WOMAN: The American History of an Idea with Dr. Lillian Faderman
Apr 07, 2022
The Mark Twain House & Museum and Charter Oak Cultural Center present
WOMAN: The American History of an Idea
with Dr. Lillian Faderman and Central Connecticut State University’s Dr. Heather Munro Prescott
What does it mean to be a “woman” in America? In WOMAN: THE AMERICAN HISTORY OF AN IDEA, Faderman traces the evolution of the meaning from Puritan ideas of God’s plan for women to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and its reversals to the impact of such recent events as #metoo, the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the election of Kamala Harris as vice president, and the transgender movement.
This wide-ranging 400-year history chronicles conflicts, retreats, defeats, and hard-won victories in both the private and the public sectors and shines a light on the often-overlooked battles of enslaved women and women leaders in tribal nations. Noting that every attempt to cement a particular definition of “woman” has been met with resistance, Faderman also shows that successful challenges to the status quo are often short-lived. As she underlines, the idea of womanhood in America continues to be contested.
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