Girls Just Want to Have Fun: Writing History as a Feminist Practice of Self Care

What role does research on topics such as food, fashion, exercise, and beauty play in feminist scholarship? What does it mean to write about such “frivolous” topics in history? And how does centering joy and pleasure in your research serve as a meaningful act of self-care? In this roundtable, four historians discuss how the focus on “fun topics” in their research shaped their feminist approach to history and how their scholarship offers a meaningful way to challenge power relations and engage with public audiences. Topics will include how to position oneself as a serious historian while writing on mundane topics, how to integrate self-care into scholarship, and how this focus helps reshape the practice of history and of feminism, especially in this current political moment.