In conjunction with an exhibition contextualizing William H. Walker’s cartoons satirizing women’s fashion in the late 19th- and early 20th centuries on display at Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library opening in late June 2025, we invite you to join us for an interdisciplinary symposium focused on related themes.

When the “New Woman” of the 1890s donned pants, and other feminist clothing trends emerged, such as tailored jackets and sportswear, women’s fashions symbolized changes taking place in society. Women entered traditionally masculine spheres like higher education and the workplace, with hopes to make further progress. But just as there were those who welcomed the change, others, like Walker’s cartoons illustrated, felt profound anxieties. As in our own time, there were those in the 1890s and 1900s who saw grave dangers to society itself in atypical gender presentations. As the New Woman undermined the gender binary with her clothing choices, she threatened to overthrow the social order. Indeed, gender confusion is a major theme of the cartoons Walker drew. Feminism, fashion, and fear came together to shape public perceptions and policy. Mockery neutralized the threat. 

This gathering will provide space for interdisciplinary scholarly conversation about the ways this past has ongoing significance. With escalating discussions of the significance of gender, pressures for conformity within externally-defined expectations for one’s appearance, and debates over whether individual decisions endanger society as a whole, this material is deeply relevant for the 2020s.

The symposium will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025 on the Princeton University campus. There will not be a fee to attend, but registration is required. The symposium will be open to all.

Sponsored by: Princeton University Library, Princeton University Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Princeton University Gender + Sexuality Resource Center, and Princeton University Humanities Council