Dr Penny Tinkler

My academic and career profile straddles the disciplines of sociology and history. Following a History degree in the School of Social Sciences at Sussex University, I moved to Lancaster University where I completed a PhD on the cultural construction of girlhood in the Department of Education Research and then held a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Centre for Women’s Studies. I joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Manchester in 1993.
At Manchester I have been active in fostering links between the departments of Sociology and History. I also have a special interest in postgraduate matters and am currently the Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology.

I am a member of the British Sociological Association, the Women’s History Network, Gender & Education Association, and the Social History Society.

Key Words: Girls, Youth, Teenagers, History, Photography, Photographs, Smoking, PhD Examination.

Smoking – I am interested in the processes whereby smoking has become established as a feminine practice in Britain since 1880. I have recently published a book on this topic - Smoke Signals: Women, Smoking and Visual Culture in Britain (Berg, 2006).

Girlhood and growing up in twentieth-century Britain - I have written extensively on girls’ leisure, education and citizenship 1900-50, and published a book on teenage magazines and the cultural construction of girlhood - Constructing Girlhood: popular magazines for girls growing up in England, 1920-50 (Taylor & Francis, 1995).

Photographs and historical enquiry – I am interested in the use of photographs to explore questions about the past relating to gender and age and, specifically, the histories of girlhood, childhood, youth and smoking.   More details.

Doctoral examination process - Since 1999 I have undertaken several research projects on this topic with Dr Carolyn Jackson at Lancaster University. Our work focuses on policies, practices, perceptions and experiences pertaining to the PhD examination process in Britain. We have published a book on the topic - The PhD Examination Process: A Handbook for Students, Examiners and Supervisors (Open University Press, 2004).

Photographs and photographic practices  1900-present

Gender, Time and Change – 3rd year module

Young, free and Single? Growing up in C20th Britain - 2nd year core module, History and Sociology joint degree.

Visualizing Society and Social Life – Postgraduate module

I am available to supervise PhDs on: historical research on girls, women and/or media; contemporary girlhood and youthful femininities; gender and/or age past and present; photographic practices and photographic images. I am also willing to supervise PhDs that ask historical questions and use historical sources and methods.

Publications Database

Penny Tinkler, Smoke Signals: Women, Smoking and Visual Culture in Britain (Berg, 2006). http://www.bergpublishers.com/uk/book_page.asp?BKTitle=Smoke%20Signals
Penny Tinkler, Constructing Girlhood: popular magazines for girls growing up in England, 1920-50 (Taylor & Francis, 1995).

Penny Tinkler and Carolyn Jackson, The PhD Examination Process: A Handbook for Students, Examiners and Supervisors (Open University Press, 2004).http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335213057.html

Carolyn Jackson and Penny Tinkler, “Ladettes” and “Modern Girls”: “troublesome” young femininities. Sociological Review, 55(2), May 2007.

Media availability – girls, youth, teenagers (1900-50); women and smoking (1880-1980); PhD examination.

Media experience

I have been interviewed on women and smoking for: Radio 4, Woman’s Hour on 21 November 2000 and 27 October 2006; BBC Radio 5 Live, 1 July 2005.
Wrote the lead article on girls’ magazines, Independent on Sunday Life magazine, pp.1-2. 19 January 2003.
Written features on the doctoral examination for the Times Higher Education Supplement:  21 May 2004; 19 March 2004; 21 October 2005.

Media contact

Email:
Or contact the Faculty of Humanities, Media Relations Officer: Mike Addelman on 0044 (0)161 275 0790, mobile 07717 881567

PhD Students

J. van Hooff: ‘The experiences of different generations in heterosexual relationships.’ Awarded 2006
A. West: ‘Class, Gender and Rock Climbing.’
S. Aguilar-Rodriguez: ‘Rural Women’s Daily Lives in Mexico in the 1950s: A Comparative Analysis’.
J. Barefoot: ‘Adolescent Girls and a Feminist Religious Symbolic.’
A. Pechurina: ‘Russian Families in Britain: Homes and National Identity.’
E. Ilugbuhi: ‘Young people and AIDS in Nigeria.’