The Intimately Oppressed
Select Quotes from Howard Zinn
Forgotten
“It is possible, reading standard histories,
to forget half the population of the
country. The explorers were men, the
landholders…political figures…military
figures men. The very invisibility of
women…is a sign of their submerged
status.”
“Uncivilized”
“Earlier societies – In America and
elsewhere – in which property was held
in common and families were
extensive…aunts and uncles and
grandmothers and grandfathers all living
together, seemed to treat women more
as equals than did the white societies
that later overran them, bringing
“civilization”…”
Sojourner Truth
Women of the Mid-1800s
Education
Could not attend college
Jobs
Earned ¼ of what men earned for same
job
Marriage
Had to assume husband’s identity
No rights in divorce
Government
Could not vote
Could not hold office
Property
Could not own property