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Ladies Laughing: Wit as Control in Contemporary American Women Writers (Studies In Humor And Gender Ser. #Vol. 3)
by Barbara LevyThis engaging and accessible book examines the world of seven contemporary, popular American women writers and their individual use of wit as a subtle and effective strategy to engage, or "control", the reader. A chapter is devoted to each of the seven writers - Lisa Alther, Rita Mae Brown, Nora Ephron, Shirley Jackson, Alison Lurier, Grace Paley, and Anne Tyler - and discusses their writings and their use of wit in the context of their lives. An opening chapter frames wit and control in psychological realities, and a concluding chapter summarizes the power of wit. A bibliography of the writers' works is also included, making this an ideal introduction and companion to these writers and their works.
Ladies in Waiting: a history of court life from the Tudors to the present day
by Anne Somerset'Provides a wealth of juicy anecdotal material about five centuries of court life' New York Times'Naughty Knickers version of our island story' Daily Mail---------------------------------------------Ladies in Waiting chronicles the lives of famous and infamous ladies who served royalty, casting a fresh, intimate angle on four hundred years of monarchy. For centuries, the most beautiful, able and aristocratic women in England competed for positions at court. Some who came to serve were remarkable for their learning and exemplary virtue, but others were notable for promiscuity and lack of scruple, drawn to court by a lust for money and power. Several ladies-in-waiting became royal mistresses, showing few qualms about betraying the queen consorts they ostensibly served. If bedding the King was not an option open to all, many ladies came to court in hope of finding husbands, only to succumb to constant assaults on their virtue or to find themselves denied permission by their sovereign to marry. Drawing on an enormous variety of sources, Anne Somerset provides an illuminating guide to the character, profligate or pious, of each court. Contained within the stories of the individual women is a consistently entertaining commentary on the manners, morals and shifting mentality of the royal, the rich, and the prominent throughout the centuries, resulting in social history at its most enjoyable and vibrant.
Ladies in Waiting: a history of court life from the Tudors to the present day
by Anne Somerset'Provides a wealth of juicy anecdotal material about five centuries of court life'New York Times'Naughty Knickers version of our island story' Daily Mail---------------------------------------------Ladies in Waiting chronicles the lives of famous and infamous ladies who served royalty, casting a fresh, intimate angle on four hundred years of monarchy. For centuries, the most beautiful, able and aristocratic women in England competed for positions at court. Some who came to serve were remarkable for their learning and exemplary virtue, but others were notable for promiscuity and lack of scruple, drawn to court by a lust for money and power. Several ladies-in-waiting became royal mistresses, showing few qualms about betraying the queen consorts they ostensibly served. If bedding the King was not an option open to all, many ladies came to court in hope of finding husbands, only to succumb to constant assaults on their virtue or to find themselves denied permission by their sovereign to marry. Drawing on an enormous variety of sources, Anne Somerset provides an illuminating guide to the character, profligate or pious, of each court. Contained within the stories of the individual women is a consistently entertaining commentary on the manners, morals and shifting mentality of the royal, the rich, and the prominent throughout the centuries, resulting in social history at its most enjoyable and vibrant.
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation
by Cokie RobertsIn Founding Mothers, Cokie Roberts paid homage to the heroic women whose patriotism and sacrifice helped create a new nation. Now the number one New York Times bestselling author and renowned political commentator-praised in USA Today as a "custodian of time-honored values"-continues the story of early America's influential women with Ladies of Liberty. In her "delightfully intimate and confiding" style (Publishers Weekly), Roberts presents a colorful blend of biographical portraits and behind-the-scenes vignettes chronicling women's public roles and private responsibilities. Recounted with the insight and humor of an expert storyteller and drawing on personal correspondence, private journals, and other primary sources-many of them previously unpublished-Roberts brings to life the extraordinary accomplishments of women who laid the groundwork for a better society. Almost every quotation here is written by a woman, to a woman, or about a woman. From first ladies to freethinkers, educators to explorers, this exceptional group includes Abigail Adams, Margaret Bayard Smith, Martha Jefferson, Dolley Madison, Elizabeth Monroe, Louisa Catherine Adams, Eliza Hamilton, Theodosia Burr, Rebecca Gratz, Louisa Livingston, Rosalie Calvert, Sacajawea, and others. In a much-needed addition to the shelves of Founding Father literature, Roberts sheds new light on the generation of heroines, reformers, and visionaries who helped shape our nation, giving these ladies of liberty the recognition they so greatly deserve.
Ladies of Lost Causes
by Judith RumgayIn this highly original study, Judith Rumgay evaluates the development of a residential programme for female offenders run by the Griffins Society. The text is unique in that it documents the radical contribution of women philanthropists and practitioners to offender rehabilitation. Drawing on archival, interview, and observational sources, the author describes, analyses, and evaluates a distinctive model of care provision by volunteer, upper-middle-class women that has since been overtaken by the professionalization of the voluntary sector. Rumgay illuminates the pathways of women into, and out of, serious crime; explores the dynamics of rehabilitative practice in the volatile setting of residential care; and also analyses the qualities of successful rehabilitative practice. Subsequently, the author suggests rehabilitative success is more appropriately understood within a paradigm of natural desistance from crime, instead of the more common appeal to a medical model of treatment. Moreover, this style of rehabilitative practice is inextricable from the broader social outlook of a dedicated group of philanthropic women, whose critics derided them with epithets such as 'Lady Bountiful'.
Ladies of Soul
by David FreelandAmerican soul music of the 1960s is one of the most creative and influential musical forms of the twentieth century. With its merging of gospel, R&B, country, and blues, soul music succeeded in crossing over from African American culture into the general pop culture. Soul became the byword for the styles, attitudes, and dreams of an entire era. Female performers were responsible for some of the most enduring and powerful contributions to the genre. All too frequently overlooked by the star-making critics, seven of these women are profiled in this book -Maxine Brown, Ruby Johnson, Denise LaSalle, Bettye LaVette, Barbara Mason, Carla Thomas, and Timi Yuro. Getting started during the heyday of soul, each of these talented women had recording contracts and gave live performances to appreciative audiences. Their careers can be tracked through the popularity of soul during the 1960s and its decline in the 1970s. With humor, candor, pride, and honest recognition that their careers did not surge into the mainstream and gain superstardom, they recount individual stories of how they struggled for success. Their oral histories as told to David Freeland address compelling issues, including racism and sexism within the music industry. They discuss their grueling hardships on the road, their conflicts with male managers, and the cutthroat competition in the recording business. As each singer examines her career with the author, she reveals the dreams, hopes, and desires on which she has built her professional life. All seven face up to the career swings, from the highs of releasing the first hit to the frustrating lows when the momentum stops. Although the obstacles to stardom are heartbreaking, these singers are committed to their art. With determination and style these seven have pressed onward with club appearances and recordings. They survive through their savvy mix of talent, hubris, and honesty about their lives and their music.
Ladies of the Ticker: Women and Wall Street from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression
by George RobbLong overlooked in histories of finance, women played an essential role in areas such as banking and the stock market during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet their presence sparked ongoing controversy. Hetty Green's golden touch brought her millions, but she outraged critics with her rejection of domesticity. Progressives like Victoria Woodhull, meanwhile, saw financial acumen as more important for women than the vote. George Robb's pioneering study sheds a light on the financial methods, accomplishments, and careers of three generations of women. Plumbing sources from stock brokers' ledgers to media coverage, Robb reveals the many ways women invested their capital while exploring their differing sources of information, approaches to finance, interactions with markets, and levels of expertise. He also rediscovers the forgotten women bankers, brokers, and speculators who blazed new trails--and sparked public outcries over women's unsuitability for the predatory rough-and-tumble of market capitalism. Entertaining and vivid with details, Ladies of the Ticker sheds light on the trailblazers who transformed Wall Street into a place for women's work.
Ladina Social Activism in Guatemala City, 1871-1954
by Patricia HarmsIn this groundbreaking new study on ladinas in Guatemala City, Patricia Harms contests the virtual erasure of women from the country&’s national memory and its historical consciousness. Harms focuses on Spanish-speaking women during the &“revolutionary decade&” and the &“liberalism&” periods, revealing a complex, significant, and palpable feminist movement that emerged in Guatemala during the 1870s and remained until 1954. During this era ladina social activists not only struggled to imagine a place for themselves within the political and social constructs of modern Guatemala, but they also wrestled with ways in which to critique and identify Guatemala&’s gendered structures within the context of repressive dictatorial political regimes and entrenched patriarchy. Harms&’s study of these women and their struggles fills a sizeable gap in the growing body of literature on women&’s suffrage, social movements, and political culture in modern Latin America. It is a valuable addition to students and scholars studying the rich history of the region.
Lads: A Memoir of Manhood
by Dave Itzkoff"What I wanted after college was a job and my own apartment, but what I needed was a good comeuppance, and that's what I got." When Dave Itzkoff graduated from Princeton in 1998--the first member of his family to earn a college degree--he expected to be rewarded with a career, and a life, that mattered. Instead, he ended up convinced that he was selling the entire institution of manhood down the river. After a series of personal and professional experiences stripped him of any lingering sense of entitlement, Itzkoff found himself working as an editor at Maxim, the pugnacious frontrunner in a new breed of men's periodicals dubbed "lad magazines." There, he was initiated into a culture of heavily retouched girlie pictorials, dirty jokes, disingenuous sex advice, and shopping guides for expensive electronic gadgetry. And as Maxim continued its inexorable rise to become the most successful men's magazine in modern publishing history, Itzkoff was left wondering what his work-and his life-really meant. Lads is the hilarious, heartbreaking story of Dave Itzkoff's efforts to define himself as a man while working at a magazine that was purveying a vision of young manhood-a state of perpetual adolescence-that was seductive to all but viable for none. Lads takes us deep inside one young man's struggle with identity, responsibility, and sexuality, in an unsparingly candid account of how men really relate to one another, as fathers and sons, as employers and employees, as colleagues and friends. Lads is trenchant. Lads is perceptive. Lads is alarmingly funny. This is an unforgettable debut from a young writer of astounding talent.
Lady Be Good: Rules for the Reckless 3 (Rules for the Reckless #4)
by Meredith DuranMeredith Duran returns with another witty, humorous and smart romance in the third book of her Rules for the Reckless series. Fans of Julia Quinn, Jane Feather and Eloisa James will delight in Meredith's trademark headstrong heroine, cunning hero and tale of deep emotional intensity!Born to a family of notorious criminals, Lilah Marshall has long abandoned her past. A hostess at Everleigh's, London's premier auction house, she leads a virtuous life of art and culture. Lilah has almost transformed into the perfect lady - until an enigmatic viscount catches her in the act of one last, reluctant theft.Christian 'Kit' Stratton, Viscount Palmer, is society's most dashing war hero. But his charming façade masks a dark secret: he's haunted by a madman's vow to destroy anyone he loves. When Kit catches Lilah red-handed, he strikes a bargain she can't refuse. Their attraction is instant, but as their very lives hang in the balance, one tempting touch could be their undoing... Want more Rules for the Reckless? Don't miss That Scandalous Summer or Fool Me Twice.
Lady Bird: Self-Determination for a New Century (Cinema and Youth Cultures)
by Rob StoneExamining the ideas, philosophies, beliefs and fears that are expressed in Greta Gerwig's film, this is a detailed, insightful study of a much-loved, influential and critically-acclaimed film. Drawing on Transcendentalism, French feminist thought, Californian art and the work of iconic American essayist Joan Didion, Stone approaches Lady Bird as a film about young women’s self-determination in relation to other women and waves of feminist history and praxis. Structured to emulate the evolving conscience and emerging consciousness of the film’s eponymous protagonist, this new volume in the Cinema and Youth Cultures series provides an incisive portrait of a particular American youth subculture struggling to assert its identity between the shock of 9/11 in 2001 and the global financial crisis of 2008. Furthermore, it sensitively examines tensions between Gerwig and Lady Bird, and between Lady Bird being set in 2002 and made in 2017. Written by an expert on American independent cinema and the dynamics of World Cinema, this volume raises questions of self-determination that start with the tensions between mothers and daughters and culminate in considerations of how the film’s form and aesthetics lead to reflections on its philosophy and politics. Situating Lady Bird in the genre of youth movies and feminist film practice and culture, this book is ideal for students and researchers looking at wider dialogues and discourses about feminism, philosophy, gender, genre and independent filmmaking.
Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book: The Life and Times of a Civil War Heroine
by Lucy MooreIn the mid seventeenth century, England was divided by war and bloodshed. Torn apart by rival factions, father opposed son and brother met brother on the battlefield. But while civil war raged on cobbled streets and green fields, inside the home domestic life continued as it always had done. For Ann Fanshawe and her children it meant a life of insecurity and constant jeopardy as she and her husband, a Royalist diplomat, dedicated their lives to the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. In this uncertain world, Ann's 'receipt book' was a treasured and entirely feminine response to the upheavals of war. These books were a feature of women's lives during this period, when there were few doctors to be found, and were full of life-saving medical knowledge that had been gleaned from mothers and friends. Remarkably, Ann's morocco-bound book full of scraps of ink-stained paper has survived to this day.Using Ann's receipt book and the memoirs she wrote for her surviving son, Lucy Moore follows her through this turbulent time as she leaves home, marries, bears - and buries - children and seeks to hold her family together. Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book brilliantly brings to life Ann's struggles and her joys, revealing how ordinary women across the country fought to protect their loved ones in the face of conflict.
Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk
by Amy S. GreenbergThe little-known story of remarkable First Lady Sarah Polk--a brilliant master of the art of high politics and a crucial but unrecognized figure in the history of American feminism.While the Woman's Rights convention was taking place at Seneca Falls in 1848, First Lady Sarah Childress Polk was wielding influence unprecedented for a woman in Washington, D.C. Yet, while history remembers the women of the convention, it has all but forgotten Sarah Polk. Now, in her riveting biography, Amy S. Greenberg brings Sarah's story into vivid focus. We see Sarah as the daughter of a frontiersman who raised her to discuss politics and business with men; we see the savvy and charm she brandished in order to help her brilliant but unlikeable husband, James K. Polk, ascend to the White House. We watch as she exercises truly extraordinary power as First Lady: quietly manipulating elected officials, shaping foreign policy, and directing a campaign in support of America's expansionist war against Mexico. And we meet many of the enslaved men and women whose difficult labor made Sarah's political success possible.Lady First also shines a light on Sarah's many layers and contradictions. While her marriage to James was one of equals, she firmly opposed the feminist movement's demands for what she perceived to be far-reaching equality. She banned dancing and hard liquor from the White House, but did more entertaining than any of her predecessors. During the Civil War, she operated on behalf of the Confederacy even though she claimed to be neutral. And in the late nineteenth-century, she became a celebrity among female Christian temperance reformers, while she struggled to redeem her husband's tarnished political legacy.Sarah Polk's life spanned nearly the entirety of the 19th-century. But her own legacy, which profoundly transformed the South, continues to endure. Comprehensive, nuanced, and brimming with invaluable insight, Lady First is a revelation of our eleventh First Lady's complex but essential part in American feminism.
Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame
by Mathieu DeflemThis book investigates the stardom of Lady Gaga within a cultural-sociological framework. Resisting a reductionist perspective of fame as a commodity, Mathieu Deflem offers an empirical examination of the social conditions that informed Lady Gaga's rise to fame. The book delves into topics such as the marketing of Lady Gaga; the legal issues that have dogged her career; the media; her audience; her activism; issues of sex, gender, and sexuality; and Lady Gaga's unique artistry. By training a spotlight on this singular pop icon, Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame invites readers to consider the nature of stardom in an age of celebrity.
Lady In Red: Mad Passions Book 2 (Mad Passions)
by Maire ClaremontA richly romantic and enthralling novel of beauty, passion and scandalous secrets from the acclaimed author of The Dark Lady. Perfect for fans of Grace Burrowes, Tessa Dare, Elizabeth Hoyt and Sarah MacLean.Lady Mary Darrel should be the envy of London. Instead, all society believes her dead. For Mary holds a secret so dangerous, her father chose to keep her locked away...and have a grave made for her near her mother's. Driven to the edge of desperation, Mary manages to escape the asylum, only to find that her fate yet again rests in the hands of a man...Edward Barrons, Duke of Fairleigh, longs for some way to escape the torment of his father's crimes. In Mary's warrior spirit and haunted gaze - which so mirrors his own - he finally sees his path to redemption. He will stop at nothing to keep her safe, even as she seeks revenge. But will the passion they discover in each other be enough to save them from their demons?For more deliciously dark Victorian romance, try all the titles in the Mad Passions series: The Dark Lady, Lady In Red, A Lady Undone and The Dark Affair, and check out Maire's alter-ego Eva Devon for sexy and laugh-out-loud funny Regencies.
Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen
by Alison PlowdenFor most, the name of Lady Jane Grey means the 'nine days queen', the child who was used as a pawn in the power politics of the Tudor realm by both her parents, the Suffolks, and Northumberlands. Alison Plowden's new book tells the tragic story of Jane's life, and death, but also reveals her to be a woman of unusual strength of conviction, with an intelligence and steady faith beyond her years. Told with Alison's usual skill and adeptness, this is a story which will stir compassion in the hearts of the hardiest readers. It also gives us insight into the least known of Henry VIII's wives, Katherine Parr.
Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America
by Dahlia LithwickDahlia Lithwick, one of the nation&’s foremost legal commentators, tells the gripping and heroic story of the women lawyers who fought the racism, sexism, and xenophobia of Donald Trump&’s presidency—and wonAfter the sudden shock of Donald Trump&’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, many Americans felt lost and uncertain. It was clear he and his administration were going to pursue a series of retrograde, devastating policies. What could be done? Immediately, women lawyers all around the country, independently of each other, sprang into action, and they had a common goal: they weren&’t going to stand by in the face of injustice, while Trump, Mitch McConnell, and the Republican party did everything in their power to remake the judiciary in their own conservative image. Over the next four years, the women worked tirelessly to hold the line against the most chaotic and malign presidency in living memory. There was Sally Yates, the acting attorney general of the United States, who refused to sign off on the Muslim travel ban. And Becca Heller, the founder of a refugee assistance program who brought the fight over the travel ban to the airports. And Roberta Kaplan, the famed commercial litigator, who sued the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. And, of course, Stacey Abrams, whose efforts to protect the voting rights of millions of Georgians may well have been what won the Senate for the Democrats in 2020. These are just a handful of the stories Lithwick dramatizes in thrilling detail to tell a brand-new and deeply inspiring account of the Trump years. With unparalleled access to her subjects, she has written a luminous book, not about the villains of the Trump years, but about the heroes. And as the country confronts the news that the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-appointed justices, will soon overturn Roe v. Wade, Lithwick shines a light on not only the major consequences of such a decision, but issues a clarion call to all who might, like the women in this book, feel the urgency to join the fight. A celebration of the tireless efforts, legal ingenuity, and indefatigable spirit of the women whose work all too often went unrecognized at the time, Lady Justice is destined to be treasured and passed from hand to hand for generations to come, not just among lawyers and law students, but among all optimistic and hopeful Americans.
Lady Killers: Shocking True Stories of the World's Most Barbaric Female Murderers
by Jamie KingWhatever their motive - be it a crime of passion or an act of vengeance - this true crime compendium covers the heinous acts of the most monstrous women in the world. Whether you're a true crime follower or simply curious, let the stories of these lady killers satiate your appetite for the macabre.
Lady Lushes: Gender, Alcoholism, and Medicine in Modern America
by Michelle L. McClellanAccording to the popular press in the mid twentieth century, American women, in a misguided attempt to act like men in work and leisure, were drinking more. “Lady Lushes” were becoming a widespread social phenomenon. From the glamorous hard-drinking flapper of the 1920s to the disgraced and alcoholic wife and mother played by Lee Remick in the 1962 film “Days of Wine and Roses,” alcohol consumption by American women has been seen as both a prerogative and as a threat to health, happiness, and the social order. In Lady Lushes, medical historian Michelle L. McClellan traces the story of the female alcoholic from the late-nineteenth through the twentieth century. She draws on a range of sources to demonstrate the persistence of the belief that alcohol use is antithetical to an idealized feminine role, particularly one that glorifies motherhood. Lady Lushes offers a fresh perspective on the importance of gender role ideology in the formation of medical knowledge and authority.
Lady Of The Hare: A Study In The Healing Power Of Dreams
by LayardFirst published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen
by Reymundo Sanchez Sonia RodriguezThis is a raw and powerful memoir not only of one woman's struggle to survive the streets but also of her ascent to the top ranks of the new mafia, where the only people more dangerous than rival gangs were members of her own. At age five Sonia Rodriguez's stepfather began to abuse her; at 10 she was molested by her uncle and beaten by her mother when she told on him; and by 13 her home had become a hangout for the Latin Kings and Queens who were friends with her older sister. Threatened by rival gang members at school, Sonia turned away from her education and extracurricular activities in favor of a world of drugs and violence. The Latin Kings, one of the largest and most notorious street gangs in America, became her refuge, but its violence cost her friends, freedom, self-respect, and nearly her life. As a Latin Queen, she experienced the exhilarating highs and unbelievable lows of gang life. From being shot at by her own gang and kicked out at age 18 with an infant daughter to rejoining the gang and distinguishing herself as a leader, her legacy as Lady Q was cemented both for her willingness to commit violence and for her role as a drug mule. For the first time, a woman's perspective on gang life is presented.
Lady Ranelagh: The Incomparable Life of Robert Boyle's Sister (Synthesis)
by Michelle DiMeoFor centuries, historians have speculated about the life of Katherine Jones, Lady Ranelagh. Dominant depictions show her either as a maternal figure to her younger brother Robert Boyle, one of the most significant scientists of his day, or as a patroness of the European correspondence network now known as the Hartlib circle—but neither portrait captures the depth of her intellect or the range of her knowledge and influence. Philosophers, mathematicians, politicians, and religious authorities sought her opinion on everything from decimalizing the currency to producing Hebrew grammars. She practiced medicine alongside distinguished male physicians, treating some of the most elite patients in London. Her medical recipes, political commentaries, and testimony concerning the philosophers’ stone gained international circulation. She was an important influence on Boyle and a formidable thinker in her own right. Drawing from a wealth of new archival sources, Michelle DiMeo fills out Lady Ranelagh’s legacy in the context of a historically sensitive and nuanced interpretation of gender, science, and religion. The book re-creates the intellectual life of one of the most respected and influential women in seventeenth-century Europe, revealing how she managed to gain the admiration of diverse contemporaries, effect social change, and shape contemporary science.
Lady Sidekick: 50 Tired Tropes for Women
by Laura Dockrill Anneka HarryLady Sidekick has gathered up all the tired tropes for women so you don't have to! From the Femme Fatale to the Crazy Cat Lady, the Bridezilla to the Girl Next Door, it calls them out and, most importantly, RECLAIMS them. For too long women have been pigeonholed into a handful of tired and basic characters, their personality and behaviour criticised if they don’t fit the role society thinks they should be playing. Lady Sidekick analyses fifty of the most moth-eaten, antiquated, cookie-cutter females clichés, archetypes and tokens that twenty-first-century women are SO over. Through hilarious breakdowns, comic illustrations and tongue-firmly-in-cheek-fuelled study, it slow-roasts each trope, sprinkling them with sarcasm, seasoning them with feminism, infusing them with activism, before serving them up ready for the modern masses to enjoy. It’s time to shove a stick of dynamite up the arse of the out-of-date – and Lady Sidekick is ready to light the wick. Happy trope-spotting!
Lady Susan The Watsons Sanditon
by Jane AustenThese three short works show Austen experimenting with a variety of different literary styles, from melodrama to satire, and exploring a range of social classes and settings. The early epistolary novel LADY SUSAN depicts an unscrupulous coquette, toying with the affections of several men. In contrast, THE WATSONS is a delightful fragment, whose spirited heroine - Emma - finds her marriage opportunities limited by poverty and pride. Meanwhile SANDITON, set in a seaside resort, offers a glorious cast of hypochondriacs and spectators, treated by Austen with both amusement and scepticism.
Lady Undertakers of Old Texas (The History Press)
by Kathy BenjaminAuthor Kathy Benjamin accompanies the pioneering women of the Lone Star State's funeral business.The intimate task of caring for the dead had long fallen under women's sphere of responsibilities. But after the Civil War, the sudden popularity of embalming offered new financial opportunities to men who set up as undertakers, pushing women out of their traditional role. In Texas, from the 1880s to the 1930s, women slowly regained their place by the bier. Many worked while pregnant or raising children. Most shouldered the additional weight of personal tragedies and persistent sexism. All brought comfort to the bereaved in the isolation of the Texas frontier, kept its cities free of deadly disease and revolutionized an industry that was just coming into its own.