Aegis 2010
Book Review >>> Eryn Kane
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present Collins, Gail. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009. 471 pp. In the modern era, American women possess the confident knowledge that there are no limitations to what can be achieved. As a result, these women attend college in the pursuit of a fulfilling career. They are able to become lawyers, doctors, CEO’s, or athletes, and if so desired, they can maintain a household while campaigning to become the next President of the United States. With the endless possibilities presented to these women, it is hard to believe that a half century ago, such pursuits were deemed unacceptable or impossible within American society. Why and when did these changes begin to occur within American society? In When Everything Changed, New York Times Columnist, Gail Collins, outlines the pivotal people and events that brought about a revolutionary change in the lives of American women and the social and political advancements they have made over the past five decades. Collins separates the book into three parts and begins her narrative in the year 1960, the birth of the decade that would change American society through political decisions and revolutionary social movements. For generations of American women, “the world around them had been drumming one message into their heads since they were babies: women are meant to marry and let their husbands take care of all the matters relating to the outside world” (11). Women were expected to marry young and dedicate their lives to the maintenance of their household and the well being of their husbands and children. Popularized on television programs, such as Father Knows Best, and emphasized within feminine magazines, this restrictive message was the desired lifestyle of the average American female born before 1960. Included within this message were instructions for women on how to dress, socialize, and most importantly, interact with men. Within the first part of the book, entitled “1960,” Collins uses personal narratives to illustrate the ways in which this message not only impacted the daily lives of American women but consequently restricted their entrance into the world of business, politics, and education. In the second part, “When Everything Changed,” Collins attributes the eventual emergence of the American women’s liberation movement to seven key events: the Kennedy administration, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Civil Rights Movement, the Sexual Revolution, the invention of the birth control pill, the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, and the founding of the National Organization for Women. Collins meticulously details each event and describes its importance and contribution to the women’s liberation movement. For example, Collins argues that female participation within the Civil Rights movement in America made many women aware of the idea that they too were discriminated
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