“Modern girls”: how secondary students perceive their social role. An analysis of the magazines of female high school students in Chile, first half of the 20th century

Abstract

The publication of magazines with news and literature in secondary education establishments was a widespread practice during the first half of the 20th century in Chile. This article seeks to identify and describe the perception that the students of that time had of their role as educated women, through their writings published in these magazines. The young women described their environment, what they thought of their education and their mission as women, as well as pondering the traditional and modern roles they perceived as theirs. In this article, it is possible to observe that the students value positively being able to obtain formal education. Also, her perception of what it means to be a "modern girl" implies a possibility of exercising greater freedoms, but also incorporates a series of duties in accordance with the values of her time.