Search

Edward William Bok, the Ladies' Home Journal's editor from 1889 to 1919, remained a confirmed proponent of Victorian womanhood. Yet, dramatic changes in American society made his perceptions increasingly anachronistic and, recognizing this, he reluctantly permitted his magazine's portrayal of woman to change with the times. The first part of the dissertation examines Edward Bok's Victorian attitudes toward woman's role in society. According to him, woman's intellectual, emotional, and physical inferiority and her moral and intuitional superiority harmonize perfectly to define a special sphere for her--the home—where she fulfills her roles as wife, mother, and homemaker. Outside the home, Bok permitted only a narrow range of activity for woman—church and club activities and even employment outside the home if finances required it. The second part of the dissertation illustrates how the Journal's image of woman changed during Bok's tenure, especially during the second decade of the twentieth century. At the outset, all departments of the Journal reinforced the editor's concept of woman, but by the time Edward Bok retired, in 1919. the magazine's image of woman contrasted sharply with Bo'k's personal views.