Tamsin Johnson

Thesis title:

Searching for the New Woman in Nottingham: Cycling, Fashion and Feminism (1885-1925)

My research intersects two critical gaps within New Woman literature – the presence of the New Woman in Nottingham and lack of visual and semiotic analysis. Utilising overlooked aspects of Nottinghamshire based archives, this project dissects the impact and legacy of the New Woman to Nottingham’s cycling heritage, female workforce and redresses our understanding of Nottingham’s radical feminist history.

The project explores the representations within visual and material culture of the New Woman between 1885 (‘New Woman’ enters popular discourse, beginnings of first-wave feminism) and 1925 (post-WW1 anxiety about working women).

Research Area

Design

Publications

'Women in the Kitchen: The Performativity of Modern Living' (2021), Space International Journal of Conference Proceedings, Vol 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.51596/sijocp.v1i1.14

Conferences

'Fashioning Entry: Women in the Male Sphere: 1890-1915', presented at NTU's Material and Visual Delights symposium, April 2022.

'Women in the Kitchen: The Performativity of Modern Living', presented virtually at the International SPACE conference 'Gender, Space and Architecture', June 2021.

Other Research Interests

Visual culture and fashion theory, history of.
Design history and impact of design on culture.