In honor of the Barbie movie coming out this last weekend, I wanted to share one of my favorite ‘how cool are women?’ reads.
In this PhD-thesis-turned-book, Anne Gardiner Perkins skillfully uses countless interviews to bring to life the story of when Yale began admitting women and the numerous, unexpected logistics that would entail.
I’ll start by acknowledging my own naivety, which was to think that this happened in the 1940s, but no. To my horror, 1969 was when Yale finally relented and opened admission to women. For any Gilmore Girl fans, it’s worth noting that when Richard and Emily met in college (1965), Richard went to Yale and Emily went to Smith because, at the time, women weren’t allowed at Yale. I think the real impact of the book, however, is the way Perkins follows the story of those who are first admitted, noting the ways that the women had to fight for things like locks on bathrooms and how, by spreading out the women between colleges, there were severe issues of isolation and loneliness as many women in the first cohort faced a 12-1 ratio of men to women.
In what reads like a novel, Perkins paints a comprehensive picture of the transition and time period, detailing the main players (both faculty and students) and the social movements (Vietnam and others) occurring at the same time. Some of the stories gave me chills of pride from the strength and perseverance displayed, some filled me with horror at the sexual assault the women faced, and realizing the ways in which it isn’t so different now. Overall, however, I learned how much I’ve taken my own education for granted and how much I owe the women who paved the way.
Reading the book, you often forget that the women fighting for change and standing up to faculty were no more than twenty. The first group of women were admitted with the consideration of whether they’d be tough enough to handle the transition and, while I can’t say with certainty that I would now, I aspire to be brave enough to have made that list.
2% Rating: 8/10
Recommend? Definitely
Re-Read? Potentially
Time: 1:36
Bonus Content: If anything, I think reading this book gave me a better appreciation for why sororities were initially founded, to give women a space to be together and find strength and support in their limited numbers.