Representations of Women and Work in the Nineteenth-century Greek Press
A Communication and Media Perspective
Abstract
This article examines the nineteenth-century Greek press as a communicative system through which gendered visibility, meanings of work, and women’s public identities were discursively constructed within a non-Anglophone national context. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of three historically significant newspapers(Aion, Akropolis and Empros), the study explores how women’s public presence, professional activity and social roles were framed, constrained, or selectively made visible. The findings show that women were predominantly represented through relational identities linked to men or family structures, while references to autonomous professional activity were rare and fragmented. At the same time, the press gradually incorporated selective forms of female visibility in areas such as education, the arts, philanthropy and socially acceptable occupations, particularly towards the end of the century. By focusing on media discourse, symbolic visibility and communicative practices, the article demonstrates that historical press narratives actively shaped gendered public identity and the symbolic boundaries of women’s work, rather than merely reflecting social change.
Keywords:
References
Aion (1834–1843) National Library of Greece. Digital Newspaper Collection. Online: http://rg-dev.nlg.gr/archive/search?sort=rel&serials_of_issues%5B7%5D=%CE%91%CE%B9%CF%8E%CE%BD%E2%80%A179546
Akropolis (1883–1885) National Library of Greece. Digital Newspaper Collection. Online: http://rg-dev.nlg.gr/archive/search?sort=rel&serials_of_issues%5B8%5D=%CE%91%CE%BA%CF%81%CF%8C%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%82%E2%80%A150
Akropolis, 26.6.1884. Athens.
Akropolis, 9.5.1884. Athens.
Anagnostopoulou, D. (2007). Αναπαραστάσεις του γυναικείου στη λογοτεχνία [Representations of Women in Literature]. Patakis.
Anagnostopoulou, D., Papadatos, G. & Papantonnakis, G. (Eds.). (2013). Γυναικείες και ανδρικές αναπαραστάσεις στη λογοτεχνία για παιδιά και νέους [Female and Male Representations in Literature for Children and Young People]. Papadopoulos.
Beechey, V. (1988). Women and Production. A Social Analysis. Routledge.
Berger, P. L. & Luckmann, T. (1966). The Social Construction of Reality. A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Anchor Books.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Harvard University Press.
Couldry, N. (2003). Media Rituals. A Critical Approach. Routledge.
Doulkeri, T. (1990). Μέσα Μαζικής επικοινωνίας και ισότητα των δύο φύλων. Μια πρώτη θεωρητική προσέγγιση και εμπειρική έρευνα [Mass Media and Gender Equality. A First Theoretical Approach and Empirical Research]. Papazisi.
Droulia, L. (Ed.). (2005). Ο ελληνικός τύπος 1784 έως σήμερα. Ιστορικές και θεωρητικές προσεγγίσεις, Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου [The Greek Press, 1784 to the Present. Historical and Theoretical Approaches. Proceedings of the International Conference], Athens. Institute for Neohellenic Research/National Hellenic Research Foundation.
Empros (1896–1899) National Library of Greece. Digital Newspaper Collection. Online: http://rg-dev.nlg.gr/archive/search?sort=rel&serials_of_issues%5B1%5D=%CE%95%CE%BC%CF%80%CF%81%CF%8C%CF%82%E2%80%A124
Empros, 10.01.1897.
Empros, 11.12.1899.
Empros, 12.12.1896.
Empros, 16.11.1897.
Empros, 2.12.1896.
Empros, 30.12.1899.
Empros, 5.1.1899.
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58. Online: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x
Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the Witch. Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Autonomedia.
Finch, A. (2000). Women’s Writing in Nineteenth-Century France. Cambridge University Press.
Friedan, B. (1963). The Feminine Mystique. W. W. Norton & Company.
Fuller, M. (1845). Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Greeley & McElrath.
Georgiadou-Kountoura, E. (2000). Η Γυναίκα στη Νεοελληνική Ζωγραφική του ΙΘ’ Αιώνα: Εικόνα και Δημιουργός. Στο συλλογικό έργο Κενά στην Ιστορία της Τέχνης – Γυναίκες Καλλιτέχνιδες [The Woman in 19th Century Modern Greek Painting: Image and Artist. In the Collective Work “Gaps in the History of Art – Women Artists”] (pp. 59–78). Gvostis.
Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M. & Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with Television: The Dynamics of the
Cultivation Process. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Perspectives on Media Effects (pp.17–40). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame Analysis. An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Harper & Row.
Gotsi, G. (2018). Βλέμματα γυναικών στην τέχνη (1850–1900) [Women’s Perspectives in Art (1850–1900)]. Nefeli.
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, Media, Language (pp. 128–138). Hutchinson.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation. Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Sage.
Hionidou, V. (2005). Domestic Service on Three Greek Islands in the Later Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. The History of the Family, 10(4), 473–489.
Hochschild, A. (1983). The Managed Heart. Commercialization of Human Feeling. University of California Press.
Hooks, B. (1992). Black Looks. Race and Representation. South End Press.
Kladou-Kranidioti, M. (1996). Φιλανθρωπία και κοινωνική πρόνοια: Τα πρώτα βήματα του ελληνικού κράτους (1830–1880) [Philanthropy and Social Welfare. The First Steps of the Greek State (1830–1880)]. Estia.
Konstantinidou, Ch. (1997). Η αναπαράσταση του κατά φύλο καταμερισμού της εργασίας στον ημερήσιο αθηναϊκό Τύπο [The Representation of the Gender Division of Labour in the Daily Athenian Press]. PhD Dissertation, Panteion University, Department of Sociology, Section of Social Morphology, Athens.
Kontaxi, K. M. (2020). Αναπαραστάσεις του γυναικείου φύλου σε εφημερίδες της πόλης του Αγρινίου κατά την περίοδο 1950–1985: λαογραφική και ανθρωπολογική προσέγγιση [Representations of the Female Gender in Newspapers of the City of Agrinio during the Period 1950–1985: A Folkloric and Anthropological Approach]. Doctoral Dissertation, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). School of Philosophy, Department of Byzantine Philology and Folklore.
Koumarianou, A. (2008). Aeon. In L. Droulia & G. Koutsopananou (Eds.), Εγκυκλοπαίδεια του Ελληνικού Τύπου, 1784–1974. Εφημερίδες, Περιοδικά, Δημοσιογράφοι, Εκδότες. Τόμος Α [Encyclopedia of the Greek Press, 1784–1974. Newspapers, Magazines, Journalists, Publishers. Volume A] (pp. 153–154). National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute for Neohellenic Research.
Koutsoulenti, S. (2005). Το Αρσάκειο και η συμβολή του στην εκπαίδευση των κοριτσιών (1836–1930) [Arsakeio and its Contribution to the Education of Girls (1836–1930)]. Hellenic Letters.
Landauer, A. (1884). Mes premiers vers: Avec une lettre autographe de Victor Hugο. Vienne: Editeur Charles Gerold Fils.
Macha-Bizoumi, N. (2012). Amalia Dress: The Invention of a New Costume Tradition in the Service of Greek National Identity. Catwalk: The Journal of Fashion, Beauty and Style, 1(1), 65–90.
Mackridge, P. (2009). Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766–1976. Oxford University Press.
Marks, P. (1990). Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers. The New Woman in the Popular Press. The University Press of Kentucky.
Mayer, K. (1957). Ιστορία των Ελληνικών Εφημερίδων [History of the Greek Press]. Volume A, 1700–1900. Dimopoulos.
McCombs, M. & Shaw, D. (1972). The Agenda‑Setting Function of Mass Media. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187.
McRobbie, A. (1991). Feminism and Youth Culture. Macmillan.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis. A Methods Sourcebook (3rd ed.). Sage.
Mill, J. S. (1869). The Subjection of Women. Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6–18. Online: https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/16.3.6
Nina-Pazarzi, E. (2019). Φύλο και Εργασία [Gender and Work]. Law Library.
Nina–Pazarzi, E. & Tsangaris, M. (2008). Constructing Women’s Image in TV Commercials: The Greek Case. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 15(1), 29–50. Online: https://doi.org/10.1177/097152150701500102
Papadimitriou, D. (2008). Akropolis. In L. Droulia & G. Koutsopananou (Eds.), Εγκυκλοπαίδεια του Ελληνικού Τύπου, 1784–1974. Εφημερίδες, Περιοδικά, Δημοσιογράφοι, Εκδότες. Τόμος Α [Encyclopedia of the Greek Press, 1784–1974. Newspapers, Magazines, Journalists, Publishers. Volume A] (pp. 158–159). National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute for Neohellenic Research.
Papastefanaki, L. (2019). Family, Gender and Labour in the Greek Mines, 1860–1940. International Review of Social History, 65(2), 267–288. Online: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859019000580
Petropulos, J. A. (1968). Politics and Statecraft in the Kingdom of Greece, 1833–1843. Princeton University Press.
Psarra, A. (2008). Σιωπηρές Ιστορίες. Γυναίκες και Φύλο στην Ιστορική Αφήγηση [Silent Stories. Women and Gender in Historical Narratives]. Alexandria.
Sachsman, D. B., Rushing, S. K. & Morris, R. (Eds.). (2009). Seeking a Voice. Images of Race and Gender in the 19th Century Press. Purdue University Press.
Saldaña, J. (2016). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers (3rd ed.). Sage.
Santoniccolo, F., Trombetta, T., Paradiso, M. N. & Rollè, L. (2023). Gender and Media Representations: A Review of the Literature on Gender Stereotypes, Objectification and Sexualization. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(10). Online: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20105770
Stamiris, Ε. (1986). The Women’s Movement in Greece. New Left Review, I/158, 98–114.
Stetz, M. D. (2001). The New Woman and the British Periodical Press of the 1890s. Journal of Victorian Culture, 6(2), 272–285. Online: https://doi.org/10.3366/jvc.2001.6.2.272
Thanailaki, P. (2018). Gender Inequalities in Rural European Communities during the 19th and Early 20th Century. Springer. Online: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75235-8
Tuchman, G. (1978). Hearth and Home. Images of Women in the Mass Media. Oxford University Press.
Tusan, M. E. (1998). Inventing the New Woman: Print Culture and Identity Politics during the Fin-de-Siecle: 1997 VanArsdel Prize. Victorian Periodicals Review, 31(2), 169–182.
Van Zoonen, L. (2000). Feminist Media Studies. Sage.
Varika, E. (1987). Η Εξέγερση των Κυριών. Η γένεση μιας φεμινιστικής συνείδησης στην Ελλάδα, 1833–1907 [The Revolt of the Ladies. The Genesis of a Feminist Consciousness in Greece (1833–1907)]. Research and Education Foundation of the Commercial Bank of Greece.
Wollstonecraft, M. (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Joseph Johnson.
