Rebels in white gloves : coming of age with Hillary's class, Wellesley '69

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.

written With The Art Of A Skilled Fiction Writer Whose Ear For Irish Bluster Is Pitch-perfect, whoredom In Kimmage Tells The Tale Of Contemporary Irish Women Through A Series Of Brilliantly Animated Scences That Take The Reader From Dillon's Tiny Pub In Rural Corofin To The Heart Of Dublin. This Beguiling Account Of Irish Life Transcends That Nation's Small Shores Through The Power Of Mahoney's Great Storytelling Gifts.

before The Phenomena Of Frank Mccourt's angela's Ashes, And Thomas Cahill's how The Irish Saved Civilization, Rosemary Mahoney Traveled To Ireland In Response To The Growing Feeling That Changes Were Taking Place, And That Those Changes Directly Involved Women. Her Ideas Are Animated In Brilliantly Crafted Scenes, Taking The Reader From Dillon's Tiny Pub In Corofin To A Lesbian Pub In Dublin, From A Legion Of Mary Meeting To A Classroom Full Of Boisterous Schoolgirls Determined To Drive Their Teacher, S'ta Keatin', Over The Edge. Here, Too, Are Scenes With Ireland's First Woman President, Mary Robinson, And The Country's Preeminent Woman Poet, Eavan Boland. But Most Memorable, And Perhaps Most Prescient Of The Recent Enchantment With Literature About The Emerald Isle, Are Mahoney's Pitch-perfect Ear For Irish Bluster And Warmth, Her Eye For Detail, And People So Real And Unforgettable You'd Think They Were Having A Cup Of Tea With You.

publishers Weekly

``there's Only One Sin In Ireland. Sex.'' So Says Jean O'brien, One Of The Progressive Irish Women Portrayed In This Marvelously Insightful, Funny, Disturbing, Yet Ultimately Hopeful Book. Mahoney ( The Early Arrival Of Dreams ) Looks At Irish Women And Their Efforts To Bring Ireland--in Terms Of Personal Choice And Freedom--into The Late 20th Century. The Author, Who Is An American Of Irish Descent, Dissects The Irish--men And Women Alike--through Their Words And Actions. Unremarkably, Most Of The Book's Focus Is Spent In Pubs In Dublin And Corofin, County Clare. We Listen To Francis, The Wise Publican At Dillon's Pub: `` . . . If The Dutch Were In Ireland, They'd Own Half Of Europe, And If The Irish Were In Holland, They'd Drown,'' And We Encounter The Extraordinary Women Of J. J. Smythe's Lesbian Bar In Dublin On Their Saturday Night Adventures. Outside The Pub, We Meet With A Diverse Group Of Characters: Ruth Riddick, The Activist Most Responsible For Bringing Information About Birth Control To Ireland; The Conservative And Saturnine Members Of The Legion Of Mary; Eavan Boland, Who Tells Us About The Problems Of Being An Irish Woman Poet; And Mary Robinson, Who With Her Election As President, Has Turned What In Essence Used To Be A Patronage Job For Aged Political Hacks Into An Office Of Respect, Prestige And Voice. The Author Portrays The Sexual Tension (much Of It Fueled By Alcohol) That Permeates The Society. We Also See The Fruits Of That Sexual Tension--a Notably High Illegitimacy Rate And Its Social And Political Fallout. Mahoney, Who Has A Wonderful Ear For The Expletive-filled Irish Use Of English, Has The Ability To Chill The Bones And Make One Feel Loneliness As A Theme Of Irish Life. Ultimately, This Struggle For Irish Sexual Freedom May Yet Be Fought In The Streets Of Dublin, Like The Political Revolution Of 1916. For As President Robinson Says, ``in A Society Where The Rights And Potential Of Women Are Constrained, No Man Can Be Truly Free. He May Have Power, But He Will Not Have Freedom.'' First Serial To Mirabella; Bomc Alternate And Qpb Selection; Author Tour. (aug.)

Growing up in the Deep South in the late 1950s, writer Patricia Foster was taught that a woman's body was her way of speaking her worth: restricted linguistically and sexually, women were to dress appropriately and decoratively and act like ladies at all times. When, in 1986, Foster returned to the South to teach a course in women's literature at a state university, she was amazed at the dissatisfaction young women felt about their bodies - even after the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s turned gender expectations upside down. "I'd rather have five pounds off my thighs than an A in this class," one woman confessed, and others agreed. Given the choice between mental stimulus and physical perfection, most students said they would choose the latter. How and why, Foster wondered, had women returned to such a fragile status? Minding the Body, a provocative collection of fiction and nonfiction by acclaimed women writers, addresses this question and others stemming from the complex and peculiar relationship women have with their bodies. The narratives in this anthology - from writers as diverse as Naomi Wolf, Rosemary Bray, Margaret Atwood, Hanan al-Shaykh, and Kathryn Harrison - address the psychological and political aspects of a woman's body in today's culture. In "Out of Habit, I Start Apologizing," Pam Houston celebrates the strong female body; Janet Burroway explores the older woman's sense of desire/eroticism in "Changes"; and Judith Ortiz Cofer's "The Story of My Body" looks at the Puerto Rican girl's coming-of-age in America and her comparison of her body to that of the Caucasian girl. Combining some of the best voices in contemporary women's literature with a subject of eternal interest - some might even say obsession - Minding the Body is important and much-needed reading for women who seek to understand the relationship between their physical and emotional selves. Written with the art of a skilled fiction writer whose ear for Irish bluster is pitch-perfect, Whoredom in Kimmage tells the tale of contemporary Irish women through a series of brilliantly animated scences that take the reader from Dillon's tiny pub in rural Corofin to the heart of Dublin. This beguiling account of Irish life transcends that nation's small shores through the power of Mahoney's great storytelling gifts. Before the phenomena of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes , and Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization , Rosemary Mahoney traveled to Ireland in response to the growing feeling that changes were taking place, and that those changes directly involved women. Her ideas are animated in brilliantly crafted scenes, taking the reader from Dillon's tiny pub in Corofin to a lesbian pub in Dublin, from a Legion of Mary meeting to a classroom full of boisterous schoolgirls determined to drive their teacher, S'ta Keatin', over the edge. Here, too, are scenes with Ireland's first woman president, Mary Robinson, and the country's preeminent woman poet, Eavan Boland. But most memorable, and perhaps most prescient of the recent enchantment with literature about the Emerald Isle, are Mahoney's pitch-perfect ear for Irish bluster and warmth, her eye for detail, and people so real and unforgettable you'd think they were having a cup of tea with you. Divided Lives focuses on three extraordinary women - Meredith Vieira, a former correspondent working for CBS television's 60 Minutes and now at ABC; Rachael Worby, a conductor who is also the first lady of her state; and Dr. Alison Estabrook, the chief of breast surgery at the second largest hospital in the country. Knowing that women's lives do not always conform to the neat configurations of theories and social critiques, Elsa Walsh sought out the "flesh and blood stories" of real women as they faced landmark choices, decisions, and conflicts in their professional and personal lives. The result is a moving and often startling work that demonstrates how universal our struggles really are despite the variations in our circumstances. What is abundantly clear is that even in the lives of such successful women, the struggle with self-doubt and the conflicts between work and family that afflict the rest of us are still very much in force. And as Walsh poignantly concludes, if women with all the advantages are having trouble, then that says something important about the condition of women's lives overall. In Divided Lives, Elsa Walsh reveals a central theme of contemporary life and offers the comfort of shared understanding to every woman who is striving for balance in her life. Can't live with them, can't live without them. From time immemorial, men and women have engaged in the eternal struggle. No one is immune from the lures of the mysterious and perplexing differences that create so much of the exhilarating, frustrating, and romantic textures of our lives. In this provocative collection of nonfiction pieces, Marita Golden, the critically acclaimed novelist, and fourteen other African-American women writers talk - each in their own distinctive style - about love, men, and sex. These essays - nine of which were written expressly for this book - range in style and content from Audre Lorde's now classic polemic on eroticism to Miriam DeCosta-Willis's moving essay about her husband to Audrey B. Chapman's hopeful "Black Men Do Feel About Love." Some are saucy, some spicy, a few use words not usually heard in polite company, and a few of them will leave you gasping or stunned. All of the essays are explorations into the contemporary black female psyche. Golden has contributed an introduction and prefatory commentary for each piece, which adds luster to the whole. Unique in its concept, exemplary in its execution, Wild Women Don't Wear No Blues should quickly achieve an important place in the growing canon of African-American literature "Whom do I tell when I tell a blank page?" Virginia Woolf's question is one that generations of readers and writers searching to map a creative life have asked of their own diaries. No other document quite compares with the intimacies and yearnings, the confessions and desires, revealed in the pages of a diary. Presenting seven portraits of literary and creative lives, Alexandra Johnson illuminates the secret world of writers and their diaries, and shows how over generations these writers have used the diary to solve a common set of creative and life questions.

In Sonya Tolstoy's diary, we witness the conflict between love and vocation; in Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf's friendship, the nettle of rivalry among writing equals is revealed; and in Alice James's diary, begun at age forty, the feelings of competition within a creative family are explored.

The Hidden Writer shows how the diaries of Marjory Fleming, Sonya Tolstoy, Alice James, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, Anaïs Nin, and May Sarton negotiated the obstacle course of silence, ambition, envy, and fame. Destined to become a classic on writing and the diary as literary form, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the evolution of creative life.

A Collection Of Essays Exploring The Contemporary Black Female Psyche, Of What Happens When You Ask A Black Woman To Think, Not In Passing, But Long And Hard, About Love, Men And Sex. Tough Boyz And Trouble : Those Girls Waiting Outside D.c. Jail Remind Me Of Myself / Patrice Gaines -- Marilyn From The Habit Of Surviving / Kesho Yvonne Scott -- Uses Of The Erotic : The Erotic As Power / Audre Lorde -- Letting Go With Love / Miriam Decosta-willis -- A New Shower Massage, Phone Sex, And Separation / Tina Mcelroy Ansa -- Walking In My Mother's Footsteps To Love / Marita Golden -- Sleeping With The Enemy / Audrey Edwards -- Black Men, White Women : A Sister Relinquishes Her Anger / Bebe Moore Campbell -- Mars Conjunct Neptune / Judy Dothard Simmons -- The Act Behind The Word / Dorisjean Austin -- Delusions Of Safety : A Personal Story / Marcia Ann Gillespie -- Wounded In The House Of A Friend / Sonia Sanchez -- In The Wink Of An Eye : Black Lesbians And Gay Men Together / Jewelle Gomez -- However You Come To Me / Ntozake Shange -- Black Men Do Feel About Love / Audrey B. Chapman. Edited And With An Introduction By Marita Golden. Presenting seven portraits of literary and creative lives, Alexandra Johnson illuminates the secret world of writers and their diaries, and shows how over generations these writers have used the diary to solve a common set of creative and life questions. In the childhood diary of Marjory Fleming we witness a young writer finding her voice, while Sonya Tolstoy's diary describes the conflict between love and vocation; in Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf's friendship the nettle of rivalry among writing equals is revealed; and in Alice James's diary, started at age forty, the feelings of competition within a creative family are explored. In Anais Nin, we see the popular explosion of the diary as confessional; and finally in May Sarton the pursuit of solitude becomes a national obsession. A time-lapse study of confidence, The Hidden Writer shows how each writer used the diary to negotiate the obstacle course of silence, ambition, envy, and fame. Twenty intensely personal essays on physical and emotional self-image by women writers from a wide range of ages, races, and conformity. Table of Contents "Reading" the body: an introduction / Patricia Foster A weight that women carry / Sallie Tisdale The floating lightbulb / Joyce Winer Mirrors / Lucy Grealy Coming into the end zone / Doris Grumbach The female body / Margaret Atwood Thicker than water / Kathryn Harrison Beauty tips for the dead / Judith Hooper First stirrings / Rosemary Bray Out of habit, I start apologizing / Pam Houston Department of the interior / Linda Hogan Beauty and the beast / Connie Porter Keep them implanted and ignorant / Naomi Wolf Inside a Moroccan bath / Hanan al-Shaykh Changes / Janet Burroway Fighting natural / Lynne Taetzsch Life-size / Jenefer Shute Carnal acts / Nancy Mairs Stiff upper lip / Patricia Stevens The story of my body / Judith Ortiz Cofer

A mulitcultural anthology of fiction and  non-fiction literary narratives which addresses the  psychological and political aspects of a woman's body in  today's culture. An important and much-needed  book for women who seek to understand their bodies  and find independent, imaginative ways to cope with  aging, beauty expectations beauty expectations,  and ethnic comparisons.

Bringing together fourteen African-American women, Marita Golden has compiled saucy and spicy essays that serve as an exploration into the contemporary black female psyche. Ranging in style from Audre Lorde's classic polemic on eroticism to Miriam DeCosta Willis's deeply moving essay on her husband's last years, "every single one of these essays is terrific." -- The Washington Post A mulitcultural anthology of fiction and non-fiction literary narratives which addresses the psychological and political aspects of a woman's body in today's culture. An important and much-needed book for women who seek to understand their bodies and find independent, imaginative ways to cope with aging, beauty expectations beauty expectations, and ethnic comparisons. On an unseasonably mild afternoon late in the summer of 1809, a six-year-old child with cheeks like mumps sat with her older cousin on a ferry bound for Edinburgh. Examines the diaries of famous writers, including Marjory Fleming, Sonya Tolstoy, Anais Nin, and May Sarton, and shows how these writers have used the diary 14 African American women explore the Black female psyche in uncompromising terms