Gender, genesis and generation: Colette and Germaine Beaumont’s journalism at Le Matin, 1910–1924

Abstract

This article compares the journalism and literary output of Colette and a less famous French writer, Germaine Beaumont, before, during and after they worked at a major daily newspaper, Le Matin, 1910–24, considering them as members of two different generations of women entering the male-dominated and masculine-defined occupation of journalist. The article addresses the effects of their gender on their employment as literary and women’s page columnists, respectively, but not as reporters with by-lines appearing on the front page, i.e. the prestige positions and location in daily newspapers. A second line of enquiry examines how their choices of female protagonists and modern feminine perspective in their journalistic and literary works contributed to the late recognition of Colette’s genius and the (contemporary) near ignorance of Beaumont’s oeuvre. A third argument shows how Colette, a successful member of the second generation, actively assisted Beaumont, a member of the third generation, in getting a position at Le Matin, and then acted as a model of good work and writing practices for the younger author. Equally importantly, Beaumont acknowledged and applauded Colette for mentoring her. The article is part of a larger investigation into the second and third generation of newspaper women and cites evidence of similar experiences in the reception of other women journalists’ writing as well as the role of cross-generational encouragement among women journalists.