Gail Collins’ new book tells the story of American women since the 1950s, writes Christine Stansell—and shows us that the depressing mess left when an old order crumbles is still preferable to the tidiness of a once-immovable status quo.
Christine Stansell is Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor at The University of Chicago. Her book on the history of feminism will be published by Random House next year.
Frances Perkins, FDR’s Labor secretary, was the first woman ever appointed to a Cabinet job and the chief architect of his New Deal. But an important new biography reveals that her remarkable accomplishments came with a high price.