The American History Shelf

Speaking While Female
Dana Rubin
https://speakingwhilefemale.co
Real Clear Publishing
www.realclearpublishing.com
9781637550304, $30.00

https://www.amazon.com/Speaking-While-Female-Extraordinary-Speeches/dp/1637= 550308

In the chronicles of history, male speech-makers are typically highlighted = while women are portrayed as clapping on the sidelines of their success. Th= at's why Speaking While Female: 75 Extraordinary Speeches by American Women=
is especially powerful and important - it captures women's voices and show= cases their strength to illustrate that women are no less capable in this d= epartment than men. They've just been understated and buried in a patriarch=
al society's representation of historical characters and strengths.

Dana Rubin's survey of women's voices in America exposes and captures their=
nuances, passion, and equally powerful presentations. Rubin herself is cur= ator and founder of the Female Speech Bank. As a notable speaker, Rubin cre= ated this project to highlight women's voices, illustrating and returning t= heir power to historical and social significance and, through this book, ho= pefully widespread knowledge.

This collection, although very accessible to individual pursuit, would real=
ly shine when utilized by drama students, in women's issues classrooms, and=
by women's history discussion groups. The speeches themselves raise many i= mportant points both in their content and by their choice of words and pass= ion.

Another important note is that these works assume a chronological strength = made uniform by their historical journey through women's experiences from t=
he 1800s to modern times. Many won't anticipate that a modern-sounding subj= ect such as Lucy Stone's impromptu speech "Disappointment is the Lot of Wom= en" would be presented as a moving speech in October 17, 1855 at the Sevent=
h Women's Rights Convention at Smith & Nixon's Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. St= one's words ring with strength and protest: "The question of Woman's Rights=
is a practical one. The notion has prevailed that it was only an ephemeral=
idea; that it was but women claiming the right to smoke cigars in the stre= ets, and to frequent barrooms. Others have supposed it a question of compar= ative intellect; others still, of sphere. Too much has already been said an=
d written about woman's sphere. Trace all the doctrines to their source and=
they will be found to have no basis except in the usages and prejudices of=
the age."

This is just a single example of an eye-opening collection that corrects th=
e absence of women in the history of America's great orators, bringing to l= ife the topics, repression, and achievements of not only the speech-maker o=
r writer, but her fellow female audiences at that point in time. A wide ran=
ge of library collections will see popularity with this survey, which ideal=
ly will not just be studied by individuals, but utilized in group and class= room settings, as well as book clubs, as a source for debates and considera= tion of women's words and the force with which they were written and delive= red.

Their impact on modern audiences interested in women's history and issues c= annot be stressed enough.

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