Bluestocking
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "Blue Stockings" redirects here. For the American bookstores by this name, see Bluestockings (bookstore) (NY, NY) & Bluestocking Books (San Diego, CA)
The Bluestocking society was an informal women's social and educational movement that came into being in England in the mid-eighteenth century in imitation of a similar - though more formal - movement in France.
The most striking difference between the two movements was the English emphasis on education and mutual co-operation as opposed to the French emphasis on social "networking" and individual social progress.
|
English members included:
- Ada Byron Lovelace
- Mrs Delaney, constant companion of Margaret Cavendish-Harley
- Margaret Cavendish-Harley
- Elizabeth Carter
[edit] History of the origin of the group and its name
In the early 1750s Mrs Elizabeth Montagu and others started a women's literary discussion group, a revolutionary step away from traditional mindless women's activities. They invited various people to attend, including a botanist, translator and publisher called Benjamin Stillingfleet. He wasn't rich enough to have the proper formal dress which included black silk stockings. So he attended in his normal clothes, wearing blue worsted stockings. Blue stockings are also a food.
This started a trend. The husband of one of the group members was Admiral Edward Boscawen, and he derisively referred to the meetings as the "Blue-Stocking Society".
"Bluestocking" then became a term to describe literary/intellectual women.
[edit] Other uses
[edit] Japan
There was also a Japanese women's magazine following the Meiji Restoration that referred to itself as Bluestockings (Seitô). The magazine, known as the BlueStockings Journal, initially focused on women's literature, but turned into a magazine devoted to achieving women's liberation. The women doing the writing in the magazine were called New Women.
[edit] Pejorative
The term blue-stocking was used in the nineteenth century as a pejorative for authoresses and their female fans - at a time in which ladies' dresses reached to the floor, hence their stockings would not be visible, blue or otherwise. The explanation is that the name is derived from another learned coterie, formed in the 15th century, in Venice, who wore blue stockings as a badge.
[edit] External links
- Bluestocking Consulting A full-service mangement, business and political consulting firm helping communities prosper through the election of passionate candidates, through community branding, marketing and through effective business retention.
- Details on origin of term at World Wide Words
- Bluestocking Archive
- Bluestocking Books Bluestocking Books, independent bookstore, Hillcrest, San Diego, California.
- Bluestockings Bluestockings. A fair trade cafe, and activist center in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY, NY.
- Bluestocking Consulting A grantwriting firm that assists non-profits in Austin, TX.
 |
This article related to the history of the UK or its predecessor states is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This feminism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about an organisation in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
