Book Report: Gail Collins - When Everything Changed

This is Gail Collins' second book on the history of feminism. I didn't read the first one because at the moment I am much more interested in the post-suffrage movement - the movement for fair pay and equal roles in the workforce.

The book relies heavily on anecdotes, though it has statistics where they exist and are relevant. This approach makes the book move fast, but makes it a little less trustworthy as a book explaining a vast movement. It still works, but at times it does make me wonder if the one story we are being told is representative.

What is great about the book is how it shows people trying to create new systems and new customs. Over the course of the book, women are trying to figure out where they fit in society. They know they don't like the current set-up, but no one knows exactly what the set-up should be. So throughout the movement, everyone is debating and trying alternate systems to see which is ideal.

The starting point is what they know they don't like. They know that they shouldn't be denied jobs or paid less than men just because they are women. And they know they shouldn't have to stay in the home and raise the family if they don't want to. But how should the system really be? It wasn't clear at the time, and I think we take that for granted.

For example, if some women found being a house wife constraining, should we encourage all women away from that? Or if women are sometimes chosen just on their sexuality / attractiveness and not for their skills, should all women avoid showing sexuality? If family life is unfulfilling, does that mean women shouldn't be in families? Are men and families unnecessary? Are communes or multiple couples raising one child together better?

I would argue that we have mostly concluded that women should have the opportunity to work in all jobs and to receive pay equal to what men earn (which we still haven't fully achieved). And that women shouldn't have to stay at home but should be free to a professional career. However, women should also not feel ashamed to stay at home - and nor should men. I would argue that we basically know where we want to be, but we still have some work to do. As I said, women still don't make as much as men, and women are still underrepresented in many jobs - sometimes due to discrimination.

Where I think we have failed to make progress is for low income women. They still face significant barriers because they cannot afford to stay home if they want to but child care funding is insufficient, where it exists.What is heartbreaking, and was surprising to me, was how close we came to having national childcare support. A bill was passed but Richard Nixon vetoed it. We haven't seen or heard that issue again. Truly sad.