Your "historical context" misses the most visible woman of 1963--Jacqueline Kennedy. With a limited number of national media outlets that all whitewashed the Kennedy story, she was presented as the ideal woman. Soft spoken (she sounded like Marilyn Monroe), thin, young and 2 cute kids. Never spoke out of turn. Years later we found out that she knew before she got married that the Kennedy men all had extramarital affairs and had accepted that her husband would do the same. Her father-in-law gave her big bucks to stay married and to buy the fashionable clothes for which she was admired. Her life was a PR lie. I was a preteen living in Canton, Ohio, when the book was published in 1963, and yes, at the time it was revolutionary to me.
Your "historical context" misses the most visible woman of 1963--Jacqueline Kennedy. With a limited number of national media outlets that all whitewashed the Kennedy story, she was presented as the ideal woman. Soft spoken (she sounded like Marilyn Monroe), thin, young and 2 cute kids. Never spoke out of turn. Years later we found out that she knew before she got married that the Kennedy men all had extramarital affairs and had accepted that her husband would do the same. Her father-in-law gave her big bucks to stay married and to buy the fashionable clothes for which she was admired. Her life was a PR lie. I was a preteen living in Canton, Ohio, when the book was published in 1963, and yes, at the time it was revolutionary to me.