I'm not sure from which chromosome our interest in women and work originated, but I'm convinced that the passion is genetic--only expressed in different ways. My twin sister Julie is a gender historian and has always focused on women's role in society. Her last book, Women and the Historical Enterprise in America, explored how early American women memoirists captured a version of history so little known because men's accounts were taken as the public record. Her new book, The Madame Curie Complex, explores women's often uncredited contributions to science.
One of the most moving parts of this book is my sister's foreword. She draws a comparison to her subjects with her own struggle to write a book while teaching college courses in a town three hours away and caring for an infant (and later another infant). My sister struggled to fit it all in, but she had resources--domestic help, work policy, and a spousal support. The women she writes about didn't. They worked despite societal expectations and fulfilled all of their domestic duties with little, if any, support.
For me, this book is a reminder that work-life issues did not exist as a result of more women entering the workplace. They existed long before; they just weren't recognized.
