- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Library Journal
This wonderfully intriguing book examines the relationship between women and cars from the late 1880s through the years following World War I. Clarsen (history & politics, Univ. of Wollongong, Australia) uses what she calls a "transnational" approach, bringing the stories of women from the United States, Britain, Australia, and colonial Africa to bear as she talks about the often ironic fact that, despite their embrace of cars in everyday life (and, notably, the important role women and cars played in times of extremis like war) and their skills as knowledgeable mechanics able to repair their own vehicles, the "very term woman motorist indicated that they were supplementary to the main game." The history of feminism, technology, class, and consumerism all figure in this nicely illustrated book, which includes a fine "Essay on Sources" that reflects Clarsen's scholarship. Some readers may find her language slightly old-fashioned, but most will probably find her discussions of misperceptions about "wealthy motor girls," "social frippery," and "female automobility" colorful and descriptive. Highly recommended for academic and special libraries.
—Ellen Gilbert
Overview
The history of the automobile would be incomplete without considering the influence of the car on the lives and careers of women in the earliest decades of the twentieth century. Illuminating the relationship between women and cars with case studies from across the globe, Eat My Dust challenges the received wisdom that men embraced automobile technology more naturally than did women.
Georgine Clarsen highlights the personal stories of women from the United States, Britain, ...