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Man's World Woman's Place: A Study in Social Mythology
In this refreshing study of the role of women in our society, Elizabeth Janeway uses information from historians, sociologists, psychoanalysts and anthropologists. She finds that the idea of women as household drudges is barely three centuries old and, worse, confined largely to the middle class. She examines why society is so reluctant to abandon this notion, and finds the answer lies in a number of well-established social and psychological patterns.
- GenresNonfictionFeminism
319 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 1972
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About the author
Elizabeth Janeway
55 books5 followersAmerican author and critic born Elizabeth Ames Hall. When her family fell on hard times during the Depression, Janeway was forced to end her Swarthmore College education and help support the family by creating bargain basement sale slogans (she graduated from Barnard College just a few years later, in 1935).
Intent on becoming an author, Janeway took the same creative writing class again and again to help hone her craft. While working on her first novel, The Walsh Girls, she met and married Eliot Janeway, economic adviser to Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson (he was known as "Calamity Janeway" for his pessimistic economic forecasts).
The Janeways mingled with United States Supreme Court justices and many other luminaries of the day.
At the behest of labor organizer Walter Reuther, she aided General Motors workers with their mid-1940s strike against the company.
Her 1949 novel The Question of Gregory attracted attention due to the eerie similarities between Gregory and James Forrestal, a Defense Secretary and acquaintance of the Janeways who committed suicide. Janeway denied any connection between fact and fiction; she said the real theme of the book was "liberals in trouble".
In all, Janeway wrote seven novels; one, 1945's Daisy Kenyon, was made into a film starring Joan Crawford. For a time she was a reviewer for the New York Times. In that capacity she introduced writer Anthony Powell and served as a champion of controversial works such as Lolita. She was also a reviewer for Ms. magazine.
From 1965-1969 she served as president of the Authors Guild, addressing lawmakers about copyright protection and other matters.
Many of Janeway's early works focused on the family situation, with occasional glimpses at the struggles of women in modern society. In the early 1970s, she began a more explicitly feminist path with works such as Man's World, Woman's Place: A Study of Social Mythology. She befriended Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem and Kate Millet and was strongly in favor of abortion rights. Janeway continued to write and go on lecture tours. She learned to speak Russian so that she could visit the Soviet Union.
Janeway was a judge for the National Book Awards in 1955 and for the Pulitzer Prize in 1971. She was an executive of International PEN. At its 1981 commencement ceremonies, her alma mater Barnard College awarded Janeway its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction.
Intent on becoming an author, Janeway took the same creative writing class again and again to help hone her craft. While working on her first novel, The Walsh Girls, she met and married Eliot Janeway, economic adviser to Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson (he was known as "Calamity Janeway" for his pessimistic economic forecasts).
The Janeways mingled with United States Supreme Court justices and many other luminaries of the day.
At the behest of labor organizer Walter Reuther, she aided General Motors workers with their mid-1940s strike against the company.
Her 1949 novel The Question of Gregory attracted attention due to the eerie similarities between Gregory and James Forrestal, a Defense Secretary and acquaintance of the Janeways who committed suicide. Janeway denied any connection between fact and fiction; she said the real theme of the book was "liberals in trouble".
In all, Janeway wrote seven novels; one, 1945's Daisy Kenyon, was made into a film starring Joan Crawford. For a time she was a reviewer for the New York Times. In that capacity she introduced writer Anthony Powell and served as a champion of controversial works such as Lolita. She was also a reviewer for Ms. magazine.
From 1965-1969 she served as president of the Authors Guild, addressing lawmakers about copyright protection and other matters.
Many of Janeway's early works focused on the family situation, with occasional glimpses at the struggles of women in modern society. In the early 1970s, she began a more explicitly feminist path with works such as Man's World, Woman's Place: A Study of Social Mythology. She befriended Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem and Kate Millet and was strongly in favor of abortion rights. Janeway continued to write and go on lecture tours. She learned to speak Russian so that she could visit the Soviet Union.
Janeway was a judge for the National Book Awards in 1955 and for the Pulitzer Prize in 1971. She was an executive of International PEN. At its 1981 commencement ceremonies, her alma mater Barnard College awarded Janeway its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 9, 2023
“The fact that women tend to regard the most important decision of their lives as already made, once they have married, makes them readier than their husbands to settle down and sit still in the situations at which they have arrived. It contributes, that is, to the passivity which is so commonly taken as characteristic of women, and also to the conservatism expected of them.”
Elizabeth Janeway reveals what's underneath the myth of "man's world, woman's place'. First, she begins by dissecting through literary critics what a myth is, how it is formed, and what it means sociologically. Does the concept of 'myth' differ from 'folklore'? How imbibed is it into our society? What is a society's purpose in continuously perpetuating a myth as though it is truth?
From there, we begin to enter the angle of her argument: what is the history behind this particular myth, that men inherit the world and women must be protected? Was this ever at one point a truth? Was this ever helpful rather than harmful? And what does this mean for women in Western society? Are these myths global? Are there communities that do not subscribe to this myth? If they do, how is it different? By regarding Maari culture (which I believe is the same culture as the now presently spelled Maori, unless my Googling or memory has led me astray) and how this myth is perpetuated, she argues how this myth, taken to the extreme, leaves both parties unhappy.
Janeway continues to discuss the happiness women find at being able to work and to have lives outside the home as well as the difficulties presented to those who need money but worry about their families. She also navigates the difficulties men have when either trying to accept their wives' need to exist beyond the household and family as well as the struggles women face when attempting to enter the workforce. Ultimately, she decides, women's happiness depends on having a choice as to how to live their lives. A lack of choice effectively keeps women--even those who enjoy being homemakers--unhappy and resentful, whereas the opportunity of choice allows for better financial standing, more opportunities to have conversations with spouses, and more chances of fulfillment, even if they aren't directly related to work.
Elizabeth Janeway effectively takes a hot topic for second wave feminists and uses plentiful research, time, and patience to make her point. Through her calm attitude that neither indicts nor blames, her thesis is better argued towards men than many of her contemporaries. Thoughtful, skilled, and hugely interesting, this book should no longer be forgotten by radical feminists and instead have a place on their bookshelves.
Elizabeth Janeway reveals what's underneath the myth of "man's world, woman's place'. First, she begins by dissecting through literary critics what a myth is, how it is formed, and what it means sociologically. Does the concept of 'myth' differ from 'folklore'? How imbibed is it into our society? What is a society's purpose in continuously perpetuating a myth as though it is truth?
From there, we begin to enter the angle of her argument: what is the history behind this particular myth, that men inherit the world and women must be protected? Was this ever at one point a truth? Was this ever helpful rather than harmful? And what does this mean for women in Western society? Are these myths global? Are there communities that do not subscribe to this myth? If they do, how is it different? By regarding Maari culture (which I believe is the same culture as the now presently spelled Maori, unless my Googling or memory has led me astray) and how this myth is perpetuated, she argues how this myth, taken to the extreme, leaves both parties unhappy.
Janeway continues to discuss the happiness women find at being able to work and to have lives outside the home as well as the difficulties presented to those who need money but worry about their families. She also navigates the difficulties men have when either trying to accept their wives' need to exist beyond the household and family as well as the struggles women face when attempting to enter the workforce. Ultimately, she decides, women's happiness depends on having a choice as to how to live their lives. A lack of choice effectively keeps women--even those who enjoy being homemakers--unhappy and resentful, whereas the opportunity of choice allows for better financial standing, more opportunities to have conversations with spouses, and more chances of fulfillment, even if they aren't directly related to work.
Elizabeth Janeway effectively takes a hot topic for second wave feminists and uses plentiful research, time, and patience to make her point. Through her calm attitude that neither indicts nor blames, her thesis is better argued towards men than many of her contemporaries. Thoughtful, skilled, and hugely interesting, this book should no longer be forgotten by radical feminists and instead have a place on their bookshelves.
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