Stephanie Coontz
Author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
About the Author
Stephanie Coontz is a social analyst, family historian, writer, and a professor. She teaches at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Her research interests include the historical accuracy, myths, and facts that surround our present concept of traditional family values. In her book, The show more Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap, Coontz disputes many of the myths about the decade of the 1950s. Her book, The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families explores new economic and social pressure put on families. Coontz is a frequent commentator on CNN and NBC news programs and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She was the keynote speaker at the Thirteenth Annual Maine Women's Studies Conference in 1998. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: courtesy of Stephanie Coontz
Works by Stephanie Coontz
Marriage, a History: from Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage (2005) 866 copies, 19 reviews
A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s (2011) 226 copies, 5 reviews
The Way We Really Are: Coming To Terms With America's Changing Families (1997) 157 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Coontz, Stephanie
- Birthdate
- 1944-08-31
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Education
- University of California, Berkeley (BA|American History)
University of Washington (MA|European History) - Occupations
- writer
professor - Relationships
- Reissner, Will (husband)
- Agent
- Susan Rabiner
Members
Reviews
A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and… by Stephanie Coontz
This book seemed a little disjointed at the beginning - they were trying to do a complete overview of the climate relating to women's issues at the time that The Feminine Mystique was published, and it seemed to jump through time and space a lot. But it ended up being a really interesting look at some of the criticisms of the book, a look at how Betty Friedan overestimated her impact, and a look at the ways in which she didn't.
I've always questioned what it was that the Religious Right wanted in terms of a "traditional marriage." Did they want to bring back domestic violence as an acceptable form of communication between two people? Or did they want to bring back marriage as a political or property exchange? Either way, I would recommend this history book to someone who voted Yes on Proposition 8 in California.
I've always questioned what it was that the Religious Right wanted in terms of a "traditional marriage." Did they want to bring back domestic violence as an acceptable form of communication between two people? Or did they want to bring back marriage as a political or property exchange? Either way, I would recommend this history book to someone who voted Yes on Proposition 8 in California.
The way we never were is a dense book about family structures throughout American history backed up by substantial sociological, family science, and economic research. The main thesis is that family structures change in response to macroeconomic trends, rather than causing these trends (i.e. a "break down" of family values can't be blamed for increased rates of poverty, rather, increased poverty precipitates families forming different arrangements to adapt to economic pressures). If you read the book, definitely read the 2016 edition because the prologue and epilogue provide updates on economic and sociological trends since the book was first published in the 90s and are in fact, probably the most important parts of the book. Also, despite the listed pagination, the book is really only about 400 pages of text, with almost another 200 of notes and bibliography.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 2,438
- Popularity
- #10,524
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 39
- ISBNs
- 37
- Languages
- 3
- Favorited
- 4