Posted by Alli from ? (160.129.202.62) on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 at 4:27PM :
to Fred: don't preach at me about "feminism." i've done enough reading & experiencing to have my own ideas.
to anyone else: here's a book that i think would be especially interesting to any young women living in the States. though the study is somewhat dated, much of what the authors discuss still applies today. here are some reviews of the book "Educated in Romance : Women, Achievement, and College Culture" by Dorothy Holland, Margaret A. Eisenhart (Contributor), R. W. Connell:
From Publishers Weekly
The degree to which women acquiesce to social structures based on male privilege is the subject of this 10-year study.
Centering on two Southern universities in the 1980s--one predominantly black, the other white--the authors, both
anthropologists, followed academically gifted college women with high career goals through their studies and beyond. Their
research revealed a pattern: their subjects scaled down aspirations for careeers in order to marry, often accepting
positions economically inferior to those of their husbands. The peer group was found to emphasize feminine attractiveness,
subjecting women to "a sexual auction block" and allowing little time for, or profound interest in, the educational process.
The authors' well-documented anthropological and sociological analyses contribute to the literature on gender relations.
Holland teaches at the University of North Carolina, Eisenhart at the University of Colorado.
From Library Journal
This ethnographic study by two sociocultural anthropologists explores why bright, highly motivated young women fail to fulfill their academic and career
goals. Through interviews and field observations, the researchers documented the reactions of 23 female students to their collegiate experiences,
focusing on school assignments, dating practices, friendships, and family ties. Analysis of the data reveals the influence of a persuasive peer-community
that links a woman's esteem to her attractiveness to male associates. So strong is this emphasis on romantic success that some of the women, in striving
to accommodate themselves to the cultural standard, made decisions that altered their educational paths and resulted in their assuming subordinate
societal roles. Although somewhat repetitive, this book probes a pervasive yet little-examined aspect of gender relations. An important work for academic
and feminist collections.
Carol A. McAllister, Coll. of William and Mary Lib., Williamsburg, Va.
Copyright 1990 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
-- Alli
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