Product Description

An entertaining and unique look at the role of women in 20th century America through well-known songs. Dorothy Marcic has created a fascinating and original story chronicling the development of women. Using the country's Top 40 hits with archetypes, lyrics, and personal stories from 1900 through 2000, she shows how in the early part of the century song lyrics resonated with women's dependency and compliant natures; echoed their eventual rebellion in the late 1960s; and mirrored their development as mature, independent persons in the 90s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #999724 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 259 pages

About the Author
Professor Dorothy Marcic is on faculty at Vanderbilt University, in the department of Leadership and Organizations, Peabody College. She also serves as Director of Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development at Vanderbilt. A recent Fulbright scholar at the University of Economics-Prague, where she taught MBA students and practicing managers, her consulting practice has grown to include multinationals and governmental agencies in the Czech Republic. In addition to Organizational Behavior: Experiences and Cases, she is the author of several other books, including Organizational Behavior and Management International, Women and Men in Organizations, and Managing with the Wisdom of Love: Uncovering Virtue in People and Organizations. She began her extensive and varied academic career at Arizona State University, with additional academic postings at St. Bonaventure University, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and La Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Respect: Women and Popular Music
Respect: Women and Popular Music is a powerful book that chronicles the best known music of women in the 20th Century and examines the sociological and personal implications the music had. Marcic masterfully weaves a relationship between the development of the music and the development of women over the century. From the early 1900s, the lyrics of dependency eventually evolve into the powerful lyrics of independence and resolve heard in the late century.

A particularly effective feature of the book is the use of personal rememberances about the music. These diverse reflections show how the music enters our hearts and minds -- our consciousness and unconsciousness. This technque further shows how the music not only reflects our roles, but may powerfully influence our roles and may even empower, motivate and affirm us toward change.

This is a great book for anyone who wants to take a deeper and different look at the development of women and their roles. It presents a new and refreshing perspective, not shown before in the literature about women.

After having finished book and being a person who grew up in the fifties and came of age in the sixties, I have to wonder how did we as women ever get past the music messages that we grew up with and become the trailblazers of the women movement?

Put your nostalgia in context!
If you are like me, you grew up listening to popular music, "girl groups" singing catchy melodies, without regard to the cultural or historical context of the tunes. Dorothy Marcic, in a well-researched and documented, highly readable book, has succeeded in placing our nostalgic memories into a larger framework. The political picture, the economic realities, the evolution of female roles are all chronicled by incorporating the popular music that enthralled us over the years. Who knew that the path from "My Man" to "I Will Survive" led us along our own path of liberation and independence. A book that entertains and makes you think at the same time! If you ever get the opportunity to see Dr. Marcic perform and illustrate her material in person, by all means do so! Highly recommended!

An incredible synthesis!
Whether our popular music is a reflection or shaper of culture, it's fascinating to read the lyrics of these songs -- and to see how far we've come over the past century. I really like the way that music is used as a thread for weaving together political and world events, as well as psychology, business, and spirituality. A great read!