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Babes In Boyland: A Personal History Of Co-education In The Ivy League
Offering a frank and observant look at gender, education, and identity at a critical juncture in the author's--and America's--development, Babes in Boyland brings to life a pivotal moment in the history of co-education. It was a time in which hostility to women was still rife (fraternity house banners at Dartmouth read "Better Dead than Co-Ed"), but one that promised equal education to promising young women.
Gina Barreca entered Dartmouth College as a freshman in 1975, a few short years after the college became co-educational. As a working-class girl of Italian-French Canadian descent raised in Brooklyn and Long Island, Barreca's looks and style set her apart from Dartmouth's blonder, better-heeled undergraduate majority.
Barreca's story begins with a snapshot of her parents--their courtship and marriage, her father's six-day work week sewing bedspreads and curtains in New York City's garment district, and her mother's death from lung and bone cancer a year before Gina receives news of her acceptance to Dartmouth. With the dubious blessing of her Italian aunts ("New Hampshire? You gonna go to school in New Hampshire?"), she leaves Long Island for Hanover, chauffered by her father in their 1967 Buick Skylark. His parting words of advice become a recurring mantra for the anxious "You can always take the next bus home."
Surveying the campus on her arrival, Barreca is overcome with a paralyzing sense of inadequacy. But as freshman year gets underway, she makes friends, starts an unofficial sorority (Tau Iota Tau, or TIT) and begins to discover the joys of a first-rate education. Over the next three and a half years, self-consciousness gives way to self-confidence as she tests her wit, intellect, and sexuality in an environment more open to self-expression than her hometown.
Barreca takes the reader to fraternity parties, dorm gossip sessions, working-class dives, classrooms and dorm rooms. She chronicles the delight of her first romance, the humiliation of her first C-plus, and the first stirrings of feminist consciousness. Her tale winds up in London, where she spent her last semester, choosing to graduate ahead of her class with no formal ceremony. Distancing herself from graduation in this way underscores Barreca's mixed feelings about her experiences at Dartmouth College, experiences that continue to inspire, haunt, and shape her writing, her teaching, and her life.
"In retrospect, I think I both exploited and evaded the confines of the role of working-class-kid on campus. True, I saw social and economic spikes everywhere and rushed to impale myself on them, but I also, in time, came to accept that the education and experience were mine for good . . . A good education can be subversive, even when it apparently endorses conventional moral and cultural doctrines. I suspect, therefore, that only a very good education could have prepared me to be a troublemaker. I came to Hanover fearing trouble. I left looking for it." --From the Book
Gina Barreca entered Dartmouth College as a freshman in 1975, a few short years after the college became co-educational. As a working-class girl of Italian-French Canadian descent raised in Brooklyn and Long Island, Barreca's looks and style set her apart from Dartmouth's blonder, better-heeled undergraduate majority.
Barreca's story begins with a snapshot of her parents--their courtship and marriage, her father's six-day work week sewing bedspreads and curtains in New York City's garment district, and her mother's death from lung and bone cancer a year before Gina receives news of her acceptance to Dartmouth. With the dubious blessing of her Italian aunts ("New Hampshire? You gonna go to school in New Hampshire?"), she leaves Long Island for Hanover, chauffered by her father in their 1967 Buick Skylark. His parting words of advice become a recurring mantra for the anxious "You can always take the next bus home."
Surveying the campus on her arrival, Barreca is overcome with a paralyzing sense of inadequacy. But as freshman year gets underway, she makes friends, starts an unofficial sorority (Tau Iota Tau, or TIT) and begins to discover the joys of a first-rate education. Over the next three and a half years, self-consciousness gives way to self-confidence as she tests her wit, intellect, and sexuality in an environment more open to self-expression than her hometown.
Barreca takes the reader to fraternity parties, dorm gossip sessions, working-class dives, classrooms and dorm rooms. She chronicles the delight of her first romance, the humiliation of her first C-plus, and the first stirrings of feminist consciousness. Her tale winds up in London, where she spent her last semester, choosing to graduate ahead of her class with no formal ceremony. Distancing herself from graduation in this way underscores Barreca's mixed feelings about her experiences at Dartmouth College, experiences that continue to inspire, haunt, and shape her writing, her teaching, and her life.
"In retrospect, I think I both exploited and evaded the confines of the role of working-class-kid on campus. True, I saw social and economic spikes everywhere and rushed to impale myself on them, but I also, in time, came to accept that the education and experience were mine for good . . . A good education can be subversive, even when it apparently endorses conventional moral and cultural doctrines. I suspect, therefore, that only a very good education could have prepared me to be a troublemaker. I came to Hanover fearing trouble. I left looking for it." --From the Book
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
154 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2005
82 people want to read
About the author
Gina Barreca
12 books81 followersDr. Gina Barreca, author of the new book If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse? Questions and Thoughts for Loud, Smart Women in Turbulent Times is also the author of It's Not That I'm Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World. Gina has appeared on 20/20, The Today Show, CNN, the BBC, Dr. Phil, NPR and Oprah to discuss gender, power, politics, and humor. Her earlier books include the bestselling They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor and Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League in addition to the six other books she's written and the sixteen she's edited. Gina has been called “smart and funny” by People magazine and “Very, very funny. For a woman,” by Dave Barry. She was deemed a “feminist humor maven” by Ms. Magazine and Wally Lamb said “Barreca’s prose, in equal measures, is hilarious and humane.” Gina, whose weekly columns from The Hartford Courant are now distributed internationally by The Tribune Media Company, is a Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, where she’s won the university’s highest award for teaching.
Her B.A. is from Dartmouth College, where she was the first woman to be named Alumni Scholar, her M.A. is from Cambridge University, where she was a Reynold’s Fellow, and her Ph.D. is from the City University of New York, where she lived close to a good delicatessen. A member of the Friars’ Club and the first female graduate of Dartmouth College invited to have her personal papers requested by the Rauner Special Collections Library, Gina can be found in the Library of Congress or in the make-up aisle of Walgreens. She grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island but now lives with her husband in Storrs, CT. Go figure.
Her B.A. is from Dartmouth College, where she was the first woman to be named Alumni Scholar, her M.A. is from Cambridge University, where she was a Reynold’s Fellow, and her Ph.D. is from the City University of New York, where she lived close to a good delicatessen. A member of the Friars’ Club and the first female graduate of Dartmouth College invited to have her personal papers requested by the Rauner Special Collections Library, Gina can be found in the Library of Congress or in the make-up aisle of Walgreens. She grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island but now lives with her husband in Storrs, CT. Go figure.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 24, 2015
I don't like memoirs, but I had to read this for my History of Women class. I know I read too much fiction when I kept going with this wondering: where is the plot? And it's a memoir, so everything's not supposed to come together cohesively, right? I don't know. I thought it was a neat read, showing a glimpse into what it was like for a woman going to a college dominated by men. It was insightful, especially with the way women were viewed and how the gender differences played a huge role in life there (not like they still don't now though). But I don't like nonfiction because I need books to have a point (and I must have either missed this one or don't understand it other than the fact that it was not normal that women would want a higher education).
October 19, 2012
Babes in Boyland is an interesting read. While some have pointed out, with good reason, that the book varies greatly in style and almost in purpose, it occupies a unique place in the world of books on co-education and its rise at institutions. There are some journals and other books which may provide statistical or historical frameworks, but very few books that are as recent as these recollections give us the feelings, opinions, and fears of such a student making the transition into a college that was male centered so recently.
If nothing else, Barreca gives us insight into a more modern tale that happened at many land grant institutions in the period between 1880-1920. Her story, however, as it is more modern shows how a female teenager from a more modern, sexually liberated time enters into an institution where some still claimed "Better Dead than Co-Ed" and offers a more modern comparison than the cold statistics of the past or the journals of the first women to integrate the public schools.
It does lose much of this charm and purpose near the end, when the exploration becomes much more about personal relationships than the relationship to the institution and its power players as a whole. This, however, is not necessarily cause to view the book negatively, but rather it is when the tone changes and, for the purpose of my personal and academic interest in the book dwindled, but others may find it to be about her continued growth as a person.
In short, it is interesting enough to merit anyone wanting to see a student experience akin to what was reported in Coming of Age in New Jersey: College and American Culture or other such books that give reports from inside the actual student life.
If nothing else, Barreca gives us insight into a more modern tale that happened at many land grant institutions in the period between 1880-1920. Her story, however, as it is more modern shows how a female teenager from a more modern, sexually liberated time enters into an institution where some still claimed "Better Dead than Co-Ed" and offers a more modern comparison than the cold statistics of the past or the journals of the first women to integrate the public schools.
It does lose much of this charm and purpose near the end, when the exploration becomes much more about personal relationships than the relationship to the institution and its power players as a whole. This, however, is not necessarily cause to view the book negatively, but rather it is when the tone changes and, for the purpose of my personal and academic interest in the book dwindled, but others may find it to be about her continued growth as a person.
In short, it is interesting enough to merit anyone wanting to see a student experience akin to what was reported in Coming of Age in New Jersey: College and American Culture or other such books that give reports from inside the actual student life.
August 22, 2007
This one was written by my undergraduate honors thesis advisor. It describes what it was like to be one of the first women admitted into Dartmouth as well as one of its first entrants to have a last name ending in a vowel (aside from Michael Corleone, and he was fictional).
It's a story I was really able to relate to in spite of the fact that I went to college under different circumstances. Any girl who's spent four years weeding through a confusion of coursework and relationships can find solace in listening to the lessons of an older woman who has been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. Barreca always manages to provide that reassurance I crave, whether it's in her office or between the bindings. I recommend this to anyone dealing with the fear of an unwritten future or those post-graduation anxiety pangs we all go through.
It's a story I was really able to relate to in spite of the fact that I went to college under different circumstances. Any girl who's spent four years weeding through a confusion of coursework and relationships can find solace in listening to the lessons of an older woman who has been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. Barreca always manages to provide that reassurance I crave, whether it's in her office or between the bindings. I recommend this to anyone dealing with the fear of an unwritten future or those post-graduation anxiety pangs we all go through.
February 24, 2008
This book cracked me up. Written from a perspective of one of the first female students to break into the Ivy League - specifically Dartmouth. Even in the world of females she felt like an outsider. She felt like Betty Boop in a world of Barbies.
The parts I remember best are the briefs overheard conversations. (from a male student) "We understand women's cycles. We know they happen every OTHER month." or "Quit crying. You're making my armpit wet."
She is a writer and has given me a framework ... a style which I can emulate. I was thinking the other day of writing a tell all about my work place. There are perhaps four or five people who have been there longer making me some kind of an expert. It should be fun to write; of course, I won't publish it anytime soon or I'll no longer have a job and perhaps not any friends.
The parts I remember best are the briefs overheard conversations. (from a male student) "We understand women's cycles. We know they happen every OTHER month." or "Quit crying. You're making my armpit wet."
She is a writer and has given me a framework ... a style which I can emulate. I was thinking the other day of writing a tell all about my work place. There are perhaps four or five people who have been there longer making me some kind of an expert. It should be fun to write; of course, I won't publish it anytime soon or I'll no longer have a job and perhaps not any friends.
January 23, 2009
A memoir of a working-class Italian-American girl who was one of the first women admitted to Dartmouth. It starts strong and fierce and funny - but like so many memoirs, the second half fades and dwindles. There are lengthy quotes from her journals that are really too self-indulgent, and some faux-clever sudden switches to third-person where she imagines (I assume) what was going on in her boyfriend's head when he was breaking up with her. Still, the subject is interesting, and when it's good, this book is really good.
Does anybody else find that memoirs are always (almost always?) good for the first half of the book and then have a poor second half, or is it just me?
Does anybody else find that memoirs are always (almost always?) good for the first half of the book and then have a poor second half, or is it just me?
May 25, 2012
Fun book (I don't know how much it matters that I know the author; it'd be interesting to read it without that filter in place). I liked the pastiche of styles--for a personal memoir, I think that's effective. Terrible copy editing--"As I woman" instead of "As a woman" twice on the same page? Really? I'm a pedant but there's a point where it gets distracting, and this book passed that point.
May 12, 2007
I read this before hearing her speak at the PHR banquet, and I throughly enjoyed her take on her years at Dartmouth. Her humor and her resilience are remarkable.. then again, the cooeducation era women are kind of my heroes.
April 6, 2008
Humorous recollection of a woman's experience integrating into the world of men's ivy league education. I appreciated the struggles and fight to survive in an environment that had been reserved for an exlusive few. Her sense of humor serves her well.
November 17, 2014
Funny, smart. Autobiography of an outsider breaking through the Ivy walls of Dartmouth in the 1970s, a few years after the school became co-ed.
January 22, 2020
A humorous look at college life in the 1970s, with interesting commentary on gender and culture.
March 4, 2021
Hilarious and thought provoking all at the same time.
March 10, 2010
In terms of content and its actual relevance in 2010, this book probably deserves more like two stars but becauase Barreca is a decent writer, I thought I should give it three. I think this book would have had much more impact had it been published 15-20 years ago. At this point, it doesn't deliver a very surprising message as to what it was like to be one of very few women on campus when Dartmouth first went co-ed. I was willing to forgive the rather uneven writing styles that this book used, but what I couldn't get over was Barreca's obsession with her looks and with men. She didn't seem to consider herself very attractive, which she bemoaned quite a bit in the book (though the photos which she included in the book would tell otherwise). To me, this seemed incongruent with being a feminist (as did her obsession with men). She also fancies herself to be funnier than she is.
August 18, 2015
Intrigued by the title and the subject matter, I was sorely disappointed by the writing. Barreca jumps wildly between conversations and recollections, trying to make an overall point about feminism and the nature of Ivy League schools in the late 70's. But because of the veering nature of her narrative, you never really arrive at a deeper point. Barreca will begin to make a point, give it two paragraphs, and then suddenly jump to a new story rather than letting it germinate. Her story is ripe for a good telling, but a much stronger editor, and perhaps a second writer, were sorely needed.
November 9, 2025
Gina Barreca's memoir, "Babes in Boyland," is a captivating exploration of her experiences at Dartmouth College during a pivotal time in the history of women's education. Having met Barreca at an attorney bar event, I was eager to dive into her writing, and I can confidently say it lives up to her reputation for wit and humor.
Barreca's narrative is both engaging and profound, as she recounts her journey as one of the first female students at a primarily male institution. Her story is filled with grit, determination, and the challenges she faced while carving out a place for herself in a world that felt unwelcoming. The book resonates with anyone who has ever fought against the odds, making it a powerful account of resilience.
What truly stands out in "Babes in Boyland" is Barreca's ability to infuse her personal experiences with sharp wit. Her humor shines through, making serious topics accessible and relatable. As I read, I found myself rooting for her, cheering her on as she navigated the complexities of campus life during a time of significant change for women.
Barreca is undeniably a force to behold, and her writing reflects her passion for both storytelling and the advocacy for women’s rights. After finishing this memoir, I am eager to explore her other works, confident that they will offer the same blend of humor, insight, and inspiration found in "Babes in Boyland." This book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender issues, personal narratives, or simply a well-told story about overcoming adversity.
#GinaBarreca #BabesInBoyland #Memoir #WomenInEducation #DartmouthCollege #WitAndHumor #Resilience #Empowerment #WomenStories #PersonalNarrative #GenderIssues #Inspiration #MustRead #OvercomingAdversity #Storytelling #Advocacy #WomenRights #LiteratureLovers #Bookstagram #ReadingList #BookRecommendations
Barreca's narrative is both engaging and profound, as she recounts her journey as one of the first female students at a primarily male institution. Her story is filled with grit, determination, and the challenges she faced while carving out a place for herself in a world that felt unwelcoming. The book resonates with anyone who has ever fought against the odds, making it a powerful account of resilience.
What truly stands out in "Babes in Boyland" is Barreca's ability to infuse her personal experiences with sharp wit. Her humor shines through, making serious topics accessible and relatable. As I read, I found myself rooting for her, cheering her on as she navigated the complexities of campus life during a time of significant change for women.
Barreca is undeniably a force to behold, and her writing reflects her passion for both storytelling and the advocacy for women’s rights. After finishing this memoir, I am eager to explore her other works, confident that they will offer the same blend of humor, insight, and inspiration found in "Babes in Boyland." This book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender issues, personal narratives, or simply a well-told story about overcoming adversity.
#GinaBarreca #BabesInBoyland #Memoir #WomenInEducation #DartmouthCollege #WitAndHumor #Resilience #Empowerment #WomenStories #PersonalNarrative #GenderIssues #Inspiration #MustRead #OvercomingAdversity #Storytelling #Advocacy #WomenRights #LiteratureLovers #Bookstagram #ReadingList #BookRecommendations
August 17, 2019
Parts of this book were fun & funny to read, but at other times it seemed a bit self indulgent. Although I was a member of the class of 1978, just one year ahead of the author, I was surprised at how little our experiences had in common. I wasn’t blonde or from the privileged elite either, but I don’t remember the kind of hostility she writes of. Yes, there were the inappropriate old guard upperclassmen, but there were plenty of guys who did not think that way at all. It just goes to show that everyone’s college experiences are unique even if you’re at the same institution at the same time.
November 3, 2019
I really enjoyed this book, as a fellow woman of Dartmouth (class of 2003). Its fascinating to read about the similarities between my experience and someone attending just prior to my own birth, but what really enticed me to pick up this book was the chance to read about the Dartmouth experience through the eyes of one of the first women to attend (I still consider the class of ‘79 to be among the first women).
April 6, 2025
I am so extremely lucky to be taught by this wonderful woman
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews