College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now

In this interesting read, author Lynn Peril chronicles the birth and development of the college girl. Ever since she appeared on the scene in the 19th century, the college girl has been the hot topic of conversation, incurring the curiosity--and wrath--of everyone from writers and philosophers to doctors and parents to social commentators. Whether it was doctors wondering whether "too much" education "endangered" her reproductive organs (Dr. Edward Clarke, who considered himself an expert in this area, claimed that too much education would leave a female college graduate with "undeveloped" ovaries) or books and magazines ("Seventeen" and "Better Homes and Gardens", just to mention a few) advising college-educated girls and women not to be "too smart" to avoid scaring away potential suitors or schools wondering whether women should learn "male" subjects such as math, history, ancient languages, and philosophy or "female" subjects such as learning how to fix and operate an iron, the college girl has been constantly scutinized, ridiculed, and regulated over the years (and unfortunately, even today), all just for wanting to get an education. Not only does this book contain a history of the college girl, it also contains some interesting info on the history of the women's colleges, such as Vassar, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, and Bryn Mawr, among many others. But most importantly, I came away with an important message that's not in the book, but that I will pass on to you and that is: Never be sorry for wanting to get an education. No piece of advice, no warning, no admonishment, no outrageous medical or scientific claim should ever stop you or me.

I always wondered what they were doing over there in the Girls Dorms. Now Lynn Peril has written a work which traces the development of women in the college world. While she starts with a first graduate in 1631 her focus is on developments from mid-nineteenth century to the nineteen - seventies. In this the theme of women's achieving equality in freedom over their own private lives is central. The world of over- supervision, and restriction yielded in time to the not necessarily happy one of women 'hooked up' in relationships in which sexual pleasure became 'ego trip' and intimacy and love, left on the sidelines. In between however there is the realm where greater woman's freedom and autonomy were at the heart of a general liberalization of campus life. Peril uses a wide variety of sources to trace the developments in fashion, in style, in sleeping arrangements, in attitudes towards the marital and career prospects of college women. She makes use of students handbooks and yearbooks, advice manuals, popular novels. She provides a full picture of what their lives were like, and how they were transformed through the decades. One central question again relates to intimacy and the dignity of women, with a strong suggestion that rampant promiscuity is not a sign of liberation but rather of a new kind of enslavement. Apparently the fuddy- duddies had it a bit right when they suggest that for most women sexual pleasure must come in the context of loving and committed relationships if they are to satisfy their deepest human needs.

Funny! All the girls on my Christmas list will be getting this book. There are a ton of important, mind-boggling, and otherwise forgotten women's history stories in it, but without the grim voice we're all so used to in feminist writing.

Lynn Peril has done it again! Just as she did with her first book, PINK THINK, she's wrangled tons of research, thousands of facts, and hundreds of personal anecdotes into a concise and well-written whole. Tackling this immense topic- the history of women in college and popular culture's reaction to it -Peril makes the varsity team and wins the pennant for a facinating and funny read!