I graduated high school in 1968. It was pivotal for me as it awakened me to the feminist movement, from which I've never left. Didn't change my name; worked through the births of all three of my children, rare at the time, active with women's groups. But while our ambition seemed so monumental and achievable, we failed in so many ways. Reading this book reminded me of our hopes and efforts in the civil rights movement. I insisted on my children going to public school, schools in which they were the white minority. I thought we would change the world. Friendships and success would not be defined by skin color. It didn't happen. And even after what we thought was the seminal change point with the election of Obama, we've regressed. What in the world happened? It was hard working full time, raising three children, insisting on being perfect at work and in volunteering at school -- so the nonworking mothers wouldn't grouse about our involvement -- we tired of the revolution and settled in.
But other change points? 9/11 of course, but even more destructive was the Bush decision to start a war in Iraq from which we are just now leaving. But not without blowing up the middle east, transforming the US culture through endless enlistments, veterans needing help. It has had a profound and damaging influence on our culture and drove us back into a more conservative, isolationist society.