'The New Woman'

Look at the following online exhibition on the Modern Record Centre website on ‘the new woman’ of the 1890s and early 1900s: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/exhibitions/newwoman/rational

'The New Woman'

'The Lady Cyclist, 22 Aug 1896'

Answer the following questions using the two sources above, 'The New Woman' and 'The Lady Cyclist, 22 Aug 1896':

1. In your own words, describe ‘the new woman’.
2. Looking at the postcard, what tells you this is the house of a ‘new woman’?
3. According to 'The Lady Cyclist' source, what is the connection between the bicycle and the women’s liberation movement?
4. Who was the intended audience of 'The Lady Cyclist' source and what biases might they have had?
5. How useful do you think these two sources are for understanding attitudes to women in the early 1900s?
6. To what extent do you think women today are ‘new women’?

General Information:

To help you think about these sources in a historical way, use the list of questions to guide your thinking.

Tips for Using
Primary Sources:

• Modern Records Centre - Interpreting Archives
• The National Archives - What is an Archive?
• The National Archives - Working with Sources