Rock the Sure Shot : Time Travelling with a Newspaper

When I fantasize about time travel I think about how white people are really the only group who can safely time travel to just about any time they choose...well, white men.

As a women, I often think about how it's really only the white, heterosexual, "unmarked" male that this applies to. I wouldn't find pre-1980 very liberating either, even as the second wave of feminism started and the Canadian Charter of Rights was published. But even here, in Canada, which many believe to be quite progressive (despite the ultra-conservative measures of current government), things weren't that great for women in the 1980s. For example, it wasn't until 1987 that systemic discrimination in the hiring of women was found to be unlawful and it wasn't until 1989 that the Supreme Court of Canada decided that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination.

"Miss Information"
Evening Telegram [1919-05-07]

While I can never actually time travel, no matter how hard I wish for it, I can explore the past through archival documents, photographs and recordings. One of my favourite things to do is browse though old newspapers using Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. It's hard to find a medium with more blatant sexism than in old advertising.