Dust mop or mic? Women’s utopian border-crossings in Cold War ham radio

Abstract

Abstract During the 1950s and the 1960s, a wave of technologically inclined women joined the amateur radio community, drawn to its commitment to public service and innovation. However, government, commercial and cultural pressure on amateur radio to justify its existence forced the predominantly male hobby to police its borders against female incursions. Countering a domestic containment ideology that positioned male hams as wage-earning husbands and national defenders inhabiting the public sphere, and female hams as housewives confined within the private sphere, women promoted a cosmopolitan, technocratic vision of radio’s capacity to foster a progressive society unencumbered by outmoded gender expectations. Women’s QSL cards (postcards exchanged to confirm on-air communication) map an international social network of likeminded women at a moment in which they were ignored and maligned. By designing their own cards, women recuperated sexist visual tropes to define their own gender identities and behaviours. They constituted physical proof of the technical expertise of female amateurs and documented their participation in radio organizations and public-minded activities. Finally, the cards facilitated female solidarity critical to rooting out sexism in the Cold War-era ham community. Examining the strategies of female hams for contesting institutionalized sexism helps us understand how women create community and foster understanding in male-dominated fields.