women's press and education: An investigation based on prints categorized as “women's issues” from The Linhares Collection (Belo Horizonte, 1900-1953)

Abstract

The text presents the results of a research study that investigated the relationship between the press and women's education, based on the analysis of newspapers classified as dealing with “women’s issues,” from the Linhares Collection, produced and circulated in Belo Horizonte between 1900 and 1953. The study aimed to discuss how this type of press sought to educate women, questioning the representations of what it meant to “be a woman” in that context, as well as the possible absences related to non-white, poor, and working women. As a methodology, women's newspapers were analyzed with attention to textual elements and the materiality of the printed issues, with the data examined in light of studies from the field of social history and decolonial epistemologies. The study concludes that the themes addressed and the educational projects presented in these publications aimed to shape women as good mothers, wives, and housewives, reinforcing a female representation centered on elite white women, with little or no space for non-white, poor, and working-class women.

Keywords:
Belo Horizonte; Linhares Collection; Education; Women's press; Women