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When Everything Changed
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present | Gail Collins
31 posts | 17 read | 50 to read
Gail Collins, New York Times columnist and bestselling author, recounts the astounding revolution in women's lives over the past 50 years, with her usual "sly wit and unfussy style" (People). When Everything Changed begins in 1960, when most American women had to get their husbands' permission to apply for a credit card. It ends in 2008 with Hillary Clinton's historic presidential campaign. This was a time of cataclysmic change, when, after four hundred years, expectations about the lives of American women were smashed in just a generation. A comprehensive mix of oral history and Gail Collins's keen research--covering politics, fashion, popular culture, economics, sex, families, and work--When Everything Changed is the definitive book on five crucial decades of progress. The enormous strides made since 1960 include the advent of the birth control pill, the end of "Help Wanted--Male" and "Help Wanted--Female" ads, and the lifting of quotas for women in admission to medical and law schools. Gail Collins describes what has happened in every realm of women's lives, partly through the testimonies of both those who made history and those who simply made their way. Picking up where her highly lauded book America's Women left off, When Everything Changed is a dynamic story, told with the down-to-earth, amusing, and agenda-free tone for which this beloved New York Times columnist is known. Older readers, men and women alike, will be startled as they are reminded of what their lives once were--"Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" on TV; daily weigh-ins for stewardesses; few female professors; no women in the Boston marathon, in combat zones, or in the police department. Younger readers will see their history in a rich new way. It has been an era packed with drama and dreams--some dashed and others realized beyond anyone's imagining.
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GeekGrl82
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Pickpick

I was reading this book in October of 2016. I could only read about 10 pages at a time before I could feel my blood pressure going up, and the rage reaching a boiling point. And then the election happened. I was too lost in despair to continue the book, and I set it aside. Well, the despair is gone, but the rage is still here. I don't know if that will ever really leave. But I am ready to channel the anger.

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OrangeMooseReads
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Mehso-so

This is the last paragraph of the epilogue. How about women are unhappy because they put a sh*t ton of work above and beyond men and they still aren‘t given the same opportunities because they are women. There is still no equality and feminism is still very much needed and this a sh*t way to end your history of how women changed everything. I believe the women you wrote about would also be yelling at you that we still have a lot of work to do.

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OrangeMooseReads
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Mehso-so

A review in 2 parts. This book started off great. Loved the information and the history, the writing was well done. I knew most of the information because this is my jam, the whole women‘s history specifically feminism I love it and I absorb it like lotion on dry skin. Collins like most writers on feminism focused on the white women and only one chapter on WoC. Above is the last paragraph before the epilogue. Why end your book like this?

OrangeMooseReads Also there was an entire chapter about Clinton losing the 2008 democratic nomination to Obama and she just kind of happied it upand just need with her not getting the nom and then all this backstory and information on Palin. And then kind of oh people liked her and then they didn‘t. Palin is an ignorant buffoon. (This Book was published in 2010) 7y
31 likes1 comment
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OrangeMooseReads
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I am bound and determined to finish this damn book today! I‘m on 383 of 409. I know I can do it! It‘s just a matter of staying awake to get it done. Late night combined with a early morning making this Moose tired.

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OrangeMooseReads
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I feel like this is taking me forever to read. I only have 150 pages or so to go. I‘m hoping to get it done my Sunday afternoon. It‘s a good book and interesting, just taking a while.
I feel crappy today. Thankfully Man Cub is amazing and I got to sleep on the couch for a while before making dinner. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow because 😭 grocery store😭

LibrarianJen Ugh the grocery store is the worst. I hope you feel better and tomorrow‘s shopping is relatively painless. 7y
Jas16 Hope you feel better soon 7y
AmandaL Feel better. 7y
JessClark78 Hope you feel better soon. 7y
41 likes4 comments
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OrangeMooseReads
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The more I read this and other feminist history books the more I realize the mind set of so many people has changed so little since the post WWII era and the beginning of the Women‘s Lib movement. Those same “arguments” and beliefs about women and why they shouldn‘t be or can‘t be equal continue to be prevalent in society.

RaimeyGallant Depressing, but the words need to be written and read. 7y
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OrangeMooseReads
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Up next because I feel like I need a Feminist-y book right now. I need to read about some women changing the world. #whoruntheworld

ValerieAndBooks This was a good one! Thought-provoking. 7y
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OrangeMooseReads
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I think this would be an interesting read. The feminist and history nerd in both started to get excited when I saw it.

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Oftencantdecide
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#AprilBookShowers - #LocalAuthor- Lots of authors call NYC home, but the most local author I can think of is Gail Collins, who lives in the same apartment building as my parents.

I've been meaning to read her books, since her column in The NY Times is usually pretty good.

LeahBergen I read America's Women - it was good! 👍🏼 8y
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Bookish_B
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Suggested reading for Women's History Month! I read this ages ago so I'm fuzzy on details but I remember I loved it. It made me feel all the feelings: anger, frustration, sadness, hope, joy- all of it. The overwhelming emotion though was probably pride at the intelligent, strong, determined women profiled within the book! It is VERY readable. #womenshistorymonth

mrsamandahood I got this for my birthday!! The cover alone made me want to buy it! I still haven't gotten around to reading it yet though 🙈☺️ 8y
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bookhoarder513
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Not the best picture but I was juggling books. Lol. Nice to see the display at my library today, International Women's day!

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TirzahPrice
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Pickpick

It seems fitting that I finished this engaging, intersectional, insightful, and deeply fascinating history of women's rights from 1960-2010 on this day. Friends, if you were born any time in the last thirty years, read this book. It puts so many things in context, and shows us that while women have made tremendous strides, we aren't equal yet. I'm blown away.

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Eyelit
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Some great books #publishedinthe2000s 😃#readjanuary

sprainedbrain Nice stack! 8y
alisahar ❤ Cloud Atlas. 8y
emilyesears When Everything Changed is an excellent book!! 8y
111 likes3 comments
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TirzahPrice
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Sobering. All I can say is thank you thank you thank you thank you.

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TirzahPrice
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Rose Ann Vuich = badass.

Clare-Dragonfly That delights me so. 8y
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TirzahPrice
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WHERE ARE THE FLAME STICKERS, @Litsy !?

CherylDeFranceschi Ha! Totally need flame! 8y
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TirzahPrice
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When I went car shopping 5 years ago (I was 20 and still in college!), a salesman tried to talk me out of buying a Ford Fiesta because it would be a bit small for hauling children around. I so wish I'd had the gumption to ask him, "Whose kids?"

LeahBergen 🙄🙄🙄 8y
Suzze When I was married and in my 20's all charge accounts were in the husband's name. When a law was finally passed that wives could get their own cards (and credit rating), I jumped on it! And then there were the restaurants where only the men got a menu with prices. I could go on and on. 8y
TirzahPrice @Suzze I had never heard the menu with prices and OMG I AM INCENSED ALL OVER AGAIN! 8y
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Suzze @TirzahPrice I was so mad! It was about 1972, I said to my husband, "How do you know what to get without prices?" He told me they were on his menu. I made him give me his menu and said I was paying and complained to the manager. Edit: boyfriend. We weren't married in 1972. (edited) 8y
TirzahPrice @Suzze 👍🏼🙌🏼🙅🏾 8y
Clare-Dragonfly @Suzze You rock! Did he know that your menu had no price or was he surprised? 8y
Suzze @Clare-Dragonfly He didn't know he had the only one with prices, but he said that wasn't uncommon for them to do it. It was the first time I'd ever seen it. 8y
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TirzahPrice
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This hypocrisy has me all 😡😡😡.

Suet624 Jeepers. I loved Romper Room. I didn't know this. 8y
TirzahPrice @Suet624 The entire chapter is really say. She got an abortion because she accidentally took some Thalidomide that her husband brought home from Europe, and when she tried to warn people so that what happened to her wouldn't happen to any other Americans, she got crucified in the press and lost her job. 8y
TirzahPrice Sad not say! 8y
Suet624 That is really sad. And infuriating. 8y
Suzze That is horrific! 8y
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TirzahPrice
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WTF Phyllis Schlafly?

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TirzahPrice
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Ladies! Don't give up your right to vote to make a political statement. Just don't do it.

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ValerieAndBooks
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Pickpick

This pretty much sums up "When Everything Changed". This book reminds us that women have come a long ways but still have more to go. Especially when it comes to work-family balance. I ended up being a SAHM because childcare would have wiped out my salary anyway. Lots of good anecdotes here but don't expect a blueprint for future action.

saresmoore @ValerieAndBooks I imagine we could gather a writer's collective from Litsy alone to finish what this book started. I will be reading this one! 8y
LauraBeth We calculated how much we had spent in daycare for one child while I worked. It was $85,000. But the emotional cost was so much more - I missed SO much time that I'll never get back. All for a career. It wasn't worth it. Of course this is my own personal experience and everyone's experiences differ - but I regret those years I focused so hard on my career while my child was young. 8y
GirlMeetsBook Knowing such realities, though i'm working on my masters and career, it's always sort of been a plan of mine to be a SAHM when I have children until they're in school. However my SO has the idea he'll be the SAHD so we're going to have to rock-paper-scissors for it. 😂 8y
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ValerieAndBooks @saresmoore I look forward to what you think. There were so many passages I wanted to share ! 8y
ValerieAndBooks @LauraBeth I don't regret the decision to be a SAHM but didn't anticipate I'd be one for so long. Things like hubby's career (he travels frequently), a few moves, and kids' activities have made it difficult to get back in the working world, even with trying to do it part-time. But maybe when I'm a empty-nester! I'm glad where you are at now is working out for you 😊 8y
ValerieAndBooks @GirlMeetsBook I have a few friends whose career situations made it more sense for the hubby to be a SAHD. For one it actually came down to whose job had better health care insurance, and it was hers. You'll figure it out, I'm sure 👍! 8y
GirlMeetsBook @ValerieAndBooks Thanks! That definitely does make sense and of course logic will have to play into it; but i will hold out if I win the RPS. 😜 8y
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TirzahPrice
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The senator who added women to the Civil Rights Act did it AS A JOKE.

😳

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TirzahPrice
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I read this and immediately thought of all of the millions of people calling and writing their representatives this week. I think we can all learn something from Pauli Murray and Eleanor Roosevelt about standing firm and listening to each other and advocating with respect and civility.

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ValerieAndBooks
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"Voters were wary of female candidates w/ family obligations. The disasters that could befall them were vividly displayed in the case of Coya Knutson, who had managed to topple an incumbent House member in Minnesota in 1954 and win a seat in her own right. Her alcoholic husband, Andy, who was left behind to run the family hotel, torpedoed her career in 1958 by issuing a "Coya, Come Home" letter claiming his marriage was being destroyed..."

GeekGrl82 I was reading this last week, but I just can't do it now. It was making me angry before the election. 8y
ValerieAndBooks @GeekGrl82 I understand. Though I plucked this out of my TBR *because* of this week's happenings, it certainly is infuriating reading and maybe more so right now 😡. 8y
GeekGrl82 @ValerieAndBooks May I'll pick it back up in January so I'm good and angry on inauguration day. 8y
EloisaJames @GeekGrl82 the million woman march awaits! 8y
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ValerieAndBooks
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I've had this (copyright: 2009) sitting in my TBR for far too long. Now is a good time to dust it off. Like many of us, I want things to be better for women, differently abled , POC, multicultural, LGBT. And also for the males that care also. My two sons are just as concerned about the current/future state of events as is my daughter. My kids are 21, 18, and 15. Changes won't happen overnight but let's not give up. #overthis ❤️💛💚💙💜💖

queerbookreader Ahhh I just saw this book at the library but I didn't pick it up! 8y
BookishFeminist This is a really good book and totally adding this to the list 8y
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ValerieAndBooks @BookishFeminist thanks for the rec-- added to stack! 8y
NCNY Gall Collins wrote a great article in response to the election result. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/opinion/ten-step-program-for-adjusting-to-p... 8y
ValerieAndBooks @NCNY thanks for sharing! Her touch of sly humor that I'm seeing in the book so far is evident in the article as well. 8y
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GeekGrl82
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Guilty as charged.

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GeekGrl82
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Infuriating. 😬

britt_brooke 😳 8y
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GeekGrl82
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Reading on my way to my job, where I definitely don't have to wear a skirt.

GeekGrl82 10 pages in and I'm already filled with righteous feminist rage. 8y
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emilyesears
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Loving this book so far! Its thesis is that American women have made a HUGE leap in terms of autonomy since 1960. Crazy how we've gone from women not being able to get a credit card without husband approval to (probably) having a female president in the next 6 months!!

Bookish_B I've read this (though yours must be updated because I don't remember Michelle Obama on the cover of mine). Great book! So many inspiring stories. 8y
emilyesears @Bookish_B I‘d like to reread it sometime—I feel like I‘ve forgotten a lot of the individual stories. 7y
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KarenaFagan
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Super interesting.

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