Female Spectacle - The Theatrical Roots of Modern Feminism

When the French actress Sarah Bernhardt made her first American tour in 1880, the term "feminism" had not yet entered our national vocabulary. But over the course of the next half-century, a rising generation of daring actresses and comics brought a new kind of woman to center stage. Exploring and exploiting modern fantasies and fears about female roles and gender identity, these performers eschewed theatrical convention and traditional notions of womanly modesty. They created powerful images of themselves as ambitious, independent, and sexually expressive "New Women."

List of contents

Introduction 1. The Bernhardt Effect: Self-Advertising and the Age of Spectacle 2. Mirth and Girth: The Politics of Comedy 3. The Strong Personality: Female Mimics and the Play of the Self 4. The Americanization of Salome: Sexuality, Race, and the Careers of the Vulgar Princess 5."The Eyes of the Enemy": Female Activism and the Paradox of Theater 6."Nationally Advertised Legs": How Broadway Invented "The Girls" 7."Like All the Rest of Womankind Only More So": The Chorus Girl Problem and American Culture Conclusion: The Legacy of Female Spectacle Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Index

About the author

Susan A. Glenn is Professor of History at the University of Washington, and author of Daughters of the Shtetl, which won the American Historical Association's Joan Kelly Prize.

Summary

When Sarah Bernhardt made her first American tour in 1880, the term “feminism” had yet to enter our national vocabulary. But over the next half-century, a rising generation of actresses and comics brought a new kind of woman to center stage. Glenn reveals the theater to have been a powerful new source of cultural authority and visibility for women.

Product details

• Authors: Susan A. Glenn, Glenn Susan A.
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.09.2002
• EAN: 9780674009905
• ISBN: 978-0-674-00990-5
• Weight: 481 g
• Illustrations: 27 halftones as 2 unfolioed inserts
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, HISTORY / Social History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Feminism & Feminist Theory, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Theatre Studies, c 1500 onwards to present day, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Social and cultural history, United States of America, USA, Sociology & anthropology, History of the Americas, Feminism and feminist theory