Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey starts with general information about the women who made the journey west with their men. Their view of the trip and its problems is somewhat different from the men's. This was a vulnerable time in women's lives. About 20% of the women Schlissel discusses were pregnant or gave birth in the course of the move West. Some even became pregnant during the trip despite the painful lack of privacy for people to whom the taboos of sex and other bodily functions were completely controlling. Their diaries were rather general. Mores of the time did not allow the women to write down personal situations such as pregnancies. No clues are given as to how women were able to relieve themselves with any degree of privacy. Even the interaction with the Indians was viewed differently by men and women. The sharpest difference between men and women on the Trail was that the great majority of the women did not want to make the trip in the first place. An Index is included.
278/Softbound/Photographs/Maps/Tables
Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
Book
Nomenclature Sub-Class
Other Documents
Nomenclature Class
Documentary Objects
Nomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication Objects
Search Terms
Women's Diaries, Western Migration, Diary, Indian Interaction, Oregon Trail, California Trail, Trail Maps, Women in the West