‘The Charm of Being Loose and Free’: Nineteenth-Century Fisherwomen in the North American Wilderness

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, the popularity of angling among white, middle- and upper-class North American women grew as it came to be seen as an ideal and respectable means of access to the benefits of nature. Unlike hunting, angling enjoyed a wider and more respectable tradition of white female participation that extended back to the Renaissance. Though nineteenth-century middle- and upper-class white women were limited in their access to the natural world by scientific and cultural views of gender, many discovered that angling afforded unique opportunities to explore and engage nature through the overlapping roles of tourist, naturalist and conservationist. Moreover, angling allowed some elite white women to lay claim to nature as agents of colonisation, while for others, it assisted in the development of a public voice for conservation. Thus, angling served to extend the domestic sphere as it allowed middle- and upper-class white women a more independent use of mind and body within the context of nature.