Women’s Voices in Ireland: Women’s Magazines in the 1950s and 60s

Description

Women’s Voices in Ireland examines the letters and problems sent in by women to two Irish women’s magazines in the 1950s and 60s, discussing them within their wider social and historical context. In doing so, it provides a unique insight into one of the few forums for female expression in Ireland during this period. Although in these decades more Irish women than ever before participated in paid work, trade unions and voluntary organizations, their representation in politics and public and their workforce participation remained low. Meanwhile, women who came of age from the late 1950s experienced a freedom which their mothers and aunts - married or single, in the workplace or the home – had never known. Diary and letters pages and problem pages in Irish-produced magazines in the 1950s and 60s enabled women from all walks of life to express their opinions and to seek guidance on the social changes they saw happening around them. This book, by examining these communications, gives a new insight into the history of Irish women, and also contributes to the ongoing debate about what women’s magazines mean for women’s history. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Explanation of Titles and Glossary of Terms Introduction: ‘Advice, Patterns, etc.’: Women, Magazines and Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s 1. Talking Things Over: Real Women in the Diary Pages of Woman’s Life 1951–59 2. ‘Wasting Time Feeling Sorry For Yourself ’: Woman’s Life Problem Page, 1951–59 3. ‘No Regrets For The Days That Are Gone’: Woman’s Way Letters 1963–69, 1: Young People and Miscellaneous 4. ‘Have You Been Reading Woman’s Way Too?’ Woman’s Way Letters 2: Women’s Status 5. ‘He Didn’t Seem At All Pleased As I Was Leaving The Car’: Woman’s Way Problems 1: Sex Education and Birth Control 6. ‘And Then They Wonder Why Their Wives Are Cold’: Woman’s Way Problems 2: Courtship and Marriage 7. ‘Everything I Do Is Criticised’: Woman’s Way Problems 3: Extended Family/Parent–Child and Miscellaneous Conclusion: Hearing Their Own Names Again: Magazines and Irish Women in the 1950s and 60s Appendix One: Political, Social and Economic Developments in Ireland 1951–69 Appendix Two: Other Women’s Magazines in Ireland in the 1950s and 60s Appendix Three: Women, Paid Work and Marital Status in Ireland 1946–71 Notes Bibliography Index