In Her Place: A Documentary History of Prejudice Against Women

The long history of prejudice against women has been the focus of many academic studies, but until now there has been no attempt to collect actual examples of this prejudice. Now, the author has gathered together works that document the scorn and contempt for the ‘weaker sex’ that most women endured for generations until very recently. This is the work of leading members of the intellectual, social and political communities. They published their views in numerous prestigious publications. Fear of women’s sexuality was a prime motivator of a great deal of prejudice whereby men, but not women, were permitted sexual dalliance without undue censure. Reading the unabashed bias against women so evident in these pages brings the entrenched misogyny of American society into vivid focus and makes one appreciate all the more the immense efforts of feminists who, for more than a century, have worked to overcome the stereotypes of ‘womanly’ behaviour long enforced by men.