The UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Journal of History

The nineteenth century is well known for the Industrial Revolution in Britain, with which came massive improvements in printing technology, naturally leading to the rise of the mass media in forms such as newspapers, magazines, and literature. In the same century, the preeminent women’s movement can also find its roots. Separately, the British mass media, with its many forms, and the British women’s movement have been studied extensively, but without much research into any connection between them. New forms of media such as the women’s magazine saw their peak in the Victorian era, and other forms of mass media evolved rapidly, bringing newspapers, women’s magazines, and New Woman literature to the forefront of the women’s movement. They provided an avenue to spread information for the cause and ways to connect and share with other women in an otherwise restrictive patriarchal society. Thorough examination and comparison of these three mediums, with focus on those produced in years between 1870 and 1899, reveal empowering sources of connection for Victorian women. Research into previous connections between the women’s movement and the mass media can be helpful and thought-provoking when studying the contemporary relationship between them; there is some provocative insight given from this research to the fact that the media’s portrayal of today’s women’s movement has not changed as much as one might think.