How did Perkins navigate the discrimination she faced as a woman? What instances in the book struck you the most about this struggle? What scenes most effectively demonstrate her resilience?
Perkins seemed to tap into her grandmother’s advice when times were difficult. She shrugged off and carried on; however, she had to develop this attitude. I recall that she often held back for the purposes of observing the men, figuring out the “pecking order”. She then would pounce accordingly addressing those who would be helpful. The scene between Frances and Al Smith’s secretary/assistance was pivotal in my mind. Frances reached a point where she had to decide her loyalty and fate. While she genuinely liked both Smith and FDR by this time, she chose FDR. The secretary chided her. That must have been a difficult time for Frances.
Perkins did a good job of navigating discrimination, and she was fortunate to have people who encouraged her. Many women supported her efforts, as well as, politicians such as Al Green and FDR. She was very resilient to the heckling that she received when she was making speeches. She persisted even when she, as a woman, could not vote. FDR also helped by not allowing her to quit when she thought it might benefit passage of Social Security.
Francis was a woman of action, and I loved that about her. She didn’t appear to brood about or over-think the discrimination she faced; rather, she located allies, sometimes in the most unlikely places. Her passion for reform trumped her need for self-validation.
Throughout the book, I admired the way Frances stood up to discrimination against herself as a woman, doing it in a discreet but firm way. I think she saw discrimination, but yet found a way to work around it without calling it out. I saw many women in my grandmother’s generation do the same, in lower-keyed situations. That seemed to be (to me anyway) an era where strong women often did run things, but the face of the outcome was male. I am not thinking of a specific scene so much as how I felt she continually had to hold back and think about how to further pursue the result she wanted to achieve.
I think Frances observed men first, figured out who was and wasn’t domineering and then strategized accordingly.