liberating Histories Workshop: Feminist Media Now and Then 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This presentation/workshop was delivered as part of the Radical Print Summer School at Nottingham Trent University in May 2023. The team also interviewed a group of activists who have established an archive of women's magazines in Nottingham. They generously agreed to donate copies of magazines for the Liberating Histories archive.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Mediating Mood in Feminist Magazines (NE Labour History) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This online presentation focused on feminist activism in the North East, particularly in relation to the magazine Scarlet Women which was based in North Shields.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Periodical Pedagogies: Using Magazines as Resources' (EA) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact "Periodical Pedagogies: Using Magazines as Resources for Teaching Literature in the Classroom' was an online discussion for the English Association in September 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Social Media Takeover 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact Sonny Ruggiero, post-graduate student working on Spare Rib, did a social media takeover of the Liberating Histories X account on 'Visual Art in Spare Rib'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Social media posts on Twitter and Instagram 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We are active on social media and use both Twitter and Instagram to raise awareness about the project and about the issues and campaigns featured in women's movement magazines. Regular posts make connections between current news items and the campaigns that feature in feminist magazines of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Number of followers: 553
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://twitter.com/LibHistories?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor