Modern women on trial: Sexual transgression in the age of the flapper

by Lucy Bland

Modern women on trial looks at several sensational trials involving drugs, murder, adultery, miscegenation and sexual perversion in the period 1918–24. The trials, all with young female defendants, were presented in the media as morality tales, warning of the dangers of sensation-seeking and sexual transgression. The book scrutinises the trials and their coverage in the press to identify concerns about modern femininity. The flapper later became closely associated with the 'roaring' 1920s, but in the period immediately after the Great War she represented not only newness and hedonism, but also a frightening, uncertain future. This figure of the modern woman was a personification of the upheavals of the time, representing anxieties about modernity, and instabilities of gender, class, race and national identity. This accessible, extensively researched book will be of interest to all those interested in social, cultural or gender history.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, Feminism

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2013

About the author

Lucy Bland FRHistS is a British professor of social and cultural history at Anglia Ruskin University. Much of her work focuses on British sexological history.

Reviews

[Charmaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve just started and am excited about reading this.

See my comments above for full review.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this really interesting but sometimes slow.

[Emmy Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

pls read this book it is fascinating. crucial read for anyone interested in women's history