Battle-axe (woman)

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Carrie Nation, brandishing a hatchet Carry A. Nation with hatchet and bible.jpg
Carrie Nation, brandishing a hatchet

A battle-axe is a derogatory traditional stereotype describing a woman characterized as aggressive, overbearing and forceful. The term originated as a gender-independent descriptor in the early 20th century, but became primarily applied to women around the middle of the century. [1]

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The prime example was the militant temperance activist Carrie Nation, who actually wielded a hatchet and made it her symbol, living in Hatchet Hall and publishing a magazine called The Hatchet. She became involved in the suffragette campaign for votes for women and this campaign further established the archetype. [2] [1] [3]

The battleaxe is one of several stereotypes found in nursing – a tyrannical, fierce matron exemplified by Nurse Ratched or Hattie Jacques in popular medical dramas and comedies. [4] Judith Furse played a "battle-axe woman" in the film Carry On Cabby . [5]

Another example of the battleaxe in popular culture is in Soap opera, for which the "quintessential archetype" [6] was Violet Carson, who played Ena Sharples in the world's longest-running television soap opera, [7] Coronation Street .

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "A Browbeating Cultural History of the 'Old Battle-Axe'", MEL Magazine, 2019-11-26
  2. Fran Grace (2001), Carry A. Nation, Indiana University Press, p. 243, ISBN   978-0-253-33846-4
  3. Helen Rappaport (2001), "Nation, Carry (1846-1911)", Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, vol. 1, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 478–479, ISBN   978-1-57607-101-4
  4. Philip Darbyshire and Suzanne Gordon (2005), "The Battleaxe or Monstrous Figure", Professional Nursing, Springer, ISBN   978-0-8261-2554-5
  5. Brian McFarlane, ed. (2016), "Judith Furse", The Encyclopedia of British Film, Oxford University Press, p. 275, ISBN   9781526111975
  6. "Conventions of soap opera". BBC. 1 August 2003. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  7. "Coronation Street recognised as longest running soap". BBC. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

Further reading