The Grasinski girls : the choices they had and the choices they made / Mary Patrice Erdmans, with the Grasinski girls.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Erdmans, Mary Patrice.

Series:

Ohio University Press Polish and Polish-American studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grasinski family.

Erdmans, Mary Patrice--Family.

Erdmans, Mary Patrice.

Polish American families--Michigan--Case studies.

Polish American families.

Women, White--Michigan--Case studies.

Women, White.

Manners and customs.

Families.

Michigan--Social life and customs--20th century.

Michigan.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xii, 290 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Athens : Ohio University Press, [2004]

Summary:

The Grasinski Girls were working-class Americans of Polish descent, born in the 1920s and 1930s. They went to high school, married, and had children. For the most part, they stayed home to rear their children. And they were happy doing that. They took care of their appearance and their husbands, who took care of them. Like most women of their generation, they did not join the women's movement and today they either reject or shy away from feminism.

Using oral histories of her mother and aunts, Mary Erdmans examines the subtle complexities of the seemingly ordinary lives of white, Christian, working-class women in the post-World War II generation. Comparing the Grasinski sisters, at times, to women of her own postfeminist generation and situating them within the world of home and church, Professor Erdmans explores how gender, class, ethnicity, and religion shaped the choices that these women were given as well as the choices that they made. These women are both acted upon and actors; they are privileged and disadvantaged; they resist and surrender; they petition the Lord and accept His will. In their own words, the Grasinski Girls reveal to readers the nuances of privilege and oppression often overlooked.

Contents:

Introduction: The Grasinski Girls 1

Part 1 Migrations and Generations

Introduction: St. Stan's Cemetery 25

1 The Mothers of the Grasinski Girls 31

Frances Ann: The Lights of the City 48

2 Ethnicity in the Belly of the Family 53

Part 2 Choices Given, Choices Made

Introduction: Nuns and Moms 77

Nadine nee Patricia: I Gave My Youth to Jesus Christ and My Old Age to Bob 82

3 What's a Polish-American Girl to Do? Working-Class Girls in the Convent 92

Angela Helen: The Best Time in My Life, and the Worst Time 103

4 Mothers on Boone Street 110

Mary Marcelia: I Thought I Was a Superwoman 138

5 The Importance of Being Mothers 152

Part 3 Learning to Sing

Introduction: Agency and Resistance 173

6 Fate and Faith 177

Caroline Clarice: So I Learned to Fly 192

7 Kitchen Table Resistance 201

Conclusion: A Grasinski Granddaughter 221

Appendix Description of Research Methods 231.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [269]-283) and index.

ISBN:

0821415816

0821415824

OCLC:

55940653