History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism »

Judith M. Bennett is Professor of History at the University of Southern California. She is the author of numerous books, including Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 and Women in the Medieval English Countryside: Gender and Household in Brigstock Before the Plague. She is coeditor, with Amy M. Froide, of Singlewomen in the European Past, 1250-1800, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Written for everyone interested in women's and gender history, History Matters reaffirms the importance of viewing history from a distance and with feminist intent. Bennett argues that the achievement of a more feminist future relies on rich, plausible, and well-informed history that is alert to the workings of patriarchal power.

Introduction: Feminism and History     1
Feminist History and Women's History     6
Who's Afraid of the Distant Past?     30
Patriarchal Equilibrium     54
Less Money Than a Man Would Take     82
The L-Word in Women's History     108
The Master and the Mistress     128
Conclusion: For Whom Are We Doing Feminist History?     153
Notes     157
Index     207