Paula J. Kotowski

50/50: a Generation of Women Reflects Paula J. Kotowski

When the girl babies of the '50s boom went home to their two-parent suburban houses, no one knew they would become the women's liberation generation. They are the women who PBS producer Rachel Dretzin said, "made a journey unlike any other generation, through a time of profound change and upheaval." This book invites 10 women to share their stories of that journey. Beginning with childhoods that often fell short of the "Ozzie and Harriet" image of the 1950s, they recall when growing up female meant growing up second-class. By the '70s, their paths diverged to colleges, careers, marriages. Around them swirled the turbulence of civil rights, Vietnam, a growing drug culture and the emergence of the women's movement. Today, they describe themselves as independent, aware and empowered. Reading this book is like sitting down to enjoy coffee and conversation with 10 extraordinary women.