Women and Children First: A Provocative Look at Modern Canadian Women at Work and at Home

by Michele Landsberg

Book by Landsberg, Michele

272 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Sharon Ouderkirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally published in 1982. Despite the time that has passed, the issues that Michele Landsberg raises are still relevant. She wrote hard hitting columns on feminist issues such as rape, child abuse, domestic violence and the social and cultural forces that leave women and children in secondary positions in society. All of these issues are still in the headlines, but I am happy to report that there is a substantial change in the general attitude. For example, she wrote about the time when Canada updated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, and how activist women had to form an ad hoc committee to ensure that women's rights were enshrined in the Canadian Constitution. 1982!! not 1882!! I remember when those discussions happened, but I have to say reading it about it again shocked me as so much has changed in attitudes, I had forgotten a lot of the reasons why I became a feminist at an early age.
Some of the stories seem like satire now - the women who fought to be able to use the washroom at work without asking permission of the boss (hello!), the riculously low wages, the prehistoric attitudes about rape and domestic violence. How well I remember arguments that I had with (male) friends back in university about rape and domestic violence. How well I remember that when one of those men acted violently toward me at the end of our relationship, he blamed me for inciting him. (I stood up to him when he was trying to bully me). Landsberg's book brought it all back to me, how it was back in the 1980s when I was in university - the anger, the frustration, the rage. I am happy to live in different times when the vast majority of people have moved onto attitudes and views that do not compromise a woman's right to act on her own behalf. Make no mistake, there is still work to be done, changes to be made. But we have moved out of the prehistoric cave into the sunlight. Landsberg captured a time and place (my starting time and place of engagement with these issues) The issues are still with us in altered form, and maybe they always will be matters that women and men have to contend with, but the good news is that there will be a lot of young people who do not recognize the world as Landsberg describes it and that is a credit to her lifelong work as a feminist.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this a long time ago. It is even possible that I bought my copy at a bookshop near the University of Toronto, so that would make it even longer ago than I am currently guessing. I found Michele Landsberg to be a smart, enlightened and empathetic writer. I am pretty sure I had read this before I had kids. It was a fortunate book to find and I was happy and grateful to find such a clear thinking individual to follow. It was a relief to find someone coherent who also saw what I saw.

Having just reread it, I found it equally good and a bit nostalgic for me. I am grateful that some of these issues seem dated such as maternity leave being more common, at least in Canada. Black Lives Matter protests this month are now world wide, so obviously some things such as violence, police non reaction to domestic abuse and just brutality and callousness in general to certain groups has quite a way to go. The worldwide pandemic of Covid-19 has highlighted inequalities and suffering. All is not well for women and children but things are undeniably better for many in the year 2020. This book makes a good point of reflection on the world I faced in my youth.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. I didn't rate it higher because I find the reading of paper columns in a book tedious after a while.

[Zhaohuizi]

A book adopted from Mother-in-law, I only read the chapters on newborn and babies. It is a well written book with some classic principles of parenting, but some of the contents are outdated since the book was published in the 1970's.