How Writing Biographies of Women Differs from Writing Those About Men
History often portrays women through the male gaze – how they looked, who they slept with. And primary sources about their lives may be scattered across various archives if they are not lost to time. To reframe a woman's life as one she lived in her own right, to shift the gaze, the biographer of women must overcome various challenges. But those who do allow all of us to reap the rewards.
Given all of these factors, it seems almost impossible that anyone sits down and writes a biography about a well-known woman, let alone a little or completely unknown woman. But thankfully we do. And thankfully we don’t let the cultural biases get in our way when we sit down to write.
Correcting for the Male Gaze: On the Unique Challenges of Writing Biographies of Women
You might know Sanora Babb as the wife of the Academy Award-winning cinematographer James Wong Howe. She also had many tantalizing affairs with the likes of Ralph Ellison and Harry Stetson (yes, of…
Iris Jamahl Dunkle