Synopses & Reviews
Winner of the 1983 Fredrick Jackson Turner Award from the Organization of American Historians.
American women have made great strides in the last century to win personal autonomy, sexual freedom, economic independence, and legal rights. Yet the vast majority of them still assume the domestic burdens that leave men free to play their traditional public roles. Examining women's lives in the larger context of U.S. social and political history, Rosenburg shows how American traditions of federalism, racial and ethnic diversity, geographic mobility, and relative abundance have both aided and hindered women's strides toward equality.This lively and informed analysis of the leaders, goals, and setbacks of the women's stride towards equality. This informed analysis of the leaders, goals, and setbacks of the women's movement is a landmark study.
Review
"...deeply human, nonconventional view of the Nazi time and of particular women's destinies. Opens new questions." -Agnieszka Holland, Director of Academy Award-Nominated "Europa, Europa" and "Angry Harvest"
"Historians of women have been predicting all along that retrieving women's past would eventually alter the dominant narrative in American history. In this clear, concise, and readable volume, Rosalind Rosenburg has brought her considerable abilities to bear on the task of revising mainstream accounts. She gives voice not just a gender issues but also to those of race and class, and strives mightily to include a widely diverse collection of individuals and groups. Telling a story sensitive to difference, but mindful of commonalities, Divided Lives is a truly admirable achievement."--Regina Morantz-Sanchez, University of Michigan
"The best available introduction to the full range of women's experiences in twentieth-century America."--D'Ann Campbell, Indiana University
"From the opening pages where a moving story of Zora Neale Hurston's birth unfolds to the closing chapter confronting the feminization of poverty, Divided Lines provides a superbly crafted survey. The chorus of women's voices featured in Rosenburg's compelling narrative affords students and scholars alike a comprehensive yet compact guide to women's experiences over the past century."--Catherine Clinton, author of Plantation Mistress and The Other Civil War
About the Author
Rosalind Rosenburg, professor of history at Barnard College, is the author of
Beyond Separate Sphers: Intellectual Roots of Modern Feminism.