Feminism and Costume History: Synthesis and Reintegration

Like many, my response to feminism, which today is a difficult term, is personal. I consider myself a feminist because of my age and my experiences, coming out of the 1950s. As a costume historian, I have chosen to concentrate on women's struggle to overcome the societal expectations that are imposed regarding clothing rather than writing on fashion and its designers, marketers or customers as many historians of dress do. My debt lies with the remarkable women's history scholars who came out of the 1970s and later who created a new discipline. Using "women's ways of working", i.e., making connections, I build on their foundations. Among other areas, I write on sports and slaves. How can one be anything other than a feminist after studying these areas?