One of a small group of feminist pioneers in the historical profession, Estelle B. Freedman teaches and writes about women's history with a passion informed by her feminist values. Over the past thirty years, she has produced a body of work in which scholarship and politics have never been mutually exclusive. This collection brings together eleven essays--eight previously published and three new--that document the evolving relationship between academic feminism and political feminism as Freedman has studied and lived it.
Following an introduction that presents a map of the personal and intellectual trajectory of Freedman's work, the first section of essays, on the origins and strategies of women's activism in U.S. history, reiterates the importance of valuing women in a society that has long devalued their contributions. The second section, on the maintenance of sexual boundaries, explores the malleability of both sexual identities and sexual politics. Underlying the collection is an inquiry into the changing meanings of gender, sexuality, and politics during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries along with a concern for applying the insights of women's history broadly, from the classroom to the courthouse.
Author(s): Estelle B. Freedman
Series: Gender and American Culture
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 270
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
Introduction. Identities, Values, and Inquiries: A Personal History......Page 14
Part One: Feminist Strategies......Page 32
1 Separatism as Strategy: Female Institution Building and American Feminism, 1870–1930......Page 34
2 Separatism Revisited: Women’s Institutions, Social Reform, and the Career of Miriam Van Waters......Page 50
3 Women’s Networks and Women’s Loyalties: Reflections on a Tenure Case......Page 70
4 Small Group Pedagogy: Consciousness Raising in Conservative Times......Page 80
5 No Turning Back: The Historical Resilience of Feminism......Page 98
Part Two: Sexual Boundaries......Page 118
6 The Historical Construction of Homosexuality in the United States......Page 120
7 Uncontrolled Desires: The Response to the Sexual Psychopath, 1920–1960......Page 134
8 The Prison Lesbian: Race, Class, and the Construction of the Aggressive Female Homosexual, 1915–1965......Page 154
9 The Burning of Letters Continues: Elusive Identities and the Historical Construction of Sexuality......Page 172
10 When Historical Interpretation Meets Legal Advocacy: Abortion, Sodomy, and Same-Sex Marriage......Page 188
Notes......Page 210
B......Page 254
D......Page 255
F......Page 256
H......Page 257
L......Page 258
M......Page 259
P......Page 260
R......Page 261
S......Page 262
V......Page 264
W......Page 265
Z......Page 266
