Review: When and where I enter
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsThe first historical study of the relationship, in America, between racism and sexism--broad-ranging, occasionally plodding, generally sound and insightful. ""The means of oppression differed across race and sex lines, but the wellspring of that oppression was the same. Black women understood this dynamic. White women, by and large, did not."" Early chapters cover largely familiar ground--from poet Phyllis Wheatley to slave owners' attitudes toward female slaves. Post-slavery, many black women reconstituted their families, while others rejected mates forced on them. Black club women and other reformers sought essential rights and protections, yet found themselves held at a distance by white feminists--who failed to realize ""that black women were providing them with a means for their own liberation."" (""Inherent in the black women's defense of their integrity was a challenge to the Victorian ideas that kept all women oppressed."") Much of the book's news is in the second two thirds, where Giddings artfully interweaves individual achievements and social trends. Though the 1920s represented a retreat from activism for many young women (who ""embraced the beauty ethos of the times""), the 1930s saw Mary McCleod Bethune emerge as a black braintruster--and adoitly use her National Youth Agency position to establish black women among the new groups with legitimate demands on government. Similarly, if the 1950s found many black women ""worried about how they were perceived as women"" (when their white peers ""were staying at home, having children, and scanning the shelves for the latest appliances""), the 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, Angela Davis, Jean Wiley, and others at the fore of the civil rights movement. It's interesting, also, to have Giddings' comments on the '60s race/sex dialectic. Artswering Sara Evans (Personal Politics), she writes that most black women in SNCC ""saw the race issue as so pressing that they had little attention to spare for questions of sex""; but she herself spares few words (or egos) in delineating the sexism of ""the Masculine Decade,"" when ""both Black men and radical-chic White men--women too--applauded the machismo of leather-jacketed young men, armed to the teeth, rising out of the urban Ghetto."" The future? Unclear--save for the demonstrated strength of black women, the closer parallels between black and white women than heretofore. A welcome survey, and overdue at that.
Review: When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
User Review - Eddy Allen - GoodreadsWhen and Where I Enter is an eloquent testimonial to the profound influence of African-American women on race and women's movements throughout American history. Drawing on speeches, diaries, letters ... Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter
User Review - Johanna Daye - GoodreadsThis book sent me thought several emotions. It should be read by every minority female. Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter
User Review - Elizabeth - GoodreadsI hate giving up books. Going through the tightly-packed shelves, trying to figure out how to fit in just one more book, and then realizing that it's time to give up, to pull some off, and to set them ... Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
User Review - Kareema Perkins - GoodreadsI had an opportunity to meet Ms. Giddings in college. I will be forever in her debt for introducing me to such a comprehensive collection of the history of Black Women in American history. Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter
User Review - Naima - GoodreadsThis is one of the best books I've ever read. So informative and so inspiring! This book spans from the 18th Century to the 1980s and follows different Black Liberation Movements. I recommend it for all! Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
User Review - Heidi - GoodreadsExcellent book - read in college at PSU for a Women's History class. Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
User Review - Randie - GoodreadsPaula Giddings' book, When and Where I Enter, has been accepted and praised by several organizations, Black intellectuals, and feminists. The Women's Review of Books calls Giddings' work “the best ... Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
User Review - Cydney - GoodreadsRe-reading one of my favorite sociopolitical accounts of African American Women's contributions to American history from a feminist perspective. I've got my eye on Sister Citizen, but wanted to warm up with this one first. Read full review
Review: When and Where I Enter
User Review - Khemauset Ankh - GoodreadsWhen and Where I Enter is a very informative book. Another story history doesn't tell in the mainstream. Black women weren't just collectively sitting around twittling their thumbs. We were doing it ... Read full review
