Battle-axe (woman)

A battle-axe is a derogatory traditional stereotype describing a woman characterized as aggressive, overbearing and forceful. The term originated as a gender-independent descriptor in the early 20th century, but became primarily applied to women around the middle of the century.^[1]

The prime example was the militant temperance activist Carrie Nation, who actually wielded a hatchet and made it her symbol, living in Hatchet Hall and publishing a magazine called The Hatchet. She became involved in the suffragette campaign for votes for women and this campaign further established the archetype.^[2]^[1]^[3]

The battleaxe is one of several stereotypes found in nursing – a tyrannical, fierce matron exemplified by Nurse Ratched or Hattie Jacques in popular medical dramas and comedies.^[4] Judith Furse played a "battle-axe woman" in the film Carry On Cabby.^[5]

Another example of the battleaxe in popular culture is in Soap opera, for which the "quintessential archetype"^[6] was Violet Carson, who played Ena Sharples in the world's longest-running television soap opera,^[7] Coronation Street.

References

^ ^a ^b "A Browbeating Cultural History of the 'Old Battle-Axe'", MEL Magazine, 2019-11-26
^ Fran Grace (2001), Carry A. Nation, p. 243, ISBN 978-0-253-33846-4
^ Helen Rappaport (2001), "Nation, Carry (1846-1911)", Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, vol. 1, pp. 478–479, ISBN 978-1-57607-101-4
^ Philip Darbyshire and Suzanne Gordon (2005), "The Battleaxe or Monstrous Figure", Professional Nursing, ISBN 978-0-8261-2554-5
^ Brian McFarlane, ed. (2016), "Judith Furse", The Encyclopedia of British Film, Oxford University Press, p. 275, ISBN 9781526111975
^ "Conventions of soap opera". BBC. 1 August 2003. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
^ "Coronation Street recognised as longest running soap". BBC. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2024.