Gender, Generation, and Journalism in France, 1910-1940
After the pioneer women in French newspapers, how did the next two generations, still a minority in the newsroom, fare?
Description
In the late nineteenth century, the first wave of female journalists began writing in the French daily press. Yet, while they undeniably opened doors for the next generations of educated women, sexist hiring practices, assumptions about women’s aptitudes as reporters, and more subtle gender biases continued to saturate the industry in the decades that followed. Gender, Generation, and Journalism in France, 1910–1940 investigates the careers and written work of ten women who regularly reported in the national, Paris-based dailies. Addressing the role of mentorship, family connections, gendered behaviours, reporting styles, and subject matter, Mary Lynn Stewart debunks lingering essentialist notions about women’s entry into journalism. She shows that struggling newspapers, attempting to reverse declining circulation, hired women to cover subjects that expanded to include international relations, colonial conflicts, trials, local politics, and social problems. Through content analysis, deixis, and systematic comparisons of several women and men reporting on the same or different events, she further queries claims about a feminine style, finding more similarities than differences between masculine and feminine reporting. Documenting the persistence of gender discrimination in the hiring, assigning, and assessment of women reporters in the French daily press, Gender, Generation, and Journalism in France, 1910–1940 demonstrates that, through the support of their female colleagues, women managed to succeed despite a variety of challenges.
Reviews
"A well-researched and valuable study that presents itself as part of the ongoing collective project of restoring women to cultural history." French Studies
"An engaging book by a celebrated historian, Gender, Generation, and Journalism in France, 1910-1940 is the first study to examine this important group of female journalists as a cohort. Fluidly written, Stewart's book contributes significantly to debates in gender and women's history in France and beyond." Geoff Read, Huron University College
"Gender, Generation, and Journalism is a rich and provocative, well-researched and clearly-presented study that demonstrates the significance of the work of these underexplored newspaperwomen during a crucial time of transition for women in the workforce and especially in the daily press." H-France