As the Farnsworth exhibition Elegantly Attired shows, nineteenth-century American women of the middle and upper classes dressed in fine fashions in the most up-to-date styles. This clothing shaped their bodies into figures that conformed to ideals of femininity and womanhood. Paintings, prints, and photographs of the period similarly defined these types—the working class woman, the New England woman, the idealized woman and the modern woman.  This talk will examine the wide- ranging visual images and their role in both advancing and challenging such gender stereotypes of the period. Donna Cassidy is Professor of American and New England Studies and Art History at the University of Southern Maine.
 

Location: Farnsworth auditorium

Seating: limited to 70 people

Cost: $15 members; $20 general admission

Reservations: please call 207-596-0949