The Fab 5 tackled an unusually large book--both in size and topic--tonight. We discussed When Everything Changed by Gail Collins. With a subtitle like "The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present," readers should be prepared for a march through history.
In 1960, women were idealized as the June Cleavers of the world--well-groomed, stay-at-home mothers and wives with abundant homemaking, child-rearing and entertainment skills. They were also being arrested in some places for wearing pants in public and excluded from some male-only Executive Flights (unless they were the stewardesses, expected to bend over and light the passengers' cigars). Black women faced even stronger, higher barriers to career and acceptance.
This book works its way through the history of the fight for equal rights for women, including the way it became intertwined with the civil rights movement. So much of this is history that I've heard hints of, but never knew the whole story.
Growing up, we heard about the Equal Rights Amendment, and we knew the names of Friedan and Steinem, but generally the comments were negative, and the famous women's names were the punch lines to jokes. Most of the positive words for the ERA came from sitcoms and the Schoolhouse Rock segment. While none of us felt convinced that our mothers, for instance, were opposed to women being welcome as lawyers or doctors at equal pay to men, we think the negative response to the movement was due to the anti-housewife, anti-traditional-home feeling of the struggle.
All of us were fascinated by the stories and anecdotes. The first female U.S. Senator, Margaret Chase Smith, was barred from the Senate lounge, and when she was a member of the Naval Affairs Committee, "one of the staff members took her for a walk during long sessions so the men would have a break from the burden of a female presence." The stories of the black women who fought for civil rights, and at the same time, for the rights of women, are more amazing.
Sonya suggested that the book is a bit one-sided, ignoring the fact that many women at the time were happy to be stay-at-home mothers and wives, and Barbara noted that there wasn't, in the description of all the household labor, much mention of what "traditional" roles men took on at home--yardwork, heavy work, etc.
We had a bit of a discussion of what it means to have a career versus having a job. Only Barbara feels like she has a "career," and none of us feel that we are the ambitious types who want to move up and up. Barbara is also noted that being a stay-at-home mom encompassed some of the best years of her life.
As for homemaking, we all find different parts of it satisfying. For Nancy, it's cooking. For Barbara, canning is a fulfilling task. Sonya enjoys making the home a beautiful place to be. I can't say that I've found my niche in homemaking, though I do enjoy entertaining.
The revolutionaries seem disappointed by the later generations' decisions to drop out of the workforce to have children. They may have wished careers for us all, but we find that the real result for us is that we have that option, whether or not we choose to pursue it. That is something we are thankful for.
And pants. We're very thankful for pants. Though after spending a day at an amusement park last week, I think I see why the traditionalists were worried about the slippery slope of fashion. Yikes.
No comments:
Post a Comment