Women's Periodicals in 19th Century Mexico. Re-readings, Returns and New Research Horizons

Abstract

The consideration of 19th-century women's periodicals as a record of the past has generated, for half a century, a large body of research from the perspective of fields such as Women's History, Literary Criticism, and some variants of the History of the Press. Across the first inquiries on the subject, the study of magazines considered precursors of feminism in Mexico predominated in this academic area, as well as the analysis of stereotypes and gender norms inscribed in its pages. Nonetheless, for more than a decade, the scope has been broadened with different perspectives that further the analysis into different areas of social life, for example, the interaction of trends in clothing, furnishing, and interior decoration (all documented in Fashion sections) with different circuits of the local and the continental economy. Another instance of interest is the imprint this type of section has had on the insertion of women in the practice of writing and the world of printed culture. Through a brief historiographical approach, this article offers a general overview of these new horizons of inquiry.