The New Woman and Changing Social Roles
Writer Henry James popularized the term "New Woman", a figure who was represented in the heroines of his novels, such as Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady, and Daisy Miller in the novella Daisy Miller. According to historian Ruth Bordin, the term New Woman was
intended by him to characterize American expatriates living in Europe: women of affluence and sensitivity, who despite or perhaps because of their wealth exhibited an independent spirit and were accustomed to acting on their own. The term New Woman always referred to women who exercised control over their own lives be it personal, social, or economic.Read more about this topic: New Woman
Famous quotes containing the words woman, changing, social and/or roles:
“... when you do get a job everybody says, “Well, they wanted a black woman,” which necessarily puts you on a level where you have to prove yourself above being a woman and being black.... Now, I would say, in certain situations, it helped me simply because I was mildly attractive, not because I was black or a woman. That gets you more mileage than anything else.... God help you if you’re not an attractive woman.”
—Theresa Brown (b. 1957)
“The slogan of progress is changing from the full dinner pail to the full garage.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“Pan had been amongst them—not the great god Pan, who has been buried these two thousand years, but the little god Pan, who presides over social contretemps and unsuccessful picnics.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“Modern women are squeezed between the devil and the deep blue sea, and there are no lifeboats out there in the form of public policies designed to help these women combine their roles as mothers and as workers.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)