The Bluestockings: A History of the First Women’s Movement

Historian Gibson (The Spirit of Inquiry) presents the fascinating history of the Bluestockings, a group of 18th-century English women who championed women’s rights. Her book fully demonstrates how women were permitted few liberties. For example, they couldn’t own land and had little to no choice in marriage or childbearing. Even their hobbies—reading, for example, which was thought to damage their wombs and brains—were controlled by the men in their lives. The Bluestockings dared to create a space for women to use their intellect and share their views freely. Despite their collective cause and gatherings, the women themselves were often at odds with one another, thwarting their individual and group success. Gibson’s book sets itself apart in how it opens up these complicated relationships to readers by highlighting the times when the women supported and admired one another while also describing some of the moments when they took advantage of and judged each other’s decisions.