BOOK NOTES by Joan Ruddiman: Kathleen Krull’s new book makes the point that history has not been kind to women and does so in a witty way.
March is Women’s History Month for good reason. History has not been kind to women. Kathleen Krull’s new book makes this point in a witty way. "Lives of Extraordinary Women" looks at "Rulers, Rebels and," in the first of many clever asides, "What the Neighbors Thought."
What most historians have thought about women is not much and mostly negative. The inequity in how men’s peccadilloes are noted for the record whereas women’s are reviled is but one glaring example.
But Krull’s intent is more fun than moral outrage. If a message is inferred, all the better, but those nods to history literally are presented as asides after the short, anecdotal-styled essays.
Citing historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Krull begins with the quote, "Well behaved women rarely make history." In one way or another, her 20 chronologically presented rulers and rebels are history makers in their departure from decorum or expected protocol.
All the heavy hitters are here, including Cleopatra, the Eleanors (of Aquitaine and of the White House), Isabella, Catherine the Great, England’s grand Elizabeth and Victoria (who may be the finest examples of British monarchy), Golda Meir and Indira Ghandi. Among her spectacular rebels she includes Joan of Arc and Harriet Tubman.
What is most valuable is the inclusion of lesser-known but very significant rulers and rebels from a diverse perspective. Nzingha was the self-proclaimed "king" of Angola, who spent her vigorous long life holding off the Portuguese from colonizing her land while she battled their slave traders. Tzu His was the power, literally, behind the Chinese throne. She, of all the wives and concubines, was fortunate enough to bear the only male heir who by age 5 takes over for the dead emperor with lots of help from his mom the empress. She was the respected power in China until her death at age 73. With her died the Manchu dynasty the last before the rise of communism.
Wilma Mankiller was the elected chief of the Cherokee Nation for a decade. Her irrepressible spirit her advice to the young is "dance along the edge of the world" and successful guidance of a tribe of over 140,000 were some of the reasons Ms. Magazine named her Woman of the Year in 1987. Also from current day, Nobel Peace Prize winners (1991 and 1992) Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala are presented. As activists whose struggles continue, their stories are far from being over.
What is remarkable in each story, whether from ancient times or our own headlines, is how all of these women, or their memory, suffer society’s misperceptions and history’s misconceptions. Note some examples:
Cleopatra’s power, and feminine wiles, so terrified the Romans that it was a 1,000 years before another woman came to power.
Shakespeare, whether as a man or as an Englishman, vilifies Eleanor of Aquitaine in "King John" as a horribly scary character, and Joan of Arc as a witch in "Henry VI." Perhaps his vitriol can be explained by the fact that both women were French, but perhaps more significantly, that both were commanding women.
Gertrude Bell, another little-known personality, was the "uncrowned queen of Iraq." She was the kingmaker of Faisal but is little remembered in history and is pushed off stage completely by her protégé, T.E. Lawrence of Arabia.
Harriet Tubman made many trips back into slave territory to bring out an estimated 300 people. Rarely do history books record that during the Civil War, her intimate knowledge of the area called her to serve as a valued spy, guide and to lead Union troops in battle the only woman to do so. Yet, when Congress finally granted her a much-needed pension, it was not for her service, but as the widow of a veteran. Tubman’s last cause before she died at age 93 was women’s rights: "Tell the women to stand together."
Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to Congress from Montana, where women in 1916 won the right to vote. When the vote came to enter World War I at that time still an un-numbered war Rankin found her pacifist voice. "I felt," she wrote, "that the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war, she should say it."
She was defeated in the next election. But years later, now near 60, Rankin ran and regained her seat in Congress, and was called upon to vote for the country’s entrance into World War II. Pearl Harbor was in ruins from a surprise attack. Hitler was overrunning Europe. Yet Rankin remained true to her values. "As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send someone else." The vote was 388 to 1. Rankin is remembered as the only person to vote against entry into both World Wars. She also needs to be remembered for introducing the Nineteenth Amendment in Congress and seeing it ratified in 1920. "If I am to be remembered for no other act, I want to be remembered a the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote."
Krull, with delightful caricature illustrations by Kathryn Hewitt who makes them look a whole lot better than many of them actually did is to be commended for providing an upbeat view of 20 unforgettable women. Whether history remembers them kindly, or remembers them at all, Krull does a fine job sharing the amazing lives of these extraordinary women.
Joan Ruddiman is a teacher and member of the Allentown Library Board.