For a lot of history, men and women have done things separately. Depending on the culture and period, they worked separately, ate separately, even slept separately. It seems bizarre to us now, but even 125 years ago, it would have been quite normal. So, along with being separate all of the time, men and women had their own versions of things. Of cooooourse, women could not be expected to read regular newspapers with their delicate sensibilities and lesser mental capabilities. Henceforth, women’s newspapers were created to give women some sort of news without any offence.
Recently, I went back to Lower Fort Garry just outside of Winnipeg. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a Hudson’s Bay Company fur trade fort that dates back to the 1830s. There are roughly 10 buildings inside the fort, and one of those is the governor’s house. The governor of the fort, his family, and a few higher ranking officers would live in the house. My favourite part to explore is where his wife would have spent her time. (There weren’t a ton of women wandering around these forts, so she would have mostly stuck to her space.) And what did we find on the table? The Lady’s Newspaper 
From all of my own research, I can tell you that the women’s newspapers are more entertaining than the men’s from the nineteenth century. We are used to having photographs in the newspaper, but “serious” newspapers in this period rarely had images. The women’s, however? We definitely got pictures. I’d be interested to know why we were the lucky ones, but I will take it either way.
The women’s newspapers also featured different sections, as you might imagine. My favourite, as I’m sure you might guess, is the “Court and Fashion” section. Because many of the fashion trends of the day would have been set by royals, it makes sense to group them together. However, it does make me laugh in this particular situation. These forts would get one massive shipment from the Hudson’s Bay Company in England once every 15-18 months. Which means that they would receive a year and a half of news in one go. So, I’m not sure that they were really staying in fashion, buuuuuut at least they were entertained!
Have you read any women’s newspapers?
Cheers,
The Historian
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