Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is the woman behind the phrase, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” This short sentence, which was the opening paragraph of a paper she wrote about sermons given at Puritan women’s funerals, is now the title of a book by Ulrich (WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY, Vintage Books, 2008). In the book, Ulrich examines women in history and throughout history who have contributed to women’s inclusion in historical accounts, even when they had to write them themselves.
When we think about researchers today looking back on history, finding archeological evidence of societies that seemed to revere women, at some point we have to realize that we’re injecting our own belief systems and knowledge upon a society we cannot ever really come to know. Ulrich examines the actual contributions of women from Christine de Pizan in the fourteen hundreds to modern historians in our own time. Just as her GOOD WIVES (Knopf, 1992) debunks myths about power balances in families in early U.S. history, WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY proves that women do, indeed, make history, and, as Ulrich emphasizes, sometimes they make history even when that is not their intention.
Ulrich ends her book focusing on where we go from here. This may sound somewhat formulaic: another feminist book with a “think about this, ladies” at the end. What she offers is not as trite as that. She discusses the events that led to what is known as “second-wave” feminism in the 1970s, especially in the United States. The groups that were interested in civil rights were often divided when it came to rights, regardless of their sex. Women’s groups were still divided between those who were heterosexual, homosexual and those who stemmed from different ethnic, racial and/or economic backgrounds. Even as some coherence came to portions of the women’s movement or strides were made by groups divided into factions, Ulrich reminds us to be cognizant of the nature of “waves.”
She says, “WAVES ARE INHERENTLY CYCLICAL. THEY MOVE IN. THEY MOVE OUT. THEY POUND THE SHORE THEN DISAPPEAR, OFTEN LEAVING CHANGES TOO SUBTLE TO BE OBSERVED. IF EARLIER WAVES OF FEMALE CONSCIOUSNESS DISAPPEARED, SURELY THE SAME THING CAN HAPPEN AGAIN. A NEW GENERATION MIGHT FORGET WHERE THEIR FREEDOMS CAME FROM, DRIFTING BACK ONCE AGAIN INTO THE SANDBAR OF SILENCE.”
Exploring the concept of the subtle changes rendered by waves, we see that where small gains are made so that over time the landscape changes, we also see that we should be aware of even small changes that might significantly reduce the landscape given enough time. While Ulrich may end on a familiar note, she asks us to be more aware of tides and times on a macro- versus micro-scale. Her tone is not merely “what you can do today” but rather more along the lines of asking us all to think before (and as) we act, to truly know history so that we know what we’re applying when we bring up the past or use a quote from a woman in antiquity.
For example, Ulrich shows that historical figures and quotes may be used for out-of-context purposes. Her own “well-behaved women” comment has been used to sell t-shirts for a non-profit that promotes a pro-woman agenda. It has also been featured on magnets featuring high heel shoes and cigarettes. Ulrich herself, in this text, reflects upon the ambiguous nature of the quote itself. It can be interpreted in many ways, thus its appeal and her warning about the use of such things with multiple meanings.
As we look to the history of women, Ulrich reminds us not to bury that which does not fit into the box we’ve created, but rather to embrace the richness of varied viewpoints. She reminds us that women were both accused and accuser in witch-hunts and supported both North and South in the Civil War in the United States. She says, “If history is to enlarge our understanding of human experience, it must include stories that must dismay as well as inspire.” In fact, those stories that dismay us may just be what we need to come to understand most if we’re going to be able to navigate a landscape being changed by the current waves of competing political agendas and a global economy.
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