Journalism Heroes; The Modern Era: Women's pages

 Women's Pages

Women pages was first appeared out in New York in the 1890s and it then other newspapers that covered society, food and fashion adopted it. It was essential to have a women's pages in their newspaper. Women's pages was exactly what it's name entailed, a section in the newspaper dedicated to woman themselves. Written by women and read by women. However the only things that were covering in the women's pages was no other than the typically chatter women's in the 1890s should have only been talking about. Clothes, baking, shopping and cleaning. Women's pages were covered with headlines such as "Crystal White Soap, for the laundry, and "Simple frocks for local graduates" also "Feminine chat". It was supposed to be like how the sport sections is for men but the women's pages were for the women. Not at all was it supposed to be looked at as if it was including the women in the news to keep them informed by instead to making more money by widening their audience. 

By the 1950s and 1960s Dorthy Journey, Vivian Castleberry and Marj Paxson were journalist that became the women's pages editors. People considered women's pages as "fake news" because they were writing about birth control and abortion. Their news was considered fluff in which everyone already knew those issues were common in society. It would have been more juicy news if while reporting it they tried to change it. Another comment about women's pages was that "They were doing good journalism, they were just wearing hats and white gloves because that's what society required of them." -Kim Voss 

Through the growing feminist movement women's issues were important as the news that made the front page. Journey, Castleberry and Paxson amplified women's issues. Covering battered women, new economic models for childcare and the spread of feminism in depth then any front page on a newspaper. Through this outspoken bold move from these women's pages editors, there was a transition that changed the organization of the newspaper from men and women to work and leisure. This was a big deal because there wasn't an obvious separation between sexes. The first paper to achieve the transition was the Washington Post on January 6, 1969. Ben Bradlee was the editor at the time and his reason for changing the organization was to "treat women as people and not as appendages to men".