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America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines
A landmark work of history telling the story of more than four centuries of history featuring a stunning array of personalities.
America's Women tells the story of more than four centuries of history. It features a stunning array of personalities, from the women peering worriedly over the side of the Mayflower to feminists having a grand old time protesting beauty pageants and bridal fairs. Courageous, silly, funny, and heartbreaking, these women shaped the nation and our vision of what it means to be female in America.
By culling the most fascinating characters — the average as well as the celebrated — Gail Collins, the editorial page editor at the New York Times, charts a journey that shows how women lived, what they cared about, and how they felt about marriage, sex, and work. She begins with the lost colony of Roanoke and the early southern "tobacco brides" who came looking for a husband and sometimes — thanks to the stupendously high mortality rate — wound up marrying their way through three or four. Spanning wars, the pioneering days, the fight for suffrage, the Depression, the era of Rosie the Riveter, the civil rights movement, and the feminist rebellion of the 1970s, America's Women describes the way women's lives were altered by dress fashions, medical advances, rules of hygiene, social theories about sex and courtship, and the ever-changing attitudes toward education, work, and politics. While keeping her eye on the big picture, Collins still notes that corsets and uncomfortable shoes mattered a lot, too.
"The history of American women is about the fight for freedom," Collins writes in her introduction, "but it's less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed message about women's roles that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders."
Told chronologically through the compelling stories of individual lives that, linked together, provide a complete picture of the American woman's experience, America's Women is both a great read and a landmark work of history.
America's Women tells the story of more than four centuries of history. It features a stunning array of personalities, from the women peering worriedly over the side of the Mayflower to feminists having a grand old time protesting beauty pageants and bridal fairs. Courageous, silly, funny, and heartbreaking, these women shaped the nation and our vision of what it means to be female in America.
By culling the most fascinating characters — the average as well as the celebrated — Gail Collins, the editorial page editor at the New York Times, charts a journey that shows how women lived, what they cared about, and how they felt about marriage, sex, and work. She begins with the lost colony of Roanoke and the early southern "tobacco brides" who came looking for a husband and sometimes — thanks to the stupendously high mortality rate — wound up marrying their way through three or four. Spanning wars, the pioneering days, the fight for suffrage, the Depression, the era of Rosie the Riveter, the civil rights movement, and the feminist rebellion of the 1970s, America's Women describes the way women's lives were altered by dress fashions, medical advances, rules of hygiene, social theories about sex and courtship, and the ever-changing attitudes toward education, work, and politics. While keeping her eye on the big picture, Collins still notes that corsets and uncomfortable shoes mattered a lot, too.
"The history of American women is about the fight for freedom," Collins writes in her introduction, "but it's less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed message about women's roles that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders."
Told chronologically through the compelling stories of individual lives that, linked together, provide a complete picture of the American woman's experience, America's Women is both a great read and a landmark work of history.
572 pages, Paperback
First published January 20, 2004
568 people are currently reading
8127 people want to read
About the author
Gail Collins
20 books198 followersGail Collins was the Editorial Page Editor of The New York Times from 2001 to January 1, 2007. She was the first woman Editorial Page Editor at the Times.
Born as Gail Gleason, Collins has a degree in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. in government from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Beyond her work as a journalist, Collins has published several books; Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics, America's Woman: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines, and The Millennium Book which she co-authored with her husband Dan Collins.
She was also a journalism instructor at Southern Connecticut State University.
She is married to Dan Collins of CBS.
Born as Gail Gleason, Collins has a degree in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. in government from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Beyond her work as a journalist, Collins has published several books; Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics, America's Woman: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines, and The Millennium Book which she co-authored with her husband Dan Collins.
She was also a journalism instructor at Southern Connecticut State University.
She is married to Dan Collins of CBS.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 602 reviews
July 30, 2012
I took a survey pair of classes in college called History of Women in the U.S., and they were two of my favorite college classes of all time. I had always had a love-hate relationship with history. Some of it is so fascinating, and it is always interesting to me to see how current culture and politics echoes the culture and politics of the past, but, on the other hand, sometimes history seems to be all wars and generalities. It is often zeitgeist and statistics, rather than subtlety and story. But, my History of Women classes were different: they were letters and stories of all kinds of women living in North America. Women who cared centuries ago about things I care about now. It was brilliant. I thought, this is what history has been missing for me: women. I’m sad to say it, but this book proved me wrong.
I started following Gail Collins’s op-ed columns in the New York Times during the 2008 election because she is very witty and sometimes hilarious. I think she is a lovely, smart woman. This book, however, failed overall for me. It was full of the generalities that bother me in so many history books. Like, “Women watched this television show,” “Women wore this clothing,” “The U.S. wanted this or that,” “People felt this way.” It just rubs me the wrong way. I feel like if historians continue to live and breathe these sweeping observations about culture, people in the future will assume I am just like Brittany Spears. Not that I really have a problem with Brittany Spears, but I am not very similar to her. I like history through individual eyes and stories.
And this book didn’t really even succeed for me when there were individual stories. Collins would pick out a notable woman and briefly summarize her story, but the scope of this book was too huge to do anybody justice. For example, she discusses Margaret Sanger twice, but, unless I missed it, did not touch at all on her racism or advocacy of eugenics. From one standpoint, I think her legacy obviously goes far beyond eugenics, and Sanger was an amazing woman in so many ways and an incredible advocate for voluntary birth control. But, to ignore her advocacy of eugenics seems suspect to me. Does it come from an assumption that someone with one so awful an idea could not do anything good? Does it come from a fear of even raising the topic? Is it just because there were so many people to cover in this book and so little space to do it? And, maybe she did mention it and I just missed it. But, if she didn’t (and I double checked and couldn't find anything about it), it seems like an example of a missed opportunity to talk about the nuance that exists in any cultural activism.
Also, I am big on citation. I am big on deliberate, meticulous, and transparent citation of sources, and I was not satisfied with how citation works out in this book. First, I prefer footnotes to endnotes, but having said that, I thought the endnote citation in Dead Man Walking were excellent, so I definitely see how endnotes have their place. I haven’t gone through all of the endnotes in this, but from having skimmed them, they appear not so much to be citation as further reading recommendations. They are not linked to the text through endnotes at all, but rather are cited to pages through quotes from the pages. So, what I’m saying is that the only real cited information is the quotations, and then there are other sources listed for further reading. That drives me crazy. Like, you can’t just say, “Women liked to make out in Model-Ts” and not cite me to your source. Who gave you this information, Michael Moore? Your neighbor across the fence? A dream? Grease? A lot of the information in here about the early part of the twentieth century, for example, seemed to come from the Gilbraith family, which is fine, and I like them, but it’s not exactly a survey of diverse sources. And, as with Michael Moore, it’s not so much that I think the information actually is overall inaccurate; it’s just that I appreciate a well-timed citation.
Maybe some of my complaint comes largely from the fact that this book isn’t Early American Women or Modern American Women, which are AMAZING. Maybe it’s not a fair standard to keep, but I think history books should be that blend of primary sources and analysis. I freaking love those books. This one wasn’t terrible but it was a resounding meh. It was a really long B+ recitation of generalities about American women. I am totally bummed and disillusioned to not be jumping off the walls about it because this is the first time I have failed to jump off walls about a book on the history of women, and I think it is signaling a certain crotchety-ness in me. Oh, no wait, there was that eye-roll HBO production about Alice Paul. That was annoying, though it wasn’t a book. Anyway, I could see assigning this in a high school class, but I couldn’t really see going beyond that. And why not watch Ken Burns’s wonderful documentary Not for Ourselves Alone, read the American Women books, or read one of Jeannette Walls’s books instead? Those are fucking amazing. People should freak out about the history of women, and the zeitgeists and famous people this book summarized just failed to make me freak out.
I started following Gail Collins’s op-ed columns in the New York Times during the 2008 election because she is very witty and sometimes hilarious. I think she is a lovely, smart woman. This book, however, failed overall for me. It was full of the generalities that bother me in so many history books. Like, “Women watched this television show,” “Women wore this clothing,” “The U.S. wanted this or that,” “People felt this way.” It just rubs me the wrong way. I feel like if historians continue to live and breathe these sweeping observations about culture, people in the future will assume I am just like Brittany Spears. Not that I really have a problem with Brittany Spears, but I am not very similar to her. I like history through individual eyes and stories.
And this book didn’t really even succeed for me when there were individual stories. Collins would pick out a notable woman and briefly summarize her story, but the scope of this book was too huge to do anybody justice. For example, she discusses Margaret Sanger twice, but, unless I missed it, did not touch at all on her racism or advocacy of eugenics. From one standpoint, I think her legacy obviously goes far beyond eugenics, and Sanger was an amazing woman in so many ways and an incredible advocate for voluntary birth control. But, to ignore her advocacy of eugenics seems suspect to me. Does it come from an assumption that someone with one so awful an idea could not do anything good? Does it come from a fear of even raising the topic? Is it just because there were so many people to cover in this book and so little space to do it? And, maybe she did mention it and I just missed it. But, if she didn’t (and I double checked and couldn't find anything about it), it seems like an example of a missed opportunity to talk about the nuance that exists in any cultural activism.
Also, I am big on citation. I am big on deliberate, meticulous, and transparent citation of sources, and I was not satisfied with how citation works out in this book. First, I prefer footnotes to endnotes, but having said that, I thought the endnote citation in Dead Man Walking were excellent, so I definitely see how endnotes have their place. I haven’t gone through all of the endnotes in this, but from having skimmed them, they appear not so much to be citation as further reading recommendations. They are not linked to the text through endnotes at all, but rather are cited to pages through quotes from the pages. So, what I’m saying is that the only real cited information is the quotations, and then there are other sources listed for further reading. That drives me crazy. Like, you can’t just say, “Women liked to make out in Model-Ts” and not cite me to your source. Who gave you this information, Michael Moore? Your neighbor across the fence? A dream? Grease? A lot of the information in here about the early part of the twentieth century, for example, seemed to come from the Gilbraith family, which is fine, and I like them, but it’s not exactly a survey of diverse sources. And, as with Michael Moore, it’s not so much that I think the information actually is overall inaccurate; it’s just that I appreciate a well-timed citation.
Maybe some of my complaint comes largely from the fact that this book isn’t Early American Women or Modern American Women, which are AMAZING. Maybe it’s not a fair standard to keep, but I think history books should be that blend of primary sources and analysis. I freaking love those books. This one wasn’t terrible but it was a resounding meh. It was a really long B+ recitation of generalities about American women. I am totally bummed and disillusioned to not be jumping off the walls about it because this is the first time I have failed to jump off walls about a book on the history of women, and I think it is signaling a certain crotchety-ness in me. Oh, no wait, there was that eye-roll HBO production about Alice Paul. That was annoying, though it wasn’t a book. Anyway, I could see assigning this in a high school class, but I couldn’t really see going beyond that. And why not watch Ken Burns’s wonderful documentary Not for Ourselves Alone, read the American Women books, or read one of Jeannette Walls’s books instead? Those are fucking amazing. People should freak out about the history of women, and the zeitgeists and famous people this book summarized just failed to make me freak out.
May 10, 2023
About two years ago, towards the end of COVID measures, I went to a friend's retirement picnic. One of the games we played was "What would Marsha do?" The game proceeded with a bunch of unlikely scenarios, and we had to guess what Marsha would do. A question came up, "Would Marsha rather travel 100 years into the future or 100 years in the past." There were several factors that would imply the answer but let me just give you two: 1) Marsha is a black woman, 2) Marsha's husband had passed away unexpectedly about 5 years prior. Overwhelmingly the attendees (who were a relatively diverse group though most were white (as in 45% white, 55% all others)) said she'd prefer to go back to the past. I just about spit out my drink. Marsha, ever the diplomat said, "I always prefer to keep moving forward." I, the not so diplomatic person, said snickering, "We know what happened 100 years ago. We ain't going back!" Marsha tapped her nose and then pointed at me with a knowing glance. In their defense, I suspect they were focusing on "the past" and not the "100 years" thinking about Marsha's husband. But I also suspect that the past to them is academic. It's been erased. They don't recognize what going back 100 years would mean to women, much less a black woman. When I think about the way of the world today, I recognize that we simply don't know our history. If we did, there would certainly be no desire to roll back to a certain time or place in history.
Collins chronicles the plight of American women (primarily white women) from the 1600s to the 1960's and I gotta say, it's been a really rough journey. The historical vision that America has of itself seems to start at mid slavery. We hear about pilgrims and the Mayflower and then it's right into plantations. There is so much missing from that picture. For example, I didn't realize how widespread indentured servants were. And the vast shortage of women when the colonists first arrived. I didn't know that women were kidnapped off the streets of London and sold into indentured servitude where they were treated every bit as poorly as African slaves. Often impregnated by their owners, if the baby was born while money was still owed, it too was bonded. Also, society disdained these pregnant women who weren't married. How most slaves were owned by a family not plantations and it would be just one slave for the family. Primarily they were used to help run a household which most people could not do on their own. We forget that modern conveniences were not around back then. Just doing basic things was too much for one or two people. A very Hobbesian condition for the first 2 or 3 centuries. Around the late 1800s, early 1900s life started to get more comfortable, and women were relegated to second class citizens. Medical science did not pay much attention to women. More women died in childbirth than men died on the battlefield during WWI. Premarital sex was never talked about but was quite prevalent as were abortions. Men started curtailing women's behavior legislatively.
The treatment of women throughout history is familiar and systemic. Collins explained changes over time have been incremental and not nearly as much as we imagine. There is a historical trauma associated with the systemic attitudes and their reactions to it. Were men traumatized throughout history? Of course! Hobbes spelled it out. For the poor and not well connected, life was nasty, brutish and short. Still the same today. But this was a book specifically about women and primarily about white women. I confess I am on a journey to understand how most white women continue to support the GOP. Books like this one bring me a step closer. Women don't know their history, so they willingly repeat it. Same as it ever was. Collins wrote a fascinating and readable history. Like any history books that take on such a long time frame, there are huge gaps and some superficiality. Since we just passed 110 years of Girl Scouts, I actually would have expected a larger presence in this book especially their early militarism as well as survivalist bent. What was that about?!? There was nothing in the book about it that I recall. The first 2/3 of the book were much stronger than the last third. The closer we got to modern times, it seemed to get a little more pop culture and less substantive. Overall, excellent tour of American women's history. I loved the book and would recommend it highly for everyone, especially women.
4+ Stars
Read on kindle
Collins chronicles the plight of American women (primarily white women) from the 1600s to the 1960's and I gotta say, it's been a really rough journey. The historical vision that America has of itself seems to start at mid slavery. We hear about pilgrims and the Mayflower and then it's right into plantations. There is so much missing from that picture. For example, I didn't realize how widespread indentured servants were. And the vast shortage of women when the colonists first arrived. I didn't know that women were kidnapped off the streets of London and sold into indentured servitude where they were treated every bit as poorly as African slaves. Often impregnated by their owners, if the baby was born while money was still owed, it too was bonded. Also, society disdained these pregnant women who weren't married. How most slaves were owned by a family not plantations and it would be just one slave for the family. Primarily they were used to help run a household which most people could not do on their own. We forget that modern conveniences were not around back then. Just doing basic things was too much for one or two people. A very Hobbesian condition for the first 2 or 3 centuries. Around the late 1800s, early 1900s life started to get more comfortable, and women were relegated to second class citizens. Medical science did not pay much attention to women. More women died in childbirth than men died on the battlefield during WWI. Premarital sex was never talked about but was quite prevalent as were abortions. Men started curtailing women's behavior legislatively.
"Legislators in twenty-six states introduced laws completely banning the hiring of married women, although only Louisiana actually passed a law, and it was quickly declared unconstitutional."When women got the right to vote, men feared that the political landscape would change forever. It didn't.
"Most women appeared to vote the way their husbands, brothers, and fathers did—not necessarily because they felt obliged to follow the men’s lead, but because they shared the same loyalties to class, ethnic group, and region."We have always had issues with immigration. Interestingly enough, did you know that Irish was the only immigrant group that was predominately female? When WWII rolled around the attitude of many of the male soldiers towards women took on a very systemic misogynistic air (specifically referencing the USO).
"There was a mean streak in the national character that presumed women who willingly went to live among thousands of soldiers could be after only one thing. [sic] "Everywhere one turns—on trains, streetcars, at social gatherings or the USO—men of our armed forces debase the very organization that protects and heals them in their afflictions"Nothing new there, since the 1600s
"Whenever there was a sudden demand for literate workers at low pay, women were usually the answer."There are thousands of interesting facts and descriptions of women and the conditions through the years.
The treatment of women throughout history is familiar and systemic. Collins explained changes over time have been incremental and not nearly as much as we imagine. There is a historical trauma associated with the systemic attitudes and their reactions to it. Were men traumatized throughout history? Of course! Hobbes spelled it out. For the poor and not well connected, life was nasty, brutish and short. Still the same today. But this was a book specifically about women and primarily about white women. I confess I am on a journey to understand how most white women continue to support the GOP. Books like this one bring me a step closer. Women don't know their history, so they willingly repeat it. Same as it ever was. Collins wrote a fascinating and readable history. Like any history books that take on such a long time frame, there are huge gaps and some superficiality. Since we just passed 110 years of Girl Scouts, I actually would have expected a larger presence in this book especially their early militarism as well as survivalist bent. What was that about?!? There was nothing in the book about it that I recall. The first 2/3 of the book were much stronger than the last third. The closer we got to modern times, it seemed to get a little more pop culture and less substantive. Overall, excellent tour of American women's history. I loved the book and would recommend it highly for everyone, especially women.
4+ Stars
Read on kindle
March 18, 2016
I studied military history in school, I studied maritime history for fun, I served 8 years in the military, I rock climb, etc. I have never worn pink. So when I received this book as a Christmas present I thought “how odd.” A decidedly girly book for such a tomboy.
I am so embarrassed by my utter lack of appreciation for, and knowledge of, the women who came before me, that fought for my right to an education, to serve in the military, hell, to even wear pants! This book gets 5 stars for not only being excellently written and researched, for being compelling and fascinating, but because it had such a massive impact on me. It opened an entirely new genre of history for me, one that I have now pursued with a voracious appetite.
This book is easy to read, it always stays on point, and follows a very specific timeline. It never jumps around, its always very focused. Honestly, I wish this book were about a 1000 pages longer, because I would have liked to see more recent history described a bit more, but I suppose there is no shortage of other books on that subject. The personal stories and vignettes of women from newspapers, diaries, etc made the book very compelling, it really reached out to you. I cannot say enough good things about this book.
It is my absolute favorite book to lend, and because it covers the whole of American history everyone can learn something. I’ve never had anyone return it that didn’t rave about it. I look forward to reading more of Collins’ work.
****Note**** I would just like to point out that because this book is so incredibly awesome it is one of the books always featured behind Assistant Deputy Knope's bookshelf. YAY PARKS & REC!
I am so embarrassed by my utter lack of appreciation for, and knowledge of, the women who came before me, that fought for my right to an education, to serve in the military, hell, to even wear pants! This book gets 5 stars for not only being excellently written and researched, for being compelling and fascinating, but because it had such a massive impact on me. It opened an entirely new genre of history for me, one that I have now pursued with a voracious appetite.
This book is easy to read, it always stays on point, and follows a very specific timeline. It never jumps around, its always very focused. Honestly, I wish this book were about a 1000 pages longer, because I would have liked to see more recent history described a bit more, but I suppose there is no shortage of other books on that subject. The personal stories and vignettes of women from newspapers, diaries, etc made the book very compelling, it really reached out to you. I cannot say enough good things about this book.
It is my absolute favorite book to lend, and because it covers the whole of American history everyone can learn something. I’ve never had anyone return it that didn’t rave about it. I look forward to reading more of Collins’ work.
****Note**** I would just like to point out that because this book is so incredibly awesome it is one of the books always featured behind Assistant Deputy Knope's bookshelf. YAY PARKS & REC!
January 30, 2009
While reading this I called myself a feminist for the first time in my life. My former discomfort with that label was embarrassing; I acknowledge the younger generations' ingratitude towards those who struggled for women's rights, but despite my gratitude and delight in the current freedoms, I couldn't embrace the concept of feminism without feeling like I was being tongue-in-cheek or somehow self-mocking.
I believe there are nature-bound differences, which can be studied and exposed, between the brains of women and men, I think the sexes have evolved differently, I also think that altered gender states have evolved out of this and also involve differences on the neuronal and chemical levels. Somehow my thoughts on these matters interfered with my willingness to call myself a feminist; if we are different, why do we still need to struggle for equality, and why can't we rejoice in these differences? I was so over the idea of bridging a gender gap, I was through with breaking the glass ceiling. Adrienne Rich made me so angry, leaving her family and thinking she was taking some strong feminist stance by embracing her creativity and going off to write poetry; if that is what modern feminists think they can do, I wanted no part of the movement.
This book changed my perspective completely, I'm in awe of the progress women have made in this country, and of Gail Collins' work to dig up the day-to-day lives of women through a great deal of colonial and post-colonial America. It should have been obvious before, but there are as many kinds of feminism as there are women, and the differences amongst us can strengthen the movement. An analysis of variance may show "us" as women to be different from men, but the within groups differences matter just as much.
I believe there are nature-bound differences, which can be studied and exposed, between the brains of women and men, I think the sexes have evolved differently, I also think that altered gender states have evolved out of this and also involve differences on the neuronal and chemical levels. Somehow my thoughts on these matters interfered with my willingness to call myself a feminist; if we are different, why do we still need to struggle for equality, and why can't we rejoice in these differences? I was so over the idea of bridging a gender gap, I was through with breaking the glass ceiling. Adrienne Rich made me so angry, leaving her family and thinking she was taking some strong feminist stance by embracing her creativity and going off to write poetry; if that is what modern feminists think they can do, I wanted no part of the movement.
This book changed my perspective completely, I'm in awe of the progress women have made in this country, and of Gail Collins' work to dig up the day-to-day lives of women through a great deal of colonial and post-colonial America. It should have been obvious before, but there are as many kinds of feminism as there are women, and the differences amongst us can strengthen the movement. An analysis of variance may show "us" as women to be different from men, but the within groups differences matter just as much.
August 19, 2022
"In 1921 Congress passed the Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act, a step toward a national system of well-baby clinics to improve the health of the poor. But physicians felt it threatened their practices, and when it became clear that women were not going to vote as a bloc, it was phased out." (p. 340 of 556. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepp...)
Woman suffrage seemed inconsequential. Women voted by loyalty to class, ethnic group, and religion, as men did. (p. 338)
"Alfred C. Kinsey's 1953 Sexual Behavior in the Human Female estimated 24 percent of married women had had an abortion." (p. 408)
"If Rosa Parks had got up and given that white man her seat you'd never'a heard of Martin Luther King Jr. --E.D. Nixon, her lawyer. (p. 418)
"Much of the money to run anti-suffrage campaigns came from the liquor industry, which realized it would be out of business if women got to vote on Prohibition." (p. 307, but remember, Prohibition passed /before/ women got the vote.)
Particularly insightful telling of the 1692 Salem, Massachusetts "witch" killings. Unhappy young women ask a Caribbean slave woman to fortell their marriage prospects. The egg white forms the shape of a coffin in the boiling water. Soon the women start going into fits and making accusations against family enemies and against defenders of the accused. Uniquely, Salem authorities took the wildest accusations seriously. Only those who /denied/ being witches were killed. 24 were killed solely on claims of visions nobody else could see. Massachusetts governor stopped it after his wife was accused. pp. 35-46 of 556. Similar to the Communist hunts after world wars I and II. And to the "illegal immigrant" hunts today. (Yes, some of the accused Communists really held minority political affiliations; many of the "illegal immigrants" really aren't authorized to be here. But the vicious treatment--including permanently taking young kids from their parents, even if they're here legally--makes clear witch hunts are not in the past.)
About a dozen mostly Western states gave women the vote well before the 1920 19th amendment gave all U.S. women the vote. Western states were short of women: they were trying to attract them. (There seems to be no one official source of information on dates the various states enfranchised women. Primary sources would have to be state-by-state.) Heather Cox Richardson gives us some details: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...
Over all, the book felt a little cut-and-pasted from what her assistants dug up.
Woman suffrage seemed inconsequential. Women voted by loyalty to class, ethnic group, and religion, as men did. (p. 338)
"Alfred C. Kinsey's 1953 Sexual Behavior in the Human Female estimated 24 percent of married women had had an abortion." (p. 408)
"If Rosa Parks had got up and given that white man her seat you'd never'a heard of Martin Luther King Jr. --E.D. Nixon, her lawyer. (p. 418)
"Much of the money to run anti-suffrage campaigns came from the liquor industry, which realized it would be out of business if women got to vote on Prohibition." (p. 307, but remember, Prohibition passed /before/ women got the vote.)
Particularly insightful telling of the 1692 Salem, Massachusetts "witch" killings. Unhappy young women ask a Caribbean slave woman to fortell their marriage prospects. The egg white forms the shape of a coffin in the boiling water. Soon the women start going into fits and making accusations against family enemies and against defenders of the accused. Uniquely, Salem authorities took the wildest accusations seriously. Only those who /denied/ being witches were killed. 24 were killed solely on claims of visions nobody else could see. Massachusetts governor stopped it after his wife was accused. pp. 35-46 of 556. Similar to the Communist hunts after world wars I and II. And to the "illegal immigrant" hunts today. (Yes, some of the accused Communists really held minority political affiliations; many of the "illegal immigrants" really aren't authorized to be here. But the vicious treatment--including permanently taking young kids from their parents, even if they're here legally--makes clear witch hunts are not in the past.)
About a dozen mostly Western states gave women the vote well before the 1920 19th amendment gave all U.S. women the vote. Western states were short of women: they were trying to attract them. (There seems to be no one official source of information on dates the various states enfranchised women. Primary sources would have to be state-by-state.) Heather Cox Richardson gives us some details: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...
Over all, the book felt a little cut-and-pasted from what her assistants dug up.
July 17, 2016
This was a very informative book on the trials and triumphs of women in America. It's hard to believe that it took until the late 60's and early 70's for women to gain even ground with men. And even at that time it was just the beginning of an uphill battle. I tried to put myself in the mindset of a woman as I read the book and I believe there were moments when I would have been extremely proud and moments when I would have been extremely pissed.
From the mindset of a man, I also felt extremely proud of women. There is a ton of history they contributed that will never be known because their voices and their stories were silenced. And I also felt moments of shame. You are your brothers keeper. Well, goddammit... you are your sisters keeper as well!
It did seem as though the individual accounts were hurried, but I understand that if the author gave detailed accounts of all the women mentioned, this would have been the size of War and Peace sandwiched between two Stephen King novels.
I also think there was not enough attention given to all the races that make up this country. The main focus was on white and black women with very little given to others like the Mexicans, Asians and...AMERICAN INDIANS! Hello!
So, anyway, very good book with a lot of history about our wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, faithful, strong women. Okay honey, you can let go of my balls. I'm done. ;)
September 3, 2015
American women should read this book, but more importantly, men should read this book. Even though Gail Collins doesn't call this a history book, it is an important gender history of the USA. This is not dry dates and places history. In fact, it is likely that you have had only a little of what Ms. Collins brings in any of the history courses you have taken: high school, college or beyond.
The charm and uniqueness of this very readable book is its reliance on original source materials: journals, diaries and correspondence. Whether we are talking about women laboring in their 17th Century colonial cabins, in their prairie sod houses, in their mining camp tents or in their turn of the 20th Century tenements, we are hearing (for me, much for the first time) what their lives were like. Collins does a very credible job of bringing their hopes, opinions, frustrations and joys to us in a way that is both touching and thought provoking.
How hard was it to keep a healthy home? How lonely was it when your nearest neighbor for twenty years or more was more than forty miles away and all you had were the children your husband provided when he went off to hunt or trap or mine? How exciting was it when your ordinary cooking skills were so prized by miners that you could make a fortune in a year's worth of work? How scary and/or exciting was it to find work outside the home and be independent? I wonder what attitudes would be modified if a little of this were sprinkled though each of our American history education experiences.
The charm and uniqueness of this very readable book is its reliance on original source materials: journals, diaries and correspondence. Whether we are talking about women laboring in their 17th Century colonial cabins, in their prairie sod houses, in their mining camp tents or in their turn of the 20th Century tenements, we are hearing (for me, much for the first time) what their lives were like. Collins does a very credible job of bringing their hopes, opinions, frustrations and joys to us in a way that is both touching and thought provoking.
How hard was it to keep a healthy home? How lonely was it when your nearest neighbor for twenty years or more was more than forty miles away and all you had were the children your husband provided when he went off to hunt or trap or mine? How exciting was it when your ordinary cooking skills were so prized by miners that you could make a fortune in a year's worth of work? How scary and/or exciting was it to find work outside the home and be independent? I wonder what attitudes would be modified if a little of this were sprinkled though each of our American history education experiences.
February 7, 2017
I read Collins' When Everything Changed a few years ago and was blown away. Part oral history, part research-driven narrative, it told the story of the role that women played in the US from the 1960s to 2008, the year before it was published and Hillary Clinton made her first presidential run.
I immediately bought this book, which is a history of women in the US from the 1600s up until the 60s, but it took me forever to get around to actually reading it and I don't know why. It essentially feels like taking a survey class in college because it so briefly summarizes so many notable women and events, though it never really explores any of them with much depth. It's well-written and accessible, but less engaging than the oral history structure of her follow-up. The only reason this is four stars instead of five is that, as someone who essentially minored in women's history (it was technically a women's studies minor, but I met almost all the requirements with history classes), I found very little new information in this book. That was a little bit disappointing to me personally, but not enough to keep me from whole-heartedly recommending this book to anyone looking to learn a little bit more about the oft-forgotten sides of history.
I immediately bought this book, which is a history of women in the US from the 1600s up until the 60s, but it took me forever to get around to actually reading it and I don't know why. It essentially feels like taking a survey class in college because it so briefly summarizes so many notable women and events, though it never really explores any of them with much depth. It's well-written and accessible, but less engaging than the oral history structure of her follow-up. The only reason this is four stars instead of five is that, as someone who essentially minored in women's history (it was technically a women's studies minor, but I met almost all the requirements with history classes), I found very little new information in this book. That was a little bit disappointing to me personally, but not enough to keep me from whole-heartedly recommending this book to anyone looking to learn a little bit more about the oft-forgotten sides of history.
July 31, 2007
An engrossing history composed of palatable anecdotes, blunt humor, and plain facts that will affirm, incense, and convulse by turns. Not scholarly, but well-informed and intimately written.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines - Nevisande : Gail Collins - ISBN : 61227226 - ISBN13 : 9780061227226 - Dar 572 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004
June 12, 2017
The scope of this book is just...massive. This is a plus because I felt like I learned a lot from it, ending up jotting down names of women I wanted to read more about, but it's also the book's downfall because I felt like it glossed over women who were not white or African American. It definitely left you wanting for more at certain points. Still, it was a great read, and Gail Collins does not sugar coat. She answers many of the questions you want answered about women of the past (how the hell did pioneer women deal with menstruation?!) and does not leave out some of the less flattering details (discusses Susan B. Anthony being pretty racist and Margaret Sanger getting mildly involved with eugenics, for example). I'd recommend it if you're wanting to read about the lesser-known badass women of our country's history but not sure where to start.
July 28, 2020
This book gave me "Stuff You Missed in History Class" vibes and was an entertaining read, but I think it's misleading to call it "America's Women" when there is so much erasure of minority women. Black pioneers didn't get nearly enough time in the book when Collins took the time to quote journal entries from everyday white women; lesbian and Latina women got maybe 3 mentions each; the most notable mention of Native American women was Pocahontas; and I don't remember reading anything about Asian American women at all. I can see why this book might be hailed as a history of feminism but it certainly isn't comprehensive and provides a misleading insight into what feminism should look like. As a lesbian Asian-American femme, rating this book two stars for how little flavor there is.
August 27, 2023
I’ve believed for a while now that women are the stronger sex, overall. Sure, throughout time men have fought on more battlefields in more wars, but those are wars that men created. We’ve never been pigeonholed into certain roles quite the same way as have women. America’s Women only reinforced my belief.
When I picked up this beast of a book, I expected it to be much like my preferred literary genre: Chapter-long biographies of specific women in America’s history. That’s not what this book is, and why should it be? If I’m going to try to be fair to women with my reading agenda, then why not dive into book-long biographies, like I have most of the men?
Instead, this is a history of womanhood in America: A look at the daily lives and the changing and often conflicting expectations of the female American. Very well researched considering the taboo nature of some of the subject matter, America’s Women begins with the first arrivals of women to colonial America and ends with a fast recap of the last three decades of the twentieth century. There is biographical information of many familiar names throughout the text, but each time that happens the historical figures are presented in context of the times in which they lived, and the unique burdens faced by their gender peers.
It’s not just a celebration of the heroines of the fairer sex. Villainous women and girls are given their due as well—an early look at the Salem witch trials proves that—and anti-feminist women make appearances throughout. African American women get much attention, as their struggles to be included in the abolitionist, voting, and civil rights movements were multi-layered.
Collins apologizes in the introduction that there is little written record of Native American women from their earliest times, so she sets them aside almost completely. It’s an unfortunate oversight considering the wealth of material available that speaks to their lives—much of it in the words of their own ancestors. The 1980s and 1990s are barely mentioned, except a general hurrah for the jobs women were getting for the first time at that point in American history.
Some parts of the story are cringe-worthy for a male reader like me, but I suspect also for a female. Diaper-care and childbirth are no cake-walk today, so prepare yourself for the details of what they were like in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like researcher Daisy Hernandez, I too learned more about the history of menstruation than I necessarily wanted to know.
But all of it serves to support my belief that women are the stronger sex. Look at other countries where women have to cover themselves up partly because MEN can’t control themselves. In America, women have mostly been in the shadows of history, trapped in the windowless boxes that were their first homes here. America’s Women brings them forth.
When I picked up this beast of a book, I expected it to be much like my preferred literary genre: Chapter-long biographies of specific women in America’s history. That’s not what this book is, and why should it be? If I’m going to try to be fair to women with my reading agenda, then why not dive into book-long biographies, like I have most of the men?
Instead, this is a history of womanhood in America: A look at the daily lives and the changing and often conflicting expectations of the female American. Very well researched considering the taboo nature of some of the subject matter, America’s Women begins with the first arrivals of women to colonial America and ends with a fast recap of the last three decades of the twentieth century. There is biographical information of many familiar names throughout the text, but each time that happens the historical figures are presented in context of the times in which they lived, and the unique burdens faced by their gender peers.
It’s not just a celebration of the heroines of the fairer sex. Villainous women and girls are given their due as well—an early look at the Salem witch trials proves that—and anti-feminist women make appearances throughout. African American women get much attention, as their struggles to be included in the abolitionist, voting, and civil rights movements were multi-layered.
Collins apologizes in the introduction that there is little written record of Native American women from their earliest times, so she sets them aside almost completely. It’s an unfortunate oversight considering the wealth of material available that speaks to their lives—much of it in the words of their own ancestors. The 1980s and 1990s are barely mentioned, except a general hurrah for the jobs women were getting for the first time at that point in American history.
Some parts of the story are cringe-worthy for a male reader like me, but I suspect also for a female. Diaper-care and childbirth are no cake-walk today, so prepare yourself for the details of what they were like in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like researcher Daisy Hernandez, I too learned more about the history of menstruation than I necessarily wanted to know.
But all of it serves to support my belief that women are the stronger sex. Look at other countries where women have to cover themselves up partly because MEN can’t control themselves. In America, women have mostly been in the shadows of history, trapped in the windowless boxes that were their first homes here. America’s Women brings them forth.
December 12, 2008
This book records the changes in American women's lives and the transformations in American society from the 1580s through the 2000s.
I appreciated that the author included women of all races, backgrounds, education levels, etc. She talks about the accomplished women of history but also highlights many who were obscure but still important.
This excerpt from Publisher's Weekly sums it up pretty well: The basis of the struggle of American women, postulates Collins, "is the tension between the yearning to create a home and the urge to get out of it." Today's issues-should women be in the fields, on the factory lines and in offices, or should they be at home, tending to hearth and family?-are centuries old, and Collins, editor of the New York Times's editorial page, not only expertly chronicles what women have done since arriving in the New World, but how they did it and why. Creating a compelling social history, Collins discovers "it's less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed message about women's role that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders."
I appreciated that the author included women of all races, backgrounds, education levels, etc. She talks about the accomplished women of history but also highlights many who were obscure but still important.
This excerpt from Publisher's Weekly sums it up pretty well: The basis of the struggle of American women, postulates Collins, "is the tension between the yearning to create a home and the urge to get out of it." Today's issues-should women be in the fields, on the factory lines and in offices, or should they be at home, tending to hearth and family?-are centuries old, and Collins, editor of the New York Times's editorial page, not only expertly chronicles what women have done since arriving in the New World, but how they did it and why. Creating a compelling social history, Collins discovers "it's less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed message about women's role that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders."
November 22, 2008
This book is fantastic. It's not an in depth study of women in America by any means - how can it be, when it does, in fact, cover every one of the 400 years mentioned in the title? - but Collins hits on all the important figures and movements, well known or obscure, and provides a wonderful collection of notes with lists of her favorite sources. I'm a little afraid of just how big my to-read list is going to get now.
March 15, 2017
Nice overview of women's history in America, but so broad that it lacks much depth. Easy read if quite long, feels more like journalism rather than history.
April 25, 2021
Not as good as the follow up book on the 60s to the present. It felt like maybe the primary sources were lacking up until 1900 or so. I wish there had been some more overarching commentary on trends across generations. Still informative and Collins's wry sense of humor is nice.
Read
September 12, 2025quick read and fascinating. A lot of the stuff I feel like I knew before but just needed a refresher and there was some stuff I never knew.
May 31, 2015
Collins covers various aspects of life for American women from the early settlers up through the 1960s, with a very hurried last couple chapters spanning the time after that (but that time period is covered in much more detail in a more recent book, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present). Her writing is not overly academic, which I greatly appreciate, as it was clear and easy to process. She tells history largely through anecdotes but definitely cites little details here and there that would easily be missed in a survey class of history. Most of the subjects are white women, and the middle class is heavily represented, though she does talk about immigrant families (generally white European) and African-American women (slaves and free) a lot. There's a little bit about Mexican-Americans and Native Americans, but not much, and anyone not fitting in any of these groups (eg. Asian-Americans) are largely ignored.
However, given the time span, I think this book would be a great supplemental text for an American history class. Issues of sexuality (and sexual health) are covered to an extent (with some hypothesizing when records weren't explicit), and there's LOT of examples of the advances and setbacks women have had in the US when it comes to equality. Seeing the same battles being fought over and over (some of which are still *quite* topical) was of most interest to me.
I haven't done much with American history since high school, so this book was very refreshing for me to read and definitely made me want to seek out more information about our nation's history, especially from POVs that are not from white men.
October 29, 2023
I went into this book thinking that when I finished it, I would have a more holistic vision of the history of women in America, however this book focuses mainly on the white women of America. There are chapters dedicated to African American women, but they are few and far between what there is about white women, specifically white women in the NE.
Where are the stories of literally every other ethnic group in America? And for that matter, where are the stories that talk about women in other parts of the country besides New England. There are brief mentions here and there, but nothing substantial.
I do feel like I have learned something from this book, but it’s hard to say exactly what that is when some of the women that are mentioned are mentioned so briefly before the next topic that you feel like you have whiplash.
I feel like this book, though long at 450 pages, could have benefitted from being even longer and for taking the time to explore other parts of the country and women of different backgrounds more carefully and more clearly.
Where are the stories of literally every other ethnic group in America? And for that matter, where are the stories that talk about women in other parts of the country besides New England. There are brief mentions here and there, but nothing substantial.
I do feel like I have learned something from this book, but it’s hard to say exactly what that is when some of the women that are mentioned are mentioned so briefly before the next topic that you feel like you have whiplash.
I feel like this book, though long at 450 pages, could have benefitted from being even longer and for taking the time to explore other parts of the country and women of different backgrounds more carefully and more clearly.
April 16, 2015
an enjoyable but fairly incomplete review of the women of america, punctuated with the most famous, giving a great deal of time to explaining developing cultural impact through the ages.
the author acknowledges right up front in the foreword that the title has a problem with intersectionality and giving adequate time to nonwhite, non-middle-class and -rich players. pocahontas is cursorily discussed, and brief mentions are given to native american women and their culture. but the narration is almost uniformly that of a white woman. that is, it is almost always assumed that "women" being spoken of are white (and often middle to upper class), whereas african american women are always designated as such. troubling -- most especially since this book is written from a feminist standpoint. the issues with intersectionality seriously weakened the rating for me.
an enjoyable, enlightening, but ultimately lightweight and insufficiently inclusive title.
the author acknowledges right up front in the foreword that the title has a problem with intersectionality and giving adequate time to nonwhite, non-middle-class and -rich players. pocahontas is cursorily discussed, and brief mentions are given to native american women and their culture. but the narration is almost uniformly that of a white woman. that is, it is almost always assumed that "women" being spoken of are white (and often middle to upper class), whereas african american women are always designated as such. troubling -- most especially since this book is written from a feminist standpoint. the issues with intersectionality seriously weakened the rating for me.
an enjoyable, enlightening, but ultimately lightweight and insufficiently inclusive title.
June 18, 2011
Lindsay recommended this book, and I am grateful. What a collection of stories, history, anecdotes, curiosities and tragedies. Some amazing tidbits about people I thought I had read enough about, and clearly hadn't - like the paragraph about Margaret Mitchell walking out of a history class at Smith because an African American woman had joined. I gathered more insight in this one book than the dozens I've read about women's history before. Covering the first European woman to come to these shores through to 2000 (the research must have been daunting) it's easier to watch patterns emerge. Collins organizes the decades in brilliant form, perfectly satisfying and enthralling. I wonder what the lives of American women would be like today if the guys didn't throw the country into wars every couple of decades?
April 20, 2021
A very interesting book, and worth reading. However, the author's style changes significantly (for the better) the closer she gets to the present day. Perhaps that's due to better records and access to those who actually experienced life in that time period (or maybe it's because I was around for it), but the early part of the book seems to jump around quite a bit, making it hard to keep things straight.
The book is well researched, but some of the author's conclusions seemed more personal than reasoned (then again, I often think that about authors who make broad, sweeping, generalized statements describing a large group of people). I did learn a number of things, and have a deeper understanding of a number of issues that are specific to women.
The book is well researched, but some of the author's conclusions seemed more personal than reasoned (then again, I often think that about authors who make broad, sweeping, generalized statements describing a large group of people). I did learn a number of things, and have a deeper understanding of a number of issues that are specific to women.
July 1, 2012
Must read for all women to appreciate how far we've come and how lucky we are to live in the time and country we do!
December 31, 2012
Needs to be read in history classes.
April 20, 2018
Is this 1818, 1918, or 2018? Same struggles. Same conversations. Same resistance. March on!
September 3, 2024
An opening note: I was a little skeptical going into this, because its title, and some of its chapter names had me worried this was going to be a white-washed neo-liberal take on the Taylor Swifts of the last 400 years, focusing on ruling class women or the Marilyn Monroes, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case. I knew little of Gail Collin’s’ work prior to reading.
America’s Women is instead just the opposite; while many names are dropped corresponding to the time periods, this is a focus on the broader experience of your everyday average woman since the mid-16th century in the American colonies and the USA up until about 1970. Much of the names given are found from firsthand writings and recovered takes on general life from female perspectives, with only the occasional big name like Susan B. Anthony or Rosa Parks (who were also ordinary workers in their own situations that happened to pick up more historical PR, if you will) making an appearance.
What’s important, however, is that American Women breaks apart some of the serious nonsense that even now, in the year of our lord 2024, I still somehow hear. I’m talking about the Andrew Tate simps that think “the patriarchy built society that women complain about” as if they played no role in the making of what got us to where we are now. Anything as seemingly “small” as the grueling task of making soap out of fat and being consistently filthy, without back support, while nursing children in the 1700s to filling in the industrial labor force for men during the Second World War is covered here. The overarching theme is that even while patriarchal rule has defined the world for millennia, it wouldn’t have happened without women’s contribution, and nearing the end of the book, it shows how just like that, following the Second World War, they were simply set aside again, having served their purpose. It touches on the triple load of entering the workforce but still being expected to care for the house and kids, something most authors will skip. Collins covers more than I could have ever imagined between these eras (and a little around them), and the level of detail is not only important, but impressive. If nothing else, you learn interesting tidbits, such as the whole thing around women shaving their armpits originating in prostitutes doing it to prove that they didn’t have fleas during the westward expansion.
To take that a step further, I also really appreciate how this took time to focus on the unique struggle of the African American female experience, from slavery to the civil rights movement, and other minority challenges. The only reason I’m not giving this a full five stars is because it did, however, skip out entirely on one important aspect: revolutionary/worker movements. This was pretty much void of the connection to capitalisms need for sexism, women’s labor movements, and the desire for that change on a fundamental level. I know I shouldn’t expect that from a book of this type, but I’m also not going to overlook it, as it would have been really cool to read about some badass girls whipping Molotov cocktails at cop cars. I also have to point out that the first 100 or so pages of this is a struggle to get through just on an objective basis; the content of 1570-1770 is pretty dry. But, with all of that said, this is still an incredible and important read from so many angles, historical and political. I’m of the belief that if you aren’t moving forward, you’re probably moving backwards. The end of this book’s contents were only 50 years ago, with things as recently as 1970 seeming absurd by today’s standards. But in a few decades, I wager we’ll look at the 2020s with some similar thoughts, and while we’ve come a long way, there’s still a ways to go.
America’s Women is instead just the opposite; while many names are dropped corresponding to the time periods, this is a focus on the broader experience of your everyday average woman since the mid-16th century in the American colonies and the USA up until about 1970. Much of the names given are found from firsthand writings and recovered takes on general life from female perspectives, with only the occasional big name like Susan B. Anthony or Rosa Parks (who were also ordinary workers in their own situations that happened to pick up more historical PR, if you will) making an appearance.
What’s important, however, is that American Women breaks apart some of the serious nonsense that even now, in the year of our lord 2024, I still somehow hear. I’m talking about the Andrew Tate simps that think “the patriarchy built society that women complain about” as if they played no role in the making of what got us to where we are now. Anything as seemingly “small” as the grueling task of making soap out of fat and being consistently filthy, without back support, while nursing children in the 1700s to filling in the industrial labor force for men during the Second World War is covered here. The overarching theme is that even while patriarchal rule has defined the world for millennia, it wouldn’t have happened without women’s contribution, and nearing the end of the book, it shows how just like that, following the Second World War, they were simply set aside again, having served their purpose. It touches on the triple load of entering the workforce but still being expected to care for the house and kids, something most authors will skip. Collins covers more than I could have ever imagined between these eras (and a little around them), and the level of detail is not only important, but impressive. If nothing else, you learn interesting tidbits, such as the whole thing around women shaving their armpits originating in prostitutes doing it to prove that they didn’t have fleas during the westward expansion.
To take that a step further, I also really appreciate how this took time to focus on the unique struggle of the African American female experience, from slavery to the civil rights movement, and other minority challenges. The only reason I’m not giving this a full five stars is because it did, however, skip out entirely on one important aspect: revolutionary/worker movements. This was pretty much void of the connection to capitalisms need for sexism, women’s labor movements, and the desire for that change on a fundamental level. I know I shouldn’t expect that from a book of this type, but I’m also not going to overlook it, as it would have been really cool to read about some badass girls whipping Molotov cocktails at cop cars. I also have to point out that the first 100 or so pages of this is a struggle to get through just on an objective basis; the content of 1570-1770 is pretty dry. But, with all of that said, this is still an incredible and important read from so many angles, historical and political. I’m of the belief that if you aren’t moving forward, you’re probably moving backwards. The end of this book’s contents were only 50 years ago, with things as recently as 1970 seeming absurd by today’s standards. But in a few decades, I wager we’ll look at the 2020s with some similar thoughts, and while we’ve come a long way, there’s still a ways to go.
July 24, 2017
There aren't words to express how important this book is for every American woman to read. Every single page I would exclaim out loud to my husband, "I NEVER KNEW THIS!" The most valuable part for me is the centuries of context the book provided. My view of American women's history was confined more or less to the past hundred years—my grandmothers' generation. By starting from the New World in the 1500s and spanning until the 1960s, I got a much more nuanced and complete understanding of the evolution of women's roles, and how they've been often influenced by economics. For instance, I had no idea that in the 1920s, women were holding more jobs and going to college at record rates. During World War II, they continued to work largely outside the home as men were fighting overseas. But when the men got home, most women quit, and "regressed" (controversial word, of course) to roles as homemakers. Cheap mortgages and veteran benefits allowed young families to pursue the "American dream" on one salary, which set the stage for the 1950s housewife, a phenomenon that's actually a very narrow slice of history. In the 1960s, women's roles expanded yet again (the birthrate decreased), only to change again in the 1980s, when society placed more value on women's appearance yet again (the decade in which I grew up and struggled greatly with how I was judged on my looks). I hope that we're now again on an upswing for women's access to every part of society.
July 25, 2025
I picked this up as an audiobook and it was a really eye-opening overview of women’s experience in America from pre-colonial times up to the 1980’s. I learned so many tidbits I never knew before - such as why it was shocking for mothers and daughters to shop for the same clothes in the 1920s flapper days, why department stores became one of the first places women could be away from home long enough to require public restrooms in the late 1800’s, and why training bras were invented in the 1950s. Some well known historical figures popped up in the narration (Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony, Alice Paul, etc.), but the book also does a good job of giving a feel for what average women experienced throughout each time period. I loved seeing how over time women’s access to the world increased through books, transportation, working opportunities, and civil rights. My only slight complaint is that at times there are some generalizations that feel like stereotypes, but I chalk this up to the book being 20 years old. This is one I might want to come back to as a 2nd read so I can highlight sections. A fun listen and well paced!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2019
“America’s Women” is a broad overview of the many women who shaped history in the continent which is now the USA, from the 16th century onward. The book may serve mainly as a jumping point to study individuals of interest in more depth.
The last chapter or two veers mostly into the social and political feminism movement and a discussion of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan and not, disappointingly, into the naming of many other individual women who made huge contributions to society in the post WW2 timeframe.
There are several novels that were popular in their time referenced in “America’s Women” I want to investigate as well as the lives of Sojurner Truth, Louisa Adams, Harry Burns involvement with Tennessee in making women’s right to vote national law.
The last chapter or two veers mostly into the social and political feminism movement and a discussion of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan and not, disappointingly, into the naming of many other individual women who made huge contributions to society in the post WW2 timeframe.
There are several novels that were popular in their time referenced in “America’s Women” I want to investigate as well as the lives of Sojurner Truth, Louisa Adams, Harry Burns involvement with Tennessee in making women’s right to vote national law.
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