Conclusion: Coffeehouses Across the Ages

Therefore, drawings, paintings, and prints of coffeehouses used women to promote masculinity and demote feminine traits, attempting to ensure that by viewing these images both genders will stay in their respective spheres. Historian and sociologist Gillian Rose writes that “It is the increasing use of research methods in the social sciences that use visual materials of some kind, sometimes to explore questions about visuality, but more often as a means of exploring an aspect of social life” (Rose 15). The primary sources in this exhibit show how gender was visually interpreted in art and how it translated to the real people in coffeehouses. It is important to share the history of women who have been overshadowed by their male counterparts.

The coffeehouse discussed in this exhibit does not exist anymore. Today’s “coffeehouses”, such as Starbucks, cannot compare to the coffeehouses from the past in terms of socialization. We have become less social since technology made information portable and people seem more inclined to stare at their phones than have a discussion with a stranger. However, society's beliefs about gender have changed significantly. It is almost impossible to imagine today's coffeehouses without women as customers.