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Anonymous Engineer + Unnamed Woman
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">The question about the photo is not a matter of what actually happened in making the photo, but what the photo depiction is intended to represent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you have to look at this photo through the eyes of the general public seeing it presented to them as an advertisement for rail travel circa 1900.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">They will instantly realize that having a well-dressed young woman at the throttle of a passenger locomotive with the engineer at her side obviously coaching her is an anomaly. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">They are not going to conclude that this was a depiction of an engineer-for-the-day event set up as official company policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise they are not going to conclude that this photo was made to represent a woman posing with the engineer on a stationary locomotive just to make it look like she is driving the train (even though that was probably what actually occurred in the making of the photo).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">With no other explanation the photo naturally leads to the conclusion that this photograph shows a woman being given the opportunity to run the locomotive under the supervision of the engineer.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1903, the public perceived the engineer to be the owner of the train, and they would not have questioned his authority to allow the woman to run the locomotive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The company had to know that this would be the way the public would see it because they were the ones actually sending the message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today, the public does not perceive the engineer to be such an exclusive personal representative of the company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So an image of this type today would immediately raise a red flag of rules violation, safety risk, and illegitimate activity unless the image was accompanied with a satisfactory explanation. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think that is the difference between today and 1903 that explains the context of the photograph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p>
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