Research Projects
An introduction
Of particular importance in Laurel Forster's research is the way women's lives in the real world relate to texts and printed matter. Her interest in women's magazines, particularly those that have a political edge or are overtly feminist, has led to numerous publications, talks and a project of local recovery of feminist grassroots activism and history. Laurel is interested in women's writing and the representation of women in a range of media forms including magazines, television, film and radio. This interest has led to research projects in domesticity, including the cookbook and its place in women's lives and her current project is based on the political underpinnings of domestic sewing cultures and magazines.
Women's Magazines
Laurel Forster's interest in the political power of magazines started with her thesis on May Sinclair (University of Sussex 2000). Here she unearthed a very serious feminist writer who was publishing her work in diverse journals and papers, ranging from the serious New York Times and English Review to the more popular Women at Home and Good Housekeeping (see Forster 'May Sinclair, Magazine Writer' in Binkes and Snyder 2019).
Contemplating the power of women's magazines to inform and communicate with women directly, has formed a huge part of Forster's academic work. Her monograph, Magazine Movements (2015), takes the pieced together form of the magazine and considers it across a variety of genres, from print to broadcast, including television and radio. Her current project on the place of craft magazines in women's lives continues this work.
Recovering Portsmouth's Hidden Feminisms
Women's Community Activism in Portsmouth
Cookbook Cultures
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