“The Other Problem— That of the Woman with Children”: Vera Brittain, Maternal Work, and the Politics of Leaning In

Tensions and battles about career and children, which inform our contemporary“mommy wars,” were equally the driving forces for many first-wave feminists who contested traditional conceptions of wifehood and motherhood. One of the most outspoken figures from this past era, and my focus here, is British author, journalist, and pacifist Vera Brittain (1893-1970). I draw on Brittain’s autobiographical trilogy Testament of Youth (1933), Testament of Friendship (1940), and Testament of Experience (1957), as well as on her 1920s and 1930s journalism in order to reveal how she waged “war” (her term) on Victorian womanhood. She unabashedly and relentlessly led the ranks of team “working mother” during the “mommy wars”of her day, showcasing through theory and by example unconventional approaches to middle-class motherhood. She believed, as she lived, that if mothers are to be completely realized and fulfilled individuals, they must engage in meaningful and remunerative occupations. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s 2012 Atlantic article “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All” and Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (2013) tap, like Brittain’s work, into the zeitgeist of maternal anxiety, confusion, andchoice, producing wildly divisive reactions by readers and mothers eager to define andquery what it means to be a so-called “modern” and “good” mother. With reference to these contemporary debates, I argue that Brittain remains profoundly relevant to our understanding of twenty-first century maternal politics, and that career-driven mothers today may claim the unfinished business of her feminist agenda as their own

“The keenest, most intimate analysis”: Profiling Female Stars of the Silent Screen in Photoplay Magazine

In 1911, Photoplay Magazine was launched in the U.S. as one of the first two periodicals devoted to fans of Hollywood silent cinema, and within a decade became recognized as the leading publication for celebrity news. Photoplay emerged within the broader context of modernism, the period from around 1880 to 1940 defined by a series of movements and manifestos dedicated to artistic, cultural, and political revolutions. While there has been an increasing body of scholarship at the nexus of modernism, cinema, and celebrity culture, to date the relationship between modernism and fan magazines remains surprisingly unstudied, a lacunae this paper redresses. In particular, I draw on Douglas Mao and Rebecca L. Walkowitz’s mapping of the “new modernist studies” that aims to expand our theoretical and methodological approaches to modernism to include, among other areas, popular culture, mass media, and women’s contributions—points of intersecting relevance to Photoplay. This paper discusses the new genre of the fan magazine as a specifically female space affording historically unprecedented auto/biographical inscriptions of women as professional and public figures via star profiles, interviews, auto/biographical narratives, and photo spreads. Based on archival studies of the original magazines published in the 1910s and 1920s as accessed through the online Media History Digital Library, this paper also foregrounds the “new modernist” turn to digital humanities, one that expands the possibilities for life-writing scholarship today

Elder abuse awareness community guide tool kit

Elder Abuse is a universal problem. It is prevalent everywhere. Abuse can occur anywhere, by anyone, but frequently it is familial, institutional and social. Raising awareness and prevention of elder abuse requires the involvement of everyone. Elder abuse will be successfully prevented only if we develop a global culture that fosters intergenerational solidarity. To assist in raising awareness, the Community Guide Toolkit was developed. This is a resource that was created to help individuals, organizations and communities throughout the world plan for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). WEAAD is held annually on June 15th. This Toolkit is also useful to plan for fur-ther awareness-raising activities, and also supports ongoing projects and events throughout the months and years to come

A new perspective on elder abuse, hardiness in victims

grantor: University of TorontoElder abuse in Canada is a problem of considerable proportion and significance. Only in the past decade has this problem begun to receive increasing attention. Still, too little is known about the extent of the problem, about factors contributing to abuse of the elderly and factors that help sustain them, and about ways to forestall, intervene, or help the elderly to cope with an abusive situation. A recent National Survey (1990) determined that from a sample population of 2,008 elderly persons living in private homes, about 4% had experienced some form of serious abuse in the previous year. Projected to the total population of Canada, this would mean approximately 100,000 elderly persons abused in private homes, and with the proportion of the elderly increasing in our national population, we face the prospect of even larger numbers of abused elderly persons. This thesis uses the quantitative data developed in the National Survey, and through personal telephone interviews with 42 abused elderly persons identified from that survey, provides more in-depth information and understanding of the life experience and current living circumstances of these individuals. There is strong evidence of adaptive strengths of older victims in dealing with their maltreatment circumstances, evidence which represents important new findings in this field. It is, therefore, argued that the concept of hardiness is both applicable and useful. There are two parts to this study. The first part provided quantitative data on the prevalence rate of elder abuse in Canada; the second part, is qualitative. Here the data explores a theme of continuity that connects social change and life experience: a theme of loss and adaptation--particularly in the 1930s--in the life course development of a cohort of older Canadians who were born in the early part of the century and who were victims of some form of maltreatment in their older years. Life experiences emerge from the personal narratives of abuse survivors, and such experiences have rarely been the subject of sociological investigation. From the accounts of the elderly who have encountered abuse, themes may emerge that provide a fresh perspective on the social background and interactions from the informants. The concept of elder hardiness is a major focus of this thesis.Ed.D

WorldView Environmental Scan on Elder Abuse

In response to a growing and worldwide recognition of elder abuse, the WorldView Environmental Scan on Elder Abuse was undertaken. It represented an attempt to collect both information on the nature of the problem of elder abuse and responses to it from a global perspective. The first of its kind, the Scan gathered information about elder abuse as well as on related legislation and policy, services and programs, educational resources and needs, training, and past and ongoing research. A total of 53 countries responded to the survey questionnaire, with 362 respondents representing the six world regions designated by the World Health Organization. Findings revealed that factors contributing to elder abuse include changing social and economic structures, isolation of victims, inadequate knowledge of laws and services, intergenerational conflict, and poverty. Barriers to seeking resources to intervene and protect older adults include the culture of the country, language issues, literacy, stigma, lack of mobility, lack of funding, and insufficient familiarity with and access to the internet. The data serve as a catalyst to take action, both globally and nationally, while emphasizing the changes necessary to protect the rights and dignity of older adults