GIRLS ARE EQUAL TOO: The Women's Movement for Teenagers

by Dale Carlson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 1973

Where Mary McHugh's The Woman Thing (KR, p. 611, J-209) tried the conciliatory approach, Carlson pounces hard and sinks her teeth right into the scandal of inequality. The unremitting sarcasm about the ignominy of trading in one's ""pink ribbons"" for aprons and typewriters (""It's ail a part of the plot to keep you in your place"") is balanced by a heavy arsenal of statistics and scathing examples covering sexism in school and at home, legal rights, the fear of failure, mental illness in housewives -- and even a chapter of gorge raising quotes from famous misogynists. Sometimes she neglects to mention that women have -- quite often recently -- fought back against the pressure to be stupid, inferior and passive; nor does she offer specific plans of attack. Without minimizing the importance of actual discrimination on the job and in school, Carlson is really most concerned with the psychological wounds infliected by the myriad subtle pressures to ""be feminine."" Her sledgehammer approach is one way to jar girls into thinking about this complex question. But will it work with other than those already predisposed?

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION