The introduction to this book suggests that women’s history
(and I mean in the USA) can be studied in stages, with each era of history
bringing changes and progress. Take for instance Amelia Earhart, which the
authors use as an example of courage. While she was definitely an innovator, as
there were few women aviators at the time, she wasn’t the first woman in the
USA to show courage. Half a century earlier, hadn’t thousands of women taken
risks when their families moved into the Great Plains? Anyone who saw the
recent remake of True Grit knows that
the “pioneer woman” of the 1800’s had to have assumed great risk. It is for
this reason, that the authors advise the following criteria when reading this
book; identify the historical source, ask who created it, ask why, ask how the
attitudes (or laws) of the time influenced the recording, and ask who it was
meant for.
An early chapter
here covers the issue of women in early America, with special emphasis on those
that were enslaved. The authors write about how rice harvesting was a
back-breaking job, often done by the women. They cut through the Uncle Ben and
Aunt Jemima stereotypes, and show us how the reality was even worse. The women
performed hard manual labor, and relatively few were tasked strictly with
cooking, cleaning, and childcare.
A more interesting
piece is the issue of something called “Interspousal Tort Immunity.” Under
English Common Law, the husband and wife were considered one person, so they
could not sue each other. The wife could therefore not claim any damages of her
husband beat her or stole from her. The chapter is comically titled “Why
Diamonds Really Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” in that the jewelry bestowed as an
engagement gift was in fact a defense. A woman could sue a man for breaking an
engagement, because it was considered a breach of contract. However, in the
event of such a broken promise, she was expected to keep the jewelry, so she wouldn’t
have to humiliate herself by going to court. As for a married woman, her
jewelry was the last thing that creditors could seize if her husband defaulted
his debts.
As I mentioned
before, women of the pioneer era are detailed, along with convents in the
cities. The contribution of the nuns was covered in an earlier book titled
Women of Faith, where the Chicago nuns were the founders of education for
children in Chicago. In Women’s America, however, the New York nuns are said to
have gotten some political clout (though not necessarily power) by establishing
childcare and education institutions. It was the only situation where the male
politicians would listen to the women, because without the nuns and their
schools, the city would be caring for the poor on its own. In anti-tax USA, the
last thing the politician wants to do is tax the men to pay for social
services. As discussed in Women of Faith, the anti-Catholic sentiment of the
time encouraged the establishment of the convent schools, as a way of
alleviating (what was seen as) the Irish Catholic root of poverty.
Further chapters
discuss the change in rape prosecution, how the boredom of the post-war
housewife led to Friedan’s feminist movement, and the changes with regard to
education, health, technology, law, ad government. The authors do great justice
to the history of American women with their unbiased research and writing. From
the very beginning, they advise the scholar to examine the primary and
secondary sources, so they can be aware of bias and undue favoritism. While
this might seem new to some, keep in mind that bias is always evident in history.
Remember the old adage, “history is written by the victors?” Now remember the
other one, that “to the victors go the spoils of war?” By studying the sources
carefully, you can get to the root of history, and cut through all the
prejudices. That in itself is the basis for the study of any history.
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