Day: 6 March 2018

Annie Swynnerton: The woman who forced open the male art world

On By In Gender

Photoshop had not been invented, but most female bodies in Victorian art were effectively airbrushed – usually painted by men as idealised objects of beauty.

Annie Swynnerton saw things differently, and blazed a trail for female artists.

When she was elected to the most exclusive society in British art, the Royal Academy (RA), it was a male-only club.

It was 1922 and she was the first woman to join since the Academy’s foundation 154 years earlier.

In fact, it had taken the RA so long to let Swynnerton in that she was 77 by the time she was admitted – and most men relinquished their positions at the age of 75.  More

The story of women’s football in 10 objects

On By In Gender

A hundred years ago, teams of women were playing in front of large crowds and making big money. Then the Football Association banned them from its grounds. Here’s the story of the fall and rise of women’s football, told through 10 objects collected by the National Football Museum.  More

‘Boxer Barbie’: Nicola Adams ‘honoured’ to be turned into doll

On By In Diversity, Ethnicity, Gender

Boxer Nicola Adams has been turned into a Barbie doll for International Women’s Day, which is on Thursday, 8 March.

Nicola, who has twice won Olympic gold medals, is the first UK star to join Barbie’s ‘Shero’ range – designed to honour inspiring women.

Manufacturers Mattel say they chose Nicola because of her outstanding contributions to boxing.

“I am so excited and honoured to be Barbie’s first ever UK Shero and the first ever boxer Barbie,” Nicola said.

The Nicola Adams doll has boxing gloves, boxing gear embroidered with her ‘Lioness’ nickname and her distinctive cropped hairstyle.  More