When I worked at the Brevard College Library 20 years ago I often had first chance to see which newly withdrawn books were free for the taking. This cart was a treat for any book lover passing by, and may have been a destination for some.
One book I found there had been re-covered with library binding, so its age wasn’t obvious. It was nonfiction and the title was The Potential of Woman: A Symposium, from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. I thought it might contain essays by well-known feminists, so I took it home.
The Library of Congress classification label was loose, so I took it off. A Dewey Decimal number, 396, was stamped on the spine. The Dewey 390’s refer to “Social Sciences: Customs, Etiquette and Folklore”. I put the book on my shelf and forgot about it.
Recently when I was packing up things to move, I looked more closely at this book.
Page 1, “Part One: The Experimental Study of the Female”, says,
The first session of the Symposium was devoted to objective studies of what is known about the basic nature of woman.
In the first paper, the physical anthropologist presented the studies of the more primitive primate, the langur monkey. …”
When I first read this I thought, “Surely this book is an artifact from the Darwinian 1800’s.” Then I found the publication date. It was 1963. I was in college then.
Seeking a more reasonable voice, I flipped through the pages and found Marya Mannes, a familiar name. I could sort of understand her statement,
There is a great difference between isolation and independence …, but such a thing as being totally free … is not possible.
But it seemed completely unrelated to the rest of this book, almost written in code. What in the world was she talking about?
Stick with me. I’m looking at this book now.
The chapter titled, “What Is a Woman”, is a “spontaneous panel discussion” by four professional men. They seem to be searching for words, a way into the subject. One of them offers a metaphor for the difference between male and female.
…[T]his complexity is … like that of a general-purpose computer, as opposed to a special-purpose computer. Special-purpose computers can do only a certain specific job, but the general-purpose computer can be programmed to do any of these, or perhaps even something quite separate.
It’s not clear to me which is the female, probably the special-purpose computer.
Moving on, they wonder why women aren’t very creative. One of the men gives it a try.
Does the feminine lack of aggression … explain the lack of major creativity [in women]?
I’m not saying you should go out and find this book, or even that I will read another word of it. But a cultural historian might value it as a primary source, so I’ll donate it to the book sale where one might find it.
One final note. Think about this. I now find that the whole Dewey Decimal Classification for this 1963 library book has been … withdrawn!
396 No longer used — formerly "Women's position and treatment"
I heartily recommend, "When Everything Changed, The Amazing Journey of American Women from the 60s to the Present," by Gail Collins, published in 2010. This covers much of the lifetime of those reading this column and it is hard to believe what we lived through! I wish I could breathe a sigh of relief, but it's not over is it? The book also details the work of minority women in the Civil Rights Movement--they were absolutely crucial but acknowledgement of that was sadly lacking.
Page 78: " Edith Green, a ten-term representative from Oregon, focused on women's issues, education, and social reform. In 1955 Green proposed the Equal Pay Act, to ensure that men and women were paid equally for equal work. A male colleague filed it under “B” for “Broads.” The effort to pass the Civil Rights Act ran into the cross currents of discrimination against blacks and against women. Some supported one but not the other, and few were willing to support an Act that included both. Eventually (8 years later) it passed the House, but Sen. Everett Dirksen (IL) removed equal rights for women from the Senate version. The history is amazing...
https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal70-1294725
Oh how we have changed! It’s an interesting time we live in…and yet, some of our male vocal contemporaries are fighting it all. And others are embracing this new world. Interesting reflections. Thank you.