Verbal and Visual Representations of Female Press Readers. El Mosquito (Argentina, 1863-1893)

Abstract

The rise of a feminine reading public in the first years of XIXth has been pointed out from several critical studies in the last years. This process has also its own iconography. The aim of this essay is both systematize and analyze those images. In order of that, it describes the main features of European and American female readers’ iconography. Secondly, it focuses on the representation of female press readers and it points out their peculiarities. Lastly, it analyzes some female readers images printed in El Mosquito, an Argentinean satirical weekly magazine. The last set shows how male and feminine readers share places and practices. It also announces the rise of modern and massive public images in an early period.