University of Galway History Seminar: ‘If we were men, they’d find other jobs for us’: Continuity announcers and female presenters at R/TÉ 1962-73

University of Galway History Seminar

Dr Morgan Wait

(Independent Scholar)

‘If we were men, they’d find other jobs for us’:

Continuity announcers and female presenters at R/TÉ 1962-73

Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of continuity announcers and female presenters on Radio/Telefís Éireann in the first decade of the Irish station. It argues that women who appeared on screen for the Irish broadcaster were subject to restrictive standards which worked to reinforce a particular gendered ideology at the station which portrayed women as middle class housewives relegated to the domestic sphere. To that end, it focuses on three case studies. It looks first, at Valerie McGovern, the hostess of a women’s programme on the network in the mid-1960s. It then discusses Monica Sheridan, a celebrity chef on the station, and then finally looks at the case of the continuity announcers. Utilising press sources, oral history, and archival material, the paper illuminates the conditions of women who worked at the Irish station and examines their representation on screen.

Biography

Dr Morgan Wait is a television historian who recently completed her PhD at Trinity College Dublin on the subject of women and television in Ireland in the 1960s. She has published an article entitled ‘Writing the History of Women’s Programming at Telifís Éireann: A Case Study of Home for Tea in Alphaville’: Journal of Film and Screen Media. She has also published a number of non-peer reviewed articles in outlets such as RTÉ Brainstorm and Critical Studies in Television online. She holds an M.Phil in Modern Irish History from Trinity and a BA in History from Salisbury University.

Registration

This is a hybrid event. The paper will be delivered, in-person, in Room G010, Hardiman Research Building, University of Galway and streamed simultaneously on Zoom: https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/j/99270427210.

To attend via Zoom, please register at: https://forms.office.com/e/9B511BqCBK

Join us for a social gathering with tea, coffee & snacks from 3.30pm. Room G010, Hardiman Research Building.

This talk is part of the University of Galway History Seminar series, in collaboration with the School of Political Science & Sociology Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.