The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace
I am still angry that Amazon cancelled the screen adaptation The Good Girls Revolt by Lynn Povich. Yes, they gave us The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but the fact that we only got to see up to the day the ladies sued their employer is something I have a hard time forgiving. So, of course I knew I was going to eventually pick up Lynn Polovich's book to fill the empty space Amazon left me with.
The book was... okay. The story is a fascinating one. The women of Newsweek had a kind of courage that is rarely found, especially in that time period. However, I had a hard time with some of the problematic framing of the role the women of color at Newsweek played in the lawsuit. It came across as blaming those women for not wanting to be involved in the suit, not understanding how different the lived experience of a black woman in the corporate/journalism world is from that of a white woman. They didn't seem to take into account that at this time, the women of color likely had to work three times as hard just to get in the door. I think the difference in perspective could've been better addressed in this book. Instead, Povich seemed to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder for the women who chose not to come forward.
This is an interesting read and an important time in history. I HIGHLY recommend the Amazon show, but if you'd like to fill in the gaps, this book is a good way to do that.