WOMEN IN THE MATERIAL WORLD

by Faith D'Aluisio, Peter Menzel, Naomi Wolf (Foreword)

A companion to the groundbreaking bestseller Material A Global Family Portrait , this remarkable volume portrays the striking similarities and profound differences in the lives of women around the world at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Under the direction of Faith D’Aluisio and Peter Menzel, a team of renowned women journalists traveled the world to take a close look at the lives of women in twenty disparate lands. In first-person interviews of startling candor, the women share their feelings about family, children, money, love, sex, and marriage. These interviews, together with 375 stunning full-color photographs, create a powerful multicultural portrait of the half of humanity that all too often remains invisible.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Womens Studies, Womens, Photography, Feminism, Art

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Faith D’Aluisio is the editor and lead writer for the Material World book series. She received the James Beard Foundation Award in 1999 for Best Book, Reference and Writing on Food for Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects. She is a former television news producer whose work received awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association and the Headliners Foundation of Texas.

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is why the printed hard copy book will never disappear. Great photographs and reporting of the different countries and lives of women working, mothering, and home keeping in an ever-changing world.

I really admired the matter-of-factness of the women whose lives I thought would be the hardest. Very practical women even though they may not be educated or have easy sources of clean water. Also, the women who had knowledge and skills such as animal husbandry, gardening, and sewing were really impressive.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about the lives and thoughts of a sampling of women around the world. I wish there could be a follow-up book to describe what has happened to these women and their families since it was published in 1996.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was in college, one of the exhibits in the on-campus museum was called Global Feminisms: the exhibit curators had gone to various countries around the world and chosen pieces that they believed represented feminism.

Mull on that for a moment: pieces that they believed represented feminism.

There were some truly cool pieces -- Tracey Moffatt's Love comes to mind, or Ingrid Mwangi's Static Drift -- but I couldn't shake the suspicion that not all of the artists would have considered their work feminist, that the exhibit had been constructed (and was being viewed) through a distinctly North American lens.

And that's where this book loses me a little. On the one hand, it's great to see the women in Material World: A Global Family Portrait given more of a voice. On the other hand, the questions are so leading in places, and some of the women seem so uncomfortable, that it's hard to tell how accurate a picture we're getting. Only one woman, I think, openly expresses dissatisfaction with her life. Maybe all of the other women are truly happy (how would I know otherwise?), but I wonder whether it would have been a more varied collection -- or whether particular themes would have arisen -- if the questions had been less pointed.

I actually wish they'd selected different women for this book, using the same criteria as for Material World: statistical averages. Is a statistically average woman in the same position as a woman in a statistically average family? I suspect that they returned to these families for the sake of ease -- because, in many cases, it was easier to get the okay from husbands or boyfriends who were familiar with Material World -- but in places it felt like a retread of what was covered in the previous book.

Still an interesting read, though, and another one of those books where it would be particularly interesting to see how things have changed between the book's publication and now.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The photo-journalistic team, Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel, created a beautiful book photographing and interviewing women from 20 different countries. The first person interviews asked the women to share their feelings about family, children, money, love, sex, and marriage. I felt like I was there and met each women as they shared their hopes, joys and sorrows.
I really enjoyed the sections that compared and contrasted how women of the world experience marriage, laundry, work, education, childcare, hair, food, water and friends. I can't help but look with nothing but gratitude at my laundry machine again!
I was deeply touched by the photo and summary about friends in Ethiopia. A 90 something great grandmother claims her 8 year old great grandson as her best friend. He is somewhat neglected by the other members of his family because of undiagnosed disabilities (form of autism?). He often seeks out his great grandmother for reassurance and friendship!
This book was a wow!
Pictures beautiful!
Interviews stunning!
Message insightful and full of hope (even though also full of real struggle)

[Jayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very eye-opening, and makes me feel incredibly lucky with all I have!

[Allegra Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a few years old, but it's still a wonderful glimpse into the lives of women around the world. As you read and study these pictures you can't help but put your own life in context. Nomadic women, farming women, city women, traditional women, mothers, girls, wives. Women who have to haul water every day. Women who spend their time washing clothes. Women who live in ice, in desert, in forests. Women who care for disabled and elderly family members. They are all here. This book is like its own university. It's an occasion to reflect on gender roles, on material possessions, on the nature of work, on the texture of life.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from a friend. I started reading it but had a few others I wanted to finish. The length of time from start to finish is not a reflection of my interest.

Every woman in America should read this. I was blessed by the blessings these woman were thankful for. I was saddened by my ignorance on how our sisters are treated in other countries. (I’m sure some in the USA are treated the same…. horrifying.)

I wanted …. to cook beside these ladies… to walk beside them to bring water from the community well…. to learn their weaving skills and listen to the music in the words I wouldn’t understand.

[Janie Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful book! The pictures had so much life- women are so resilient and this book did a wonderful job of letting the readers immerse themselves in each womans life through very reflective questions and observations. Loved it!

[Anita Nother Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good coffee table book featuring photos and interviews with women all over the world. It's rather sad and depressing in parts. I haven't read all of it but keep it as a novelty item to read when I think to pick it up. I'd recommend it.

[Viktoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was quite unexpected when I read it years ago ...

[Sissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have Material World it is not to be missed.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great! It takes an in-depth look at the women from 'The Material World' and looks at their lives in the context of their family, culture and society. It was incredibly interesting to see how each of these statistically 'average' women live - it was very clear there isn't any 'average' in any of them!

This is the earliest collaboration I've found between Menzel and D'Aluisio where you really feel her influence - the book is a lot less choppy than 'The Material World' and I feel that's because she edited more cohesively. There are some beautiful pictures, and it was also interesting to see how the women's lives had progressed since 'The Material World' - there were two years between the books. The only downside of this book is its age - it was published in 1996, so again - the political climate in many of these countries would have changed significantly. I'd love a follow-up, to see where these women are now.

[RachelvlehcaR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series of books. It's artwork (photography) in an social anthropology style. I first learned about these books in 1999 and have meant to look at this one. I love how it shows a glimps of what is going on with women across the world, like a snapshot in 1996. It is dated now but it's still a good book to see how far we have come and how far we haven't. Since the focus is just one "average" woman in that country it does makes it limit the process but at the same time it has some amazing stats for the country and what are the hot topics of the women at that time and place in their lives. My favorite parts is when the photographers collect photos of the women all doing something the same to show the different methods. An example would be the task of washing clothes. There are a great deal of women around the world in 1996 washing their clothes in tubs, buckets, or open water. I enjoyed this and would love to see an updated version of this style of books.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I did. It was about the lives of women in 20 diverse countries. I found it fascinating and hard to put down. Dave even noticed "Gee, everytime I turn around you're reading that book again" which made me defensive for some odd reason? I feel so blessed (really terribly spoiled) to have the life that I have. I never realized that things like indoor plumbing and electricity were luxuries. The thing I value most from reading this book is my education! So many women are uneducated in this world. I also really liked how it focused on women's issues. The world is changing for the better but it is slow. I must admit that I was a little sad when Hilary Clinton lost against Obama for the Democratic nomination. But it is definitely a major break through for women that she made it so far. Go women!

[Prima Seadiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the other books in the Material World series this was an enjoyable read. The photographs are quite lovely. I liked seeing the comparisons between cultures and the similarities of problems women face around the world.
I will say that I thought the American family chosen was typical of a rather narrow segment of our country's culture. It would have been interesting to have a second family, less traditional, maybe a single parent family, same gender parents, a family of color, or religion other than Christian.
This narrowness is most likely true of other countries as well especially the really large ones such as China, but I don't have the travel experience to know about those variables.
This book was published in 1996. It would be interesting to see where the families and their members are today. Many of the kids would be adults now.

[Mary Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a day in the life portrait of individual women in 20 countries. Thank you Beth for recommending this book to me – I was fascinated, amazed and moved by the courage, caring and perseverance of these women, most of whom live in difficult situations with very few resources. Two of the things that stood out for me were how very poor most of the world is and how amazingly lucky we are to have all that we do. And one of the greatest gifts we have is the ability to stay in school. Almost all of these women wished they could have gone to school longer (only a few had any college or even high school), but they had to drop out for economic and/or cultural reasons (for example, girls don’t need much school).

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. One of my greatest passions in life is learning about other cultures. I prefer traveling there myself, but this book was the next best thing. I loved the interviews and all the photographs of the families. Loved learning about their daily lives, what they eat, their chores, their families and extended families, education, jobs, etc. The book covers women in 20 countries around the world and their families.

I also enjoyed looking up all the villages on Google Earth, another great passion of mine. LOL!

I wish this company would publish an updated version of this book so we could see how people are living now. The book was from 1996, so I'm sure things have changed quite a bit.

[Mauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

I find it interesting that I can view the lives of these women with little to no prejudice about their decisions or circumstances(save for the families who keep going on about how they want to send their daughters to school, but admit that they actually never will), but the family from the United States makes me itch. Maybe it's because the families selected are supposed to be "average" and this family is so ideologically different from mine that I squirm at the thought of someone assuming all Americans are like them.

[Abby Welker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few journalists went out into the world to various countries and found random, everyday women to interview. The stories within this book are FASCINATING, eye-opening, and touching. Each woman shares her brief story and helps shed light on living conditions, cultures, and attitudes of women in the world. I had to wonder how some of them kept going. This is such a good book to have around the house to pick up for a quick 5-minutes of reading here and there because each story is fairly brief. VERY, VERY good book!!!

[Mickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a highly readable collection of interviews of women from all corners of the world. I thought the authors did an excellent job of focusing on real women's issues without trying to make the women conform to any sort of agenda. The details they offer help individualize each woman, yet there is also a common thread that connects you to each one of these women as a fellow human being. I also thought the parts of the book that dealt with one theme and featured many of the women helped to offer another perspective of the women as a part of group. Excellent structure!

[Kristenyque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many times when I'm frustrated with things I'm able to tell myself, "This is a first world problem". This book reminded me of that phrase. The interviewers and photographers take us into the daily lives of several women around the world. As you hear their stories and make a comparison to your life you realize what we are fortunate to have. This book's age makes you curious as to what the situations are now for these families. I would recommend this book for young people to read and reflect upon but it is truly a good book for anyone.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it very interesting to learn about how women in other countries live. The stories, conducted as interviews and supplemented with wonderful photographs, are mostly about women living in 2nd and 3rd world countries. All are married and have children and live pretty much where they were born, so their "material world" as well as their physical world is much smaller than what the average reader experiences. For many, even the ones in more affluent locales, life is a struggle, but it was encouraging to read that not all are unhappy with their lives.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lives of women in 20 diverse countries are spotlighted in this beautiful photo-essay that reveals women's invisible role in societies around the world. Faith D'Aluisio, a former TV news producer in Houston and Peter Menzel, a photographer for Life and Smithsonian, led a team of female photojournalists and interpreters to compile the interviews and 375 color photos. (private note about photojournalist I know)

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully photographed, and accompanied with wonderful and intimate interviews. One of the best books I have ever owned, and one i return to over and over again. It lives on my coffee table and I take it to bed with me a lot to read over. The interviews and pictures are sort of dated by now, but if you're at all interested in the experience of being female in all corners of the world, this is unmissable. You have to read this book. It's lush.

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

A visually stunning book that makes me feel like, as a woman and a mother, we are all fighting the same fight. Better education for our kids and getting food on the table are truly universal struggles. This book makes me truly grateful to have been born in the country I was, raised by my loving parents and given the opportunity to get an education. How easy it is to take all this for granted.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. I got this for my birthday. It is impossible to put down. These woman are fascinating. This book is extreamly well planned and well orginized. I'm so glad I own my own copy because I love picking it up and reading about these women's lives and studying the pictures. It never gets old for me. I can read it again and again. I just love this book so much.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look at 21 different women from vastly different backgrounds. It was sad, interesting, and sometimes very inspiring. I read it because I'm interested in fair-trade economics, and although this book doesn't directly relate to that topic, it gives the reader a better picture of the lives of artisans in desperate countries.

[Patty Grooms · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I felt so connected to each woman, we all have the same emotions about our families. It is unreal to believe that there are still countries without running water and electricity. I felt ignorant that I was so unaware of this fact. I would love to have an update on these women today and see how things are with them today.

[Jessica Cramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great project. I want to find out what happened to these women (the book is ~20 years old now.) I'd also love to see one of these made of today's women of the world. Though dated, it's still fascinating. I want more Material World. I also want Mme. Delfoart's portrait on my wall. She's the cutest.

[Amanda]

Such interesting books--this one and the original The Material World. I first had The Material World as an undergrad. Not sure where that copy ended up, but then I found Women in the Material World. It's amazing how different our lives are around the globe!