Projects

Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America (Indiana University Press, 2012)

Pink and Blue is a history of the shifting definitions of neutral, masculine and feminine clothing for babies and children under six years of age in the United States. Based on primary sources ranging from paper dolls and baby record books to blog posts and discussion forums, this book provides a detailed, interdisciplinary examination of popular notions of childhood, gender and sexuality. Topics include the decline of white dresses as the generally accepted clothing for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers and creepers and their rapid acceptance for girls in the early twentieth century, the complicated tale of pink and blue as gendered colors, unisex fashions and ungendered childrearing and the origins of today’s highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing.


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Sex and Unisex: Fashion, Feminism and the Sexual Revolution

While Pink and Blue focused on a narrow age range (babies and children up to the of five) over a long time period, this project narrows the time scope to the period from 1965 to the early 1980s and incorporates fashions for all ages. In addition, I am shifting my attention from gender differences and the signifiers used to denote masculinity and femininity to the "white space" occupied by styles considered unisex, ambiguous or androgynous.

Age Appropriate: Older Women in American Fashion (Very much in the beginning stages)

As millions of female Baby Boomers reach their sixties, the generation who once defied gender conventions by discard bras and wearing pants and miniskirts are faced with a new challenge. My questions include: What is "age appropriate" clothing? How do constructions of femininity and sexuality loosen and/or restrict clothing choices for older women? How have fashions for older women changed with each generation?

Zotero library

How can undergraduates become better researchers?

New technologies are changing the meaning of "authority" and making information -- and misinformation -- available to just about anyone. What are the implications for novice researchers and for faculty who teach research skills? This work connects my classroom experience with training and consulting I do on the topic of undergraduate research.

Zotero library: research for undergraduates
Zotero library: research about undergraduate research