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jenmangler's review
2.0
I was hoping to learn about women I didn't know. I did, a bit, but not as much as I'd hoped. This is really an introduction to lots of women in history, most of whom, if you're interested in women's history, you'll already know.
outcolder's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this up while waiting for something and then picked it up again waiting for something else and, like that, until I realized that I was a third of the way into it and that I was reading it for real. By the time I got near the end, I had put the other ten books I am reading aside to concentrate on this one. So, gripping.
In a very general way, the book is about the history of women: women in the past in general, women who "make history," and how history and historiography eventually learned to see the women who were always there. The opposite of dry and academic, Ulrich skips around to the good bits and she isn't trying to make some grand statement, except maybe that there are too many different kinds of women making history to make a grand statement about them. Instead she just kind of showers the reader with fascinating tidbits. Three figures run through the book: Christine de Pizan, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Virginia Woolf, who they were, how they first "opened their eyes" to patriarchy and what questions they asked about women in history. For me, my favorite bits were:
in the chapter about amazons, she retells some folk stories about scary women who live without men.
the entire chapter about slavery and abolition.
near the end when she gets into the 1970s and personal (s)heroes of mine like [a:Gerda Lerner|102764|Gerda Lerner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1411768520p2/102764.jpg].
Really great, especially if you like women and/or history.
In a very general way, the book is about the history of women: women in the past in general, women who "make history," and how history and historiography eventually learned to see the women who were always there. The opposite of dry and academic, Ulrich skips around to the good bits and she isn't trying to make some grand statement, except maybe that there are too many different kinds of women making history to make a grand statement about them. Instead she just kind of showers the reader with fascinating tidbits. Three figures run through the book: Christine de Pizan, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Virginia Woolf, who they were, how they first "opened their eyes" to patriarchy and what questions they asked about women in history. For me, my favorite bits were:
in the chapter about amazons, she retells some folk stories about scary women who live without men.
the entire chapter about slavery and abolition.
near the end when she gets into the 1970s and personal (s)heroes of mine like [a:Gerda Lerner|102764|Gerda Lerner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1411768520p2/102764.jpg].
Really great, especially if you like women and/or history.
hinesight's review against another edition
4.0
I like feminist history; it's like a long drink of cool water.
tophat8855's review against another edition
5.0
Oh I really liked this. I judge the awesomeness of a book by how often I stop and read passages outloud to McKay. This gets 5 starts solely because I think I could have read every word outloud to him, except he's trying to read the Chronicles of Narnia right now and didn't have time to listen to me read this whole book to him.
It reads in the same way my brain thinks. Lots of details and it goes everywhere. You start talking about Woolf and end up with the Great Chicago Fire. Now that's the kind of train of thought I can get behind! Of course because it goes everywhere, it's not going to give everything the most depth, but it didn't neglect the details.
It's just fascinating. And amazing to think that before the 60s and 70s when historians started looking at women, none of the stories in this book would have been accessible to us.
"Some people are happy to give feminists credit for things they fear- like abortion rights, contraception for teenagers, or gay liberation- but less willing to acknowledge that feminist activism brought about things they support, like better treatment for breast cancer or the opportunity for young girls to play soccer as well as lead cheers."
Lots of food for thought. My brain is going to chew on this for a while longer.
It reads in the same way my brain thinks. Lots of details and it goes everywhere. You start talking about Woolf and end up with the Great Chicago Fire. Now that's the kind of train of thought I can get behind! Of course because it goes everywhere, it's not going to give everything the most depth, but it didn't neglect the details.
It's just fascinating. And amazing to think that before the 60s and 70s when historians started looking at women, none of the stories in this book would have been accessible to us.
"Some people are happy to give feminists credit for things they fear- like abortion rights, contraception for teenagers, or gay liberation- but less willing to acknowledge that feminist activism brought about things they support, like better treatment for breast cancer or the opportunity for young girls to play soccer as well as lead cheers."
Lots of food for thought. My brain is going to chew on this for a while longer.
meme_too2's review against another edition
1.0
I was surprised that I hated this book so much. Although, I have to admit, I learned a lot.
I learned:
women are selfish
women want to be men
women want power
women like to have radical behavior
women base their feminist ideas on unreal ideals (which is so ironic, because that's what they laugh at about us real women).
I learned:
women are selfish
women want to be men
women want power
women like to have radical behavior
women base their feminist ideas on unreal ideals (which is so ironic, because that's what they laugh at about us real women).
jaywhistler's review against another edition
3.0
My Anti-Stepford Wives Book Club is reading this for our next meeting. Lots of women's history that I didn't know anything about, which is sort of the point of the book. It starts out a little dryly (sp?), as if you are reading someone's doctoral dissertation. But it becomes more readable as you get further into it. Definitely worth slogging through the first chapter (which is long).
balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
The last book for the "Women Unbound" challenge (ending in November, I think).
I thought this was a very good overview. There are lots (LOTS) of anecdotes and the sheer number adds many more women to Ulrich's history than if she just focused on de Pizan, Cady Stanton, Woolf, de Beauvior, Friedan, etc. I wanted a little more depth, though, beyond the "Big Three" of de Pizan, Cady Stanton, and Woolf because I felt like we were skimming over the top of history. But it was still interesting and adds many more women/history/feminism to the long list.
I thought this was a very good overview. There are lots (LOTS) of anecdotes and the sheer number adds many more women to Ulrich's history than if she just focused on de Pizan, Cady Stanton, Woolf, de Beauvior, Friedan, etc. I wanted a little more depth, though, beyond the "Big Three" of de Pizan, Cady Stanton, and Woolf because I felt like we were skimming over the top of history. But it was still interesting and adds many more women/history/feminism to the long list.
willwork4airfare's review against another edition
4.0
What an important book! I was hooked from the preface when I found out the history of the phrase I've heard and identified with so many times. I paused on reading it so that I could finish "A Room of One's Own" which greatly impacted my appreciation for the first few chapters. I love reading about women throughout history, it makes my eyes tear up and can be so inspiring. The chapters read like scholarly articles, so it could get a little dry and I did put it down for long amounts of time, but it was always a good read when I found my way back to it.
brdgtc's review against another edition
4.0
An as yet unknown Laurel Thatcher Ulrich coined the phrase "Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History" in an article on Puritan goodwives in 1976 and it has since had a life of it's own. Ulrich's latest book is an exploration of the deeper history of the meaning of that phrase, how historians like Ulrich came to make such a statement, and the broad strokes of women's history. An excellent popular history that jumps centuries, continents, and genres, it is also an homage to the practice of history by historians.