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marlo42 's review for:
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
by Stephanie Coontz
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
Absolutely essential read for anyone interested in American cultural history. Portions of this should be read in classes across the country. Really the whole thing should, but high schoolers would probably not be up for that, which is a shame.
It is a dry read, but an illuminating one. The complete falsity of the “ideal American family” was something I knew, but hadn’t learned the depths to which that falsity sunk.
Additionally, it is absolutely soul-crushing to read how we successfully legislated the community out of existence in this country. The community is just one casualty the book describes; America has done everything in its power to write and enact the wrong legislation over the last century. It physically hurts, and it’s not getting better anytime soon unless dedicated, specific action is undertaken soon.
Because that’ll happen, right?
It is a dry read, but an illuminating one. The complete falsity of the “ideal American family” was something I knew, but hadn’t learned the depths to which that falsity sunk.
Additionally, it is absolutely soul-crushing to read how we successfully legislated the community out of existence in this country. The community is just one casualty the book describes; America has done everything in its power to write and enact the wrong legislation over the last century. It physically hurts, and it’s not getting better anytime soon unless dedicated, specific action is undertaken soon.
Because that’ll happen, right?