Nobody, somebody, everybody: ballet, girlhood, class, femininity and comics in 1950s Britain

Gibson, Mel (2008) Nobody, somebody, everybody: ballet, girlhood, class, femininity and comics in 1950s Britain. Girlhood Studies, 1 (2). pp. 108-128. ISSN 1938-8209

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2008.010207

Abstract

This article looks at girlhood in an historical and culturally specific context, through close textual analysis of a central narrative from a key British girls' comic of the 1950s. Girl, published by Hulton Press, predominantly addressed issues around femininity, girlhood and class in that period, often linking reading with other activities considered “appropriate” for girls. I will explore how Girl articulates gender and class and also how it encouraged the mainly middle-class readership to make ballet an important aspect of their cultural practice, popularising ballet classes across Britain. In doing so, I shall focus on the narrative, “Belle of the Ballet.” I will also look at other texts of the period, including Bunty, launched in 1958 by DC Thomson, and show how the representation of ballet changed in later comics for girls, relating this to shifting constructions of girlhood.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Britain, historical context, ballet, comics, reading, cultural practices around girlhood
Subjects: Q200 Comparative Literary studies
W800 Imaginative Writing
W900 Others in Creative Arts and Design
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing
Depositing User: EPrint Services
Date Deposited: 18 Sep 2009 14:21
Last Modified: 31 Jul 2021 08:39
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/354

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