Children and Other Strangers
Description:... In "Children and Other Strangers, "Ruth Szold Ginzberg offers a personal view of modern women who now have choices concerning marriage, child-rearing, and families. It is written from the perspective and experiences of a mother of three who belongs to the generation of women who came of age in the 1940s and who had little choice but to follow the socially prescribed path of domesticity. Combining analysis, autobiography, and humor in equal parts, this book is a pleasure to read as well as a clear-eyed look at a critically important subject.
The author proceeds from the provocative assumption that the women's revolution is the most important social development of the twentieth century. In the experience of many women, the defining questions of that revolution turned on personal issues of marriage and motherhood as much as on the public issues of political and economic equality. Today such personal issues are largely determined by free personal choice; it is possible for couples to maintain a close emotional bond without entering into a marriage arrangement.
In Ruth Ginzberg's view the only appropriate reason for a woman to marry is to have children. In spite of these unprecedented freedoms, much of the book's argument maintains that young women today have little idea of what having children really connotes in terms of loss of freedom for the mother, constraints on her time and energy, the disruptions that children introduce into adult relationships, and above all that once a mother, the bond is for life. "Children and Other Strangers is "a memoir rich in wisdom and perception. It will be of interest to women's studies specialists, psychologists, and social workers.
Show description