Complicated Women
Book description
Between 1929 and 1934, women in American cinema took lovers, had babies out of wedlock, got rid of cheating husbands, enjoyed their sexuality and led unapologetic careers. Before then, women on screen had come in two varieties - sweet ingenue or vamp. Then two stars came along and blasted away…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked Complicated Women as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
LaSalle’s book made me fall in love with Pre-Code Hollywood despite having been in film and media studies for 20 years.
His in-depth study of many famous actresses during this era such as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Jean Harlow, shows how freer women could be on screen for their life choices.
The later chapters address the lasting impact of the Code era on the representation of women and their agency, even on contemporary movies. As he discusses it, the Code caused the decline of “socially responsive women’s pictures.”
From Natacha's list on women in American film.
If you love Complicated Women...
Tap Dancing on Everest
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
The team attempts a new route up…
Want books like Complicated Women?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 58 books like Complicated Women.
Share your top 3 reads of 2024!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,900
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Complicated Women, you might also like...
The Coaching Habit
The coaching book that's for all of us, not just coaches.
It's the best-selling book on coaching this century, with 15k+ online reviews. Brené Brown calls it "a classic". Dan Pink said it was "essential".
It is practical, funny, and short, and "unweirds" coaching. Whether you're a parent, a teacher,…
Radical Friend
Radical Friend highlights the remarkable life of Amy Kirby Post, a nineteenth-century abolitionist and women's rights activist who created deep friendships across the color line to promote social justice. Her relationships with Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, William C. Nell, and other Black activists from the 1840s to the…
