The research and exhibition present a selection of images and articles from the press of the 1950s–1970s, curated in an attempt to answer the following question: What are the typical professional representations of women in the periodicals of the time, and how do they shape established gender roles?
Given the vast volume of processed data, we highlight a crucial methodological detail relevant to the bibliological context of the National Library of Romania—the research was conducted on destructured collections, specifically periodicals from the 1950s– 1970s that underwent a decontamination process and could thus be safely studied, scanned, and analyzed.
The large number of periodicals consulted necessitated an extended timeline for research, selection, and digitization (December 2023 – April 2024).
The curation, text drafting, and image processing activities took place between May and July 2024.
The exhibition was launched on the website of the National Library of Romania in August 2024.
The purpose of the research and exhibition was to initiate a discussion on a topic that remains less prominent in public debates in Romania. The selected images serve as a mere illustration, an introduction to the discourse of communist periodicals, aiming to shed light on a less explored issue—the representation of gender in a press operating under an ideologically controlled, yet not distant, regime that shaped identity and gender role narratives.
The main public output of the project is the virtual exhibition, from which multiple posts were derived for the National Library’s social media pages. The exhibition consists of five chapters, developed through the thematic organization of over two hundred images and articles. These chapters summarize the professional and representational concerns of women under communism, covering various fields—from agriculture to technical and scientific domains, from leadership roles or top workers in factories and plants to depictions of young women in school settings.
As a result of the research, a database of over 200 documents was created, containing images, articles, and a bibliography dedicated to the studied topic. Additionally, all the analyzed periodicals were organized and cataloged.
The impact of the project unfolded in two directions. First, the topic generated public interest and was revisited in multiple radio interviews given by the project team. Second, the research into these collections highlighted the many ways these documents can be approached, revealing their significance beyond the immediately identifiable information. The exhibition and research once again raised the issue of propaganda through the media and emphasized the subtle ways in which it can take place.
