‘Ladettes’ and ‘Modern Girls’: ‘Troublesome’ Young Femininities

Abstract

Ladettes' are argued to be a sign, and product, of contemporary development and change; their fortunes are presented as inextricably related to the conditions of late modernity. Using the past to shed light on the present, this paper considers whether fears and claims about the behaviour of some contemporary young women in Britain are exclusive to the present. Two data sets inform the discussion: first, representations of ladettes in national and local newspapers from 1995 to 2005; second, materials relating to the 'modern girl' published in the popular print media between 1918 and 1928. Although there have been important changes in the conditions of girlhood since the 1920s, this historical comparison highlights continuities in the representation of 'troublesome' youthful femininities. We explore similarities and differences in the characteristics attributed to the modern girls of the twenties and the ladettes of recent years, and the dominant discourses that underpin popular constructions of troublesome young women.

Alcohol Consumption, Gender Identities and Women’s Changing Social Positions

“…The moral panic around women's drinking has been shown to be nothing new: in an historical analysis of 'troublesome' young women in the UK, Jackson and Tinkler (2007) demonstrate how the 'modern girl' of 1918-1928 was represented in popular media in very similar ways to the 'ladettes' of the past decade (young women who drink excessively in public, engage in casual sex and behave boisterously). Their analysis highlights continuities in the dominant constructions (hedonistic, financial independence, social independence, unrespectable, undesirable, brazen, immoral) and discourses (health, social dis/order, gender dis/order) employed to describe troublesome young women across both time periods.…”

Women drinking alcohol: assembling a perspective from a Victorian country town, Australia

“…For example, Waterson (1996), Ettore (1997) and Fox et al (2009) discuss the historical weight of ideas that align white middle-class feminine respectability, motherhood, maternal love, temperance, virtue and bodily control. Likewise, Day et al (2004) and Jackson and Tinkler (2007) discuss the emergence of the figure of the 'ladette' as a symbol of a degraded femininity in media discourses which mimic the competitive sociability of masculine drinking bodies. Conversely, McRobbie (2009) argues that the fun-loving ladette retains credibility so long as her performance of masculinity does not challenge the realms of heteropatriarchy.…”

‘Khaki Fever’ during the First World War: A Historical Case Study of Social Work's Approach towards Young Women, Sex and Moral Danger

“…After the First World War, concerns about the outrageous behaviour of 'flappers' (independent young women with short hair and skirts) preoccupied the popular press, and by the Second World War, 'khaki fever' was replaced with a new story about women having 'inappropriate relationships' with American GIs, many of whom were said to be black, adding a further, racist dimension to the panic. In the 1960s and 1970s, concerns focused on women in mini-skirts and on 'free love' and on the behaviour of 'groupies'; more recently, girls drinking alcohol and 'ladette culture' have seized the headlines and the moral high ground (see Jackson and Tinkler, 2007). These examples demonstrate that while 'khaki fever' might have been one peak of concern, it was a familiar problem, rehearsed on a number of occasions, before and since.…”