Women’s Studies

Introducing ‘Women’s Studies Archive: Voice and Vision’

"The Latest Paris Fashions." Myra's Journal, 1 Apr. 1889. Women's Studies Archive

│By Rachel Holt, Gale Primary Sources Acquisitions Editor│

​ Rachel Holt is an Acquisitions Editor at Gale, working on the Gale Primary Sources portfolio. Managing the Women’s Studies Archive series, Rachel works closely with source libraries and other archival institutions around the world and tracks academic trends in Women’s and Gender Studies to ascertain which primary sources are required. In this blog post she answers the following questions about the new module, Voice and Vision:


  • What is in this new archive?

  • Why did Gale digitise these particular collections?

  • Why have we called the new instalment Voice and Vision?

    • Read moreIntroducing ‘Women’s Studies Archive: Voice and Vision’

    The History of International Women’s Day and the Origins of Women’s History Month

    By Rachel Holt, Acquisitions Editor for Gale International
    Rachel has worked in a variety roles across the publishing industry and joined Gale Primary Sources in 2017 where she became responsible for the Women’s Studies Archive programme.  Although women’s history is a personal passion her other area of focus is fringe-politics and Rachel is also in charge of Gale’s Political Extremism & Radicalism series.  

    Happy International Women’s Day (#BalanceforBetter) and may your Women’s History Month 2019 be an enlightening one!

    Every year March marks the month where several countries around the world celebrate female contributions to society by recognising their achievements throughout history. However, the origins of how both these events came into being are themselves fascinating episodes in feminist history. If “history is written by the victors” then who decides which people and events from the past deserves our attention?[1]

    Read moreThe History of International Women’s Day and the Origins of Women’s History Month

    Sex! … and Sexuality, and Gender

    By Phil Virta, Senior Acquisitions Editor at Gale
    Phil Virta has worked at Gale for more than fourteen years in various capacities, most recently as a publisher of digital primary source archives in charge of the Archives of Sexuality & Gender programme. He enjoys long walks through dusty archival collections, visiting far-flung places and frequent woolgathering. When he doesn’t have his head in the clouds, he can be found researching new archive ideas, working on his stamp collection, watching squirrels, or planning his next tropical vacation.

    Please be aware that this blog post contains content that may be offensive to some readers; the decision to read the post is at your own discretion.

    Mention the word ‘sex’ while you’re chatting with anyone and you’re likely to get a variety of responses from rational to emotional to visceral, depending on whom you are speaking to:

    “Did you just say ‘sex’?”
    [Lewd laughter]
    “I’m so embarrassed right now that I’m blushing.”
    “Ewwww!”
    “I’m a doctor; we can have a frank discussion.”
    “What about sex?”

    Read moreSex! … and Sexuality, and Gender