Wayward Women Travelers

During the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, a number of unconventional women defied stereotypical gender roles and expectations to travel boldly into lands and cultures, some quite hostile to women, to experience for themselves the challenges and the appeal of the foreign and exotic. Often enduring hardships, sometimes risking their lives, and always defying conventions, these wayward women travelers refused to be limited by their sex and sought for themselves authentic experience. “Wayward Women Travelers” will relate the history of some of these exceptional women, placing their endeavors within the cultural context of the cult of domesticity that should have defined and confined their lives.