My author copies arrived over the weekend. My book will be published by the University of Nebraska Press on October 1st. But you can pre-order now from the press or amazon. My book is available in both hardcover and paperback. Check out my author website for more information www.rebeccadewolf.com.
My latest opinion piece is out today with History News Network. My piece looks at the conservative and liberal effort to stop the pro-ERA energy that had grown during World War II. Read more.
The short answer is no. There are plenty of historians of women’s history who do not go into a detailed inspection of gender and there are plenty of gender historians who do not focus on women’s historical experiences in particular. To be sure, there are important connections between the two fields. Gender history developed in part from the field of women’s history and there are many historians, including me, who combine both fields in their research and writing. As well, both women’s history and gender history have helped to address the inadequacies of previously accepted male-centric histories, which had structured historical topics around the supposed achievements of great white men. Still, there are important differences between women’s history and gender history. While historians of women’s history foreground women as historical actors, historians of gender history focus on how ideas about what it means to be a man and a woman have shaped major historical struggles and events. Since we recently celebrated women’s history month, now is a good time to dissect the relationship between women’s history and gender history. As I suggest in my conclusion, both fields can help historians shed light on an emerging debate about civic rights that is taking form in certain social activist circles.
If you, like me, loved Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film, “Little Women,” which starred Winona Ryder as the treasured iconic tomboy, Jo March, you might have been doubtful about the need for yet another Little Women film adaptation. Louisa May Alcott’s cherished nineteenth-century story, Little Women, has been adapted for stage and screen several times, but, for many viewers, the beloved Armstrong version was the definitive visual interpretation of the story. Well, that was the case until Greta Gerwig’s newest film adaptation of “Little Women” hit the theaters this past December. Gerwig’s film stands out not only because it maps new ground for understanding the intricate layers of meaning wrapped in the classic tale, but also because it is a piece of art in its own right.
