American women—dolls, laborers, assistants, heroes

Author: (American) Gail Collins
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Gail Collins' American Women has changed the face of American history and gender. The author discusses women from the colonial era, those fighting for suffrage in the modern era, and contemporary feminists. It's rare to see such a comprehensive, substantial, and engaging book. — Wendy Wasserstein
This book is refreshing, and like all sons, husbands, and fathers, I thought I understood women. After reading it, I realized I didn't. Every page made me see this, and I wish I had found it earlier. — Richard Reeves
Whether it's a history of American women or a story about them, we now have a perfect account. Gail Collins follows Eleanor Dare to Virginia and Betty Friedan's march on Fifth Avenue in New York, pausing along the way to talk about suffrage, fashion, contraception, and corsets. It's truly a good book. — Ellen Goodman
Gail Collins' book is the best review of American women's history to date. It's rich, compelling, humorous, profound, and full of historical insight. — Kristin Stansbury
American Women tells a story spanning four hundred years. It features a series of powerful figures—from women anxiously gazing out from the deck of the Mayflower to those who boldly challenged beauty pageants and the male-dominated market in the 1960s. Their actions were sometimes brave, sometimes foolish, sometimes funny, and sometimes tragic. But it is these women who shaped modern America and shaped the ideas of contemporary American women. Gail Collins, a former op-ed editor at The New York Times, selects the most compelling figures from the vast history of ordinary American women and elite women, depicting their lives, ambitions, views on marriage and relationships, gender dynamics, and career goals.
The book begins with the wild Roanoke Island, where "tobacco brides" came to the American South to marry, only to face astonishingly high mortality rates that sometimes led to multiple marriages. It then tells the stories of women's experiences and struggles: the Revolutionary War, westward expansion, the fight for suffrage, surviving the Great Depression, becoming "Rosie the Riveter," participating in the civil rights movement, and the rebellions of the 1970s. American Women also describes how fashion, medical advances, health standards, sexology, and social norms changed the lives of American women, as well as their evolving attitudes toward education, careers, and politics.
While taking a broad perspective, Gail Collins has not forgotten the importance of things like corsets and uncomfortable shoes. In the introduction, Gail Collins writes: "The history of American women is a history of the fight for freedom. While American women have certainly resisted male oppression, what they have fought for more earnestly is to correct the long-standing, chaotic, and almost universally held views of women's roles—by men and women alike."
The book contains several engaging stories, arranged chronologically to form a comprehensive picture of the experiences of American women. American Women is highly readable and also stands as a representative work of history.