Nellie Bly: The Development of Feminine Perspective, Reform, and the Challenging of Traditional Gender and Class Ideals

Muckraking journalist Nellie Bly is among the most well known of the Progressive era, remembered for her acts of stunt reporting and her continuous reform efforts. Through her writing, Nellie Bly introduced a feminine perspective to a traditionally masculine industry, presenting her own thoughts and observations regarding the role of women within society. Nellie Bly provided women with a critical voice in challenging traditional ideas surrounding gender and class, and the need for large-scale reform in order to better serve the broader public. By engaging in muckraking reporting, such as her time at the Blackwell’s Island insane asylum, or covering the Suffragists, Nellie Bly established the development of feminine perspective within the front pages and headlines of newspapers across the country, challenging restrictive ideologies surrounding gender and class, and developing a new sphere for female involvement within society.

“Energy rightly applied and directed can accomplish anything.”¹ - Nellie Bly

Footnotes

1. “Journalist Nellie Bly Her Determination Helped Her Break Barriers And Uncover Injustice.” Investor’s Business Daily, November 2, 2000. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsinc&AN=edsinc.A106881166&site=eds-live.