Joyous Greetings: The First International Women's Movement, 1830-1860

by Bonnie S. Anderson

Over one hundred fifty years ago, champions of women's rights in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany formed the world's earliest international feminist movement. Joyous Greetings is the first book to tell their story.
From Seneca Falls in upstate New York to the barricades of revolutionary Paris, from the Crystal Palace in London to small towns in the German Rhineland, early feminists united to fight for the cause of women. At the height of the Victorian period, they insisted their sex deserved full political equality, called for a new kind of marriage based on companionship, claimed the right to divorce and to get custody of their children, and argued that an unjust economic system forced women into poorly paid jobs. They rejected the traditional view that women's subordination was preordained, natural, and universal. In restoring these daring activists' achievements to history, Joyous Greetings passes on their inspiring and empowering message to today's new generation of feminists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Dietlind-R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

De rode draad van dit boek is *chef's kiss*. Voor het grootste deel was dit boek interessant, soms wat te langdradig.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bonnie S. Anderson used bits and pieces from what seems like only a handful of sources to weave together an account of the early women’s movement. The result is a jumble of quotations and fragments of information with the continuity of an online blog, albeit with better spelling and grammar. She even repeated some of her better passages when she got in trouble, which was not helpful. A clearer outline and fewer characters would have been more useful.
The narrative began with a fascinating tale of Jeanne Deroin and Pauline Roland who were jailed because of their writing and organizing efforts. Just as the reader is drawn in by their story, Anderson abandons them and embarks on a quest to glue together every snippet she can find that sounds international. What about Deroin and Roland? A study focused on their lobbying and organizing efforts along with their close relationship with Ann Knight during this period could have been both international and interesting.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read but misisng large components of the international women's movement. it is a starter.

[Mills College Library]

305.4209 A545j 2001