“Bluestockings & Sweet Girl Graduates: A Brief History of the College Girl”
MEADVILLE, Pa. – March 12, 2008 – Given that current trends in higher education reflect enrollment numbers that skew in favor of women, it can be surprising, especially for today's students, to learn that as late as the 1950s experts fretted about the wisdom of permitting women on college campuses.
Author Lynn Peril, whose writing takes a witty look at women's history through popular culture and advertising from the turn of the century through the 1970s and beyond, will visit Allegheny College March 25-27 to help the women's studies department celebrate 25 years at the college.
In addition to talking to students in a number of classes during her campus visit, Peril will present on Wednesday, March 26 a free public lecture based on her most recent book, “College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Coeds, Then & Now.” The talk will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Quigley Auditorium and will be followed by a book signing and reception.
“From her first appearance in the mid 19th century, the College Girl has pressed cultural buttons regarding conflicting ideas about women and education, women and work, women and marriage, and, at its very core, questions about the nature of womanhood and femininity itself,” Peril said. “As a result, she's been a lightning rod for criticism, advice and regulation. I'm thrilled to be able to share her illustrated history in my talk at Allegheny College.”
Peril's first book, “Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons,” uses popular culture to chronicle the history of femininity from the 1940s through the1970s. Peril also writes a column titled “The Museum of Femoribilia” for Bust magazine.
Her next book, which has a working title of “Swimming in the Steno Pool: A Social History of the Secretary, America's First Businesswoman,” is scheduled to be published by W.W. Norton in 2009.
For more information about Peril's visit to Allegheny College, call 814-332-3343.
