The only woman in the room : Golda Meir and her path to power
Record details
- ISBN: 9780691201740
- ISBN: 0691201749
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Physical Description:
print
xxv, 344 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 25 cm - Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2022.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-336) and index. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Meir, Golda 1898-1978 Women prime ministers Israel Biography Prime ministers Israel Biography Israel Politics and government |
Genre: | Biographies. |
Available copies
- 3 of 3 copies available at Evergreen Indiana. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Princeton Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 3 total copies.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Princeton PL - Princeton | B Meir Lah (Text) | 30890000817948 | Adult Non-Fiction, Upper Level, Middle Room | Available | - |
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- Baker & Taylor
Reexamining the life of Golda Meir, the only female prime minister of Israel, through a feminist lens, this authoritative biography explores the tensions between her personal and political identities while also illuminating the difficulties all women face as they try to ascend in male-dominated fields. Illustrations. - Baker & Taylor
"One of the founders of the state of Israel, Golda Meir (1898-1978) was Israel's ambassador to the USSR in 1948-49, subsequently served as Israel's Minister of Labor and Foreign Minister, and in 1969 became Israel's fourth Prime Minister. Born to poor and uneducated parents in Kiev as Golda Mabovitz and raised in Milwaukee, she settled in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1917. American Jews of an older generation cherish memories of her as an affable, grandmotherly head of state, a mesmerizing speech maker, a tough negotiator with the likes of Nixon and Kissinger, and as a sort of mother of the Jewish people. However, public memory of her is much more equivocal in Israel, partly due to misogynistic strains in Israeli political culture and to her perceived failures as Prime Minister during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the conflict that arguably led to her resignation and withdrawal from politics. This biography of Golda Meir explores the evolution of her political persona from her teenage years until her death, focusing in particular on her ever-recurring role as the only woman in a room full of male political actors. Pnina Lahav reexamines the story of Golda Meir's early passion for socialist Zionism, her decision to marry early, her separation from husband Morris Meyerson, her decision to leave her children in the care of others in order to pursue her political ambitions, and her conduct first in the Israeli cabinet and then as the country's Prime Minister. Often derided and humiliated by the men with whom she had to work, Golda Meir had her own complicated issues with gender and showed clear signs of having internalized the masculine ideals of the twentieth-century Zionist leadership (as when, for example, she derided her colleague and fellow cabinet minister Abba Eban, a cultivated, highly-educated man, as "effeminate"). And like another notable twentieth-century female political leader, Margaret Thatcher, she was less than supportive of younger women who wanted to follow in her footsteps. While Golda Meir has been the subject of several biographies, Lahav's is unique in its exploration of Golda's complicated and evolving relationship to her identity as a woman, particularly one who ascended to the apex of a patriarchal power structure"-- - Princeton University Press
A feminist biography of the only woman to become prime minister of Israel
In this authoritative and empathetic biography, Pnina Lahav reexamines the life of Golda Meir (1898â1978) through a feminist lens, focusing on her recurring role as a woman standing alone among men. The Only Woman in the Room is the first book to contend with Meirâs full identity as a woman, Jew, Zionist leader, and one of the founders of Israel, providing a richer portrait of her persona and legacy.
Meir, Lahav shows, deftly deflected misogyny as she traveled the path to becoming Israelâs fourth, and only female, prime minister, from 1969 to 1974. Lahav revisits the youthful encounters that forged Meirâs passion for socialist Zionism and reassesses her decision to separate from her husband and leave her children in the care of others. Enduring humiliation and derision from her colleagues, Meir nevertheless led in establishing Israel as a welfare state where social security, workersâ rights, and maternity leave became law. Lahav looks at the challenges that beset Meirâs premiership, particularly the disastrous Yom Kippur War, which led to her resignation and withdrawal from politics, as well as Meirâs bitter duel with feminist and civil rights leader Shulamit Aloni, Meirâs complex relationship with the Israeli and American feminist movements, and the politics that led her to distance herself from feminism altogether.
Exploring the tensions between Meirâs personal and political identities, The Only Woman in the Room provides a groundbreaking new account of Meirâs life while also illuminating the difficulties all women face as they try to ascend in male-dominated fields.