When the women of the Wellesley class of 1969 entered the ivory tower, they were initiated into a rarefied world. Many were daughters of privilege, many were going for their "MRS." But by the time they graduated four years later, they faced a world turned upside down by the Pill, NOW, student protests, the counterculture, and the Vietnam War.
In this social history, Miriam Horn retraces the lives of women caught on a historic cusp. This generation was the first to test-drive modern rules that remain complicated and contentious regarding sexuality, marriage, motherhood, paid work, spirituality, aging, and the difficulties of reconciling public and private life. The result is a story of uncommon subtleties and vibrancy that reflects this generation's fateful choices.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Amazon.com Review
The riddle of how Hillary Rodham Clinton metamorphosed from a Goldwater Republican into the leading liberal of her generation is one that will keep whole generations of future historians guessing well into the coming millennium, and you can bet they'll all have well-thumbed copies of Miriam Horn's Rebels in White Gloves. Wellesley has always been the most staunchly conservative of the Seven Sisters women's colleges, but even so, it was no match for the student antiwar protests and rising feminist movement. "We are, all of us, exploring a world that none of us understand," Hillary Rodham noted in the commencement address she delivered to the class of '69. "The only tool we have to use ultimately is our lives." Horn's book is about the myriad ways the future first lady and her classmates used their lives--and, along the way, reinvented the notion of womanhood. Individual stories are given sociological context and grouped together under headings such as "In Search of Self," "Rebellions and New Solidarities," and "Balancing Work and Family." A senior writer for U.S. News and World Report, Horn is an especially gifted interviewer; through her questions, the Wellesley Class of '69 emerge as wise, well-spoken women. And, at this far remove, it is interesting to see what kind of peace they've made with their cloistered Wellesley selves. --Patrizia DiLucchio
From Publishers Weekly
Viewing Wellesley College as a hothouse in which the cultural changes of the womens movement took root, Horn, a journalist for U.S. News and World Report, probes the experiences of the 1969 graduating class of 400 women, which included Hillary Rodham Clinton. Contrasting the lives of the class members whom Horn interviewed with those of their mothers, who were largely confined to traditional roles, this account is a good but not groundbreaking anecdotal social history rather than a rigorous sociological analysis. At her graduation, Rodham delivered a speech justifying social change, which foreshadowed her classmates subsequent pursuit of radical politics, career success and marriages predicated on equality between the partners. Horn has competently edited a compelling collection of self-portraits of these Wellesley women, who mostly, but not entirely, came from wealthy white Protestant backgrounds. Dorothy Devine describes her experiment with collective living and Cynthia Gilbert relates how she helped organize fellow flight attendants into a labor union, while Kathy Smith Ruckman explains why she chose to stay home and raise her children. Kris Olson Rogerss story is of particular interest: a lawyer, wife and mother, she thought for 22 years that she had the perfect egalitarian marriage until her husband told her he was in love with another woman. Despite the differing paths the women of 69 took, according to the author, 80% of them consider themselves feminists and have examined their choices within that context. Author tour. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
When the women of the Wellesley class of 1969 entered the ivory tower, they were initiated into a rarefied world. Many were daughters of privilege, many were going for their "MRS." But by the time they graduated four years later, they faced a world turned upside down by the Pill, NOW, student protests, the counterculture, and the Vietnam War.
In this social history, Miriam Horn retraces the lives of women caught on a historic cusp. This generation was the first to test-drive modern rules that remain complicated and contentious regarding sexuality, marriage, motherhood, paid work, spirituality, aging, and the difficulties of reconciling public and private life. The result is a story of uncommon subtleties and vibrancy that reflects this generation's fateful choices.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Amazon.com Review
The riddle of how Hillary Rodham Clinton metamorphosed from a Goldwater Republican into the leading liberal of her generation is one that will keep whole generations of future historians guessing well into the coming millennium, and you can bet they'll all have well-thumbed copies of Miriam Horn's Rebels in White Gloves. Wellesley has always been the most staunchly conservative of the Seven Sisters women's colleges, but even so, it was no match for the student antiwar protests and rising feminist movement. "We are, all of us, exploring a world that none of us understand," Hillary Rodham noted in the commencement address she delivered to the class of '69. "The only tool we have to use ultimately is our lives." Horn's book is about the myriad ways the future first lady and her classmates used their lives--and, along the way, reinvented the notion of womanhood. Individual stories are given sociological context and grouped together under headings such as "In Search of Self," "Rebellions and New Solidarities," and "Balancing Work and Family." A senior writer for U.S. News and World Report, Horn is an especially gifted interviewer; through her questions, the Wellesley Class of '69 emerge as wise, well-spoken women. And, at this far remove, it is interesting to see what kind of peace they've made with their cloistered Wellesley selves. --Patrizia DiLucchio
From Publishers Weekly
Viewing Wellesley College as a hothouse in which the cultural changes of the womens movement took root, Horn, a journalist for U.S. News and World Report, probes the experiences of the 1969 graduating class of 400 women, which included Hillary Rodham Clinton. Contrasting the lives of the class members whom Horn interviewed with those of their mothers, who were largely confined to traditional roles, this account is a good but not groundbreaking anecdotal social history rather than a rigorous sociological analysis. At her graduation, Rodham delivered a speech justifying social change, which foreshadowed her classmates subsequent pursuit of radical politics, career success and marriages predicated on equality between the partners. Horn has competently edited a compelling collection of self-portraits of these Wellesley women, who mostly, but not entirely, came from wealthy white Protestant backgrounds. Dorothy Devine describes her experiment with collective living and Cynthia Gilbert relates how she helped organize fellow flight attendants into a labor union, while Kathy Smith Ruckman explains why she chose to stay home and raise her children. Kris Olson Rogerss story is of particular interest: a lawyer, wife and mother, she thought for 22 years that she had the perfect egalitarian marriage until her husband told her he was in love with another woman. Despite the differing paths the women of 69 took, according to the author, 80% of them consider themselves feminists and have examined their choices within that context. Author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.