Breaking Barriers: How Swimwear Paved the Way for Women's Rights Auden Ho, Annika Houghton, Eden Smith Junior Division Group Performance Process Paper: 499 words Ho, Houghton, Smith 2 Process Paper We are a group of girls who surf, swim, do water sports, go to the beach, and we live on an island in the ocean--swimwear is a big part of our lives! So when one of us came across a book on Annette Kellerman, The Mermaid Queen, we were interested. As we studied, we learned ​ ​ about women who broke barriers by designing their own swimwear in order to swim competitively and freely, despite public disapproval. We feel that our topic,“How Swimwear Paved the Way for Women’s Rights,” is important because these women helped prepare society for change in women’s opportunities a century ago--a topic that continues to be a concern even today. We borrowed books and looked for information at our state library on topics such as women’s fashion, swimwear, and the three main characters of our performance--Annette Kellerman, who pioneered women’s first competitive swimwear; Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel; and Bianca Valenti, widely considered to be the best female big wave surfer in the U.S. We used the citations at the end of our books to find websites and primary sources to research and add to our script. We also used websites about Valenti’s fight for equality in women’s surfing. We created a script and updated it as we learned more. We decided to do a performance because we were inspired by last year's performances from our school. We think it’s a powerful way to display historical events because it makes them feel real. Even when we thought the script was finished, we kept adding more and changing it as we continued to gather more information. Revising helped us expand our thesis as we figured out the strongest points of our research. When the quarantine began, we started having zoom meetings to discuss and improve the script. We zoom interviewed Glenn Stout, author of Young ​ Woman and the Sea, who said his book about Ederle might be made into a film! In May, we ​ interviewed Bianca Valenti who described her fight for equity in women’s professional surfing and her frustration in the sizing of hooded wetsuits primarily designed for men. The theme, Breaking Barriers relates to our project because the women we focus on, Gertrude Ederle and Annette Kellerman, broke barriers that helped women to be seen as equals in society. The swimsuits designed by Annette Kellerman and Gertrude Ederle broke societal ​ barriers enabling women to swim competitively. However, much of the focus on the new swimsuit popularized the myth of the ideal woman, and in doing so, reinforced the beauty barrier and benevolent sexism. Our thesis changed over time because the new swimsuits did break barriers, ​ but we realized the swimsuits drew new attention to women’s bodies causing many negative unexpected results. We edited the performance to reflect the positive and negative results of the barrier that was broken, including objectification, that arose as a result. We realized that breaking barriers is an ongoing process as new barriers often form. Ho, Houghton, Smith 3 Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources: “Annette Kellerman’s Ideas of Realism Appall Producers.” The day book. Chicago, Ill., 20 Oct. ​ ​ ​ 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. ​ ​ <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1915-10-20/ed-1/seq-20/>. This article written during her lifetime is about Annette’s choice to give up her career in Vaudeville and her influence in the set design of the films she acted in including seaweed and glass cages in exotic locations such as Jamaica and the British West Indies. This source helped us develop the character and personality of Annette in the Vaudeville scene. “Annette Kellerman Will Dive and Swim on the Screen at the Colonial.” The Tacoma Times. ​ Tacoma, Wash., 13 March 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. ​ ​ Library of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085187/1915-03-13/ed-1/seq-8/>. This was a newspaper advertisement about the silent film, Neptune’s Daughter, featuring ​ ​ Annette Kellerman as the star. It also included reviews from film critics claiming how spectacular the movie was! This source helped us support our argument that Kellerman was one of the first athletes to become part of the celebrity culture. In the script we explained that Annette’s celebrity in synchronized swimming and the introduction of ​ celebrity culture in the 1920s helped her become a star on Vaudeville and later in Hollywood. This was illustrated in the Vaudeville scene in our performance. “Bathing Apparel: In the 4th of July Sale.” Evening star. Washington, D.C., 30 June 1918. ​ ​ Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. ​ <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-06-30/ed-1/seq-4/>. This is an advertisement for swimsuits and swim tights named after Annette Kellerman and mimicking the style she created. This source helped us see how her popular swimsuit influenced the design of other swimsuits in 1918. “Bianca Valenti: Big Wave Surfer,Media Spokesperson,Environmental Activist.” Big Wave ​ Bianca, 7 Feb. 2020, www.bigwavebianca.com/. ​ This is Bianca Valenti’s website. This website gives information on Bianca Valenti’s fight for gender equality in women’s big wave surfing. We represented Bianca Valenti’s perspective in the introductory scene of our performance. Burgess, Thomas William. “Trainer Hopes to Put Swimmer Across Channel in 11½ Hours.” Evening star. Washington, D.C., 05 July 1926. Chronicling America: Historic American ​ ​ Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. ​ Ho, Houghton, Smith 4 <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1926-07-05/ed-1/seq-8/>. This newspaper article was written by Ederle’s trainer. He explains that it took him 32 attempts before he made it across the English Channel. He wasn’t very hopeful that she would make it across in her first attempt of the season of 1926. It helped us understand her determination to make it across. Crowley, Louise Petty. Personal Interview. 11 April 2020. Annika interviewed her grandma who told her about her mother, Lucile Petty, who taught women how to swim and how to perform life-saving skills in the 1930s at Weber College in Utah. Annika comments about the inspiration she feels about her great grandmother in the dialogue of the opening scene of the performance. “Esther Williams & Annette Kellerman on Set of Million Dollar Mermaid 1952: Million Dollar Mermaid.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/pin/126734176994981179/?lp=true. ​ ​ This image shows Annette Kellerman on the set of “The Million Dollar Mermaid” with Esther Williams who played Annette in the film. This source provided more support for the argument we make that Annette was an important participant in the celebrity culture that started in the 1920s in the United States. “Gertrude Ederle, Channel Swimmer.” Channel Swimming Dover, ​ ​ www.channelswimmingdover.org.uk/content/photo/gertrude-ederle-channel-swimmer. This image of Gertrude Ederle shows how spunky Ederle was which was important in her “can do” attitude that helped her swim the English Channel. We use this source to help capture Ederle’s spunky personality in our performance. “Gertrude Ederle’s Great Swim.” Hamilton Evening Journal. (Hamilton, Ohio) 26 September ​ ​ 1926. This newspaper editorial helped us understand how people felt about women and their roles at the time. The reporter writes about how Ederle “has not cheated nature” and starved herself to be thin. In our script, we used the line, “She will be a good mother,” from the article to show that her body was being focused on rather than her accomplishments. “Grease Coated Olympic Swimmer Gertrude Ederle Wades into the Water on...” Getty Images, ​ ​ Archive, New York Daily News. www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/grease-coated-olympic-swimmer-gertrude-ederl e-wades-into-news-photo/97288164?adppopup=true. This is the image on our backdrop that shows Gertrude Ederle about to go into the water. It shows the innovative ideas Ederle used to pursue her goal. We tried to show this in the Ho, Houghton, Smith 5 scene where she “swims” the English Channel. Kellerman, Annette. How to Swim: Annette Kellermann: Free Download, Borrow, and ​ ​ Streaming.” Internet Archive, George H. Doran Company, 1 Jan. 1970, ​ ​ archive.org/details/howtoswim00kellgoog/page/n22/mode/2up. Annette Kellerman describes how she views herself and what she did to raise awareness about the ocean and how women should enjoy swimming. We used these ideas in the analysis and commentary that follows the Vaudeville scene. The characters discuss her celebrity status and how it drew attention to her body. However, some people were inspired by her courage, her focus on health and wellness, and her efforts to raise awareness about the environment. Kellerman, Annette. Physical Beauty, How to Keep It. George H. Doran Company, 1918. ​ ​ This book, written by Kellerman, describes her philosophy and advice on how to stay physically fit and active. She prescribes two hours of activity in the outdoors, which is really cool. This source helped us understand the personality and goals of Kellerman. We tried to show this in how we created her character in the script. “Less than a Month before, Gertrude Ederle Became the First Woman to... News Photo.” Getty ​ Images, ​ www.gettyimages.com/photos/bettmann-archive-gertrude-ederle?family=editorial&phrase =bettmann archive gertrude ederle&sort=mostpopular. This picture shows Gertrude Ederle swimming the English Channel, lathered in grease, and smiling. We used this image in the backdrop. It helps portray Ederle’s personality. “Miss Annette Kellerman.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2014683563/.