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bibliography section in the book, including appendixes, which help indicate the depth of her research and study into her topic. This helps make the book even more credible and believable, and indicates she understands her topic well, and presents valid and interesting arguments, backed up with factual research. She uses primary and secondary sources, such as newspapers, publications, journals, and private papers in an attempt to gain as much information as possible to back up her thesis and key ideas.
This book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in women's history, sociology, and even criminal justice. It indicates the way morals and society were changing at the turn of the century, and how throughout reform and proper sexual conduct, whites still maintained a clear control over minorities, even in the courts and in sexual conduct. The book is a fascinating look into a society on the brink of changing values, morals, and ideals, and it indicates the true power men held over women during this time, and why reformers were so anxious to change the balance of power. It is also a compelling look at the history of young women and their sexual maturation. In many ways, these young women are not so different from the young women of any generation. They are searching for themselves, attempting to make a difference, and longing to break the bonds with the past and create their own, unique future. Each generation attempts to break with their parents' ideals and morals, at least to some extent, and these young women, torn between the Victorian and Progressive eras, are no different. The author portrays the cases and their participants with detail and with just enough of her own ideas to make the reader understand the nature of sexual reform in America, along with how increasingly; women became the victims of the courts because of their behavior, besides often being the victims of familial sexual abuse. It is a look back in time to a period when not much has been written about women and the court system, and it is fascinating, troubling, and eye opening.
In conclusion, this is a fascinating look into the sexual mores of Victorian America, and how society policed those mores throughout society. The author shows how young women of the time where changing, creating new responsibilities for themselves, and becoming more modern and open, at a time when their parents simply wanted to control them and their activities. Young women were moving out of the domestic sphere, making new lives for themselves, and even consorting with men, and it frightened conservative society. They responded by creating strict laws regarding sexuality, and enforcing those laws in a strict and moral setting. This book really illustrates the dawning of a new age in America, where Victorian values would slowly disappear, and young women would begin to experience more freedom and opportunity in their lives.
References
Odem, Mary E. Delinquent Daughters: Protecting and Policing Adolescent Female Sexuality in the United States, 1885-1920. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
