Olya’s review of Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History > Likes and Comments
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Did we read the same book? She certainly does explain why and how things developed, leading to seemingly contradictory situations; there is plenty of historical context; even those who feel that they already know quite a bit will learn a lot from this book.
I'm currently reading this book and definitely think it could've used a bit more editing -- but I think the point of her listing out so many women -- their names, etc. -- isn't so much that we remember them (I'm a middle aged woman; I can't remember what I wore yesterday...), but that they are documented. I think there's always been this narrative of women sitting in a corner darning socks while their men did all the work, and this book completely upends that narrative to give a fuller picture of what so many women did, both individually and for their communities -- sometimes with and sometimes without the rights and legal protections men had.
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Barbara
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Jul 25, 2025 03:20AM
Did we read the same book? She certainly does explain why and how things developed, leading to seemingly contradictory situations; there is plenty of historical context; even those who feel that they already know quite a bit will learn a lot from this book.
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I'm currently reading this book and definitely think it could've used a bit more editing -- but I think the point of her listing out so many women -- their names, etc. -- isn't so much that we remember them (I'm a middle aged woman; I can't remember what I wore yesterday...), but that they are documented. I think there's always been this narrative of women sitting in a corner darning socks while their men did all the work, and this book completely upends that narrative to give a fuller picture of what so many women did, both individually and for their communities -- sometimes with and sometimes without the rights and legal protections men had.
