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Representing the Working Class in Early U.S. Feminist Media: The Case of Hester Vaughn.

In 1868 U.S. woman's rights activists championed the cause of a working woman convicted of infanticide. Representations of Hester Vaughn in feminist media texts illustrate the activists' ideological binds. The figure of Vaughn appeared both as a poor immigrant girl who inspired philanthropy and also...

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Published in:Women's Studies in Communication Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 1 - 27
Main Author: Ray, Angela G.
Format: Article
Published: Organization for Research on Women & Communication Spring2003
Subjects:
Working class
Feminists
Women's rights
Women employees
Infanticide
Vaughn, Hester
Social classes
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:In 1868 U.S. woman's rights activists championed the cause of a working woman convicted of infanticide. Representations of Hester Vaughn in feminist media texts illustrate the activists' ideological binds. The figure of Vaughn appeared both as a poor immigrant girl who inspired philanthropy and also as a Symbolic Woman, whose life story became a middle-class narrative. Although the early feminists' advocacy led to Vaughn's release, they fell short of incorporating class difference in their rhetoric.