Modern Girl

With her short skirt, bobbed hair, and penchant for smoking, drinking, dancing, and jazz, the "Modern Girl" was a fixture of 1920s Canadian consumer culture. She appeared in art, film, fashion, and advertising, as well as on the streets of towns from coast to coast. In The Modern Girl, Jane Nicholas argues that this feminine image was central to the creation of what it meant to be modern and female in Canada. Using a wide range of visual and textual evidence, Nicholas illuminates both the frequent public debates about female appearance and the realities of feminine self-presentation. She argues that women played an active and thoughtful role in their embrace of modern consumer culture, even when it was at the risk of serious social, economic, and cultural penalties. The first book to fully examine the "Modern Girl"'s place in Canadian culture, The Modern Girl will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of gender, sexuality, and the body in the modern world.

'The Modern Girl is a very delightful read that brings to light an innovative perspective on working class women's role in consumer society.' -- Einav Rabinovitch-Fox Labour/Le Travail vol 78:2016 'Nicholas skillfully blends theories of gender and sexuality with close readings of commodified cultural objects, media driven discursive patterns, and Canadian local practices.' -- Judith Patin Canadian Literature vol 225 summer 2015 'Nicholas's work as a whole offers an engaging, exhaustive study of the Canadian modern girl, one that will excite much notice with its keen analysis.' -- Liz Conor American Historical Review vol 121:03:2016

Jane Nicholas is an associate professor in the Department of History and Department of Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies at the University of Waterloo.