2000/12/01 by Catherine Horwood · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Fashion and Cultural Textiles #Historical Gender and Feminism Studies #Diversity and Impact of Dance #Emancipation #Bureaucracy #Variety (cybernetics) #Mood #Gender studies #Sociology #Political science #Politics #Media studies #Psychology #Social psychology #Law
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/09612020000200265
openalex publication_date 2000/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This article focuses on the struggle by women to achieve unsegregated access to beaches and swimming pools in Britain from the beginning of the twentieth century until the start of the Second World War against a background of bureaucratic regulation. Through a variety of sources that contrast official material with the mood within popular culture, it exposes the clash of patriarchal prudery against changing public opinions. It poses questions on the notions of female modesty and emancipation as women's swimwear reflected changing perceptions of the female body and explores conflicting discourses of glamour and sex versus health and efficiency.