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Unbecoming a Lady: The Forgotten Sluts and Shrews Who Shaped America Hardcover – March 5, 2024

by Therese Oneill (Author), Lisa Jonté (Illustrator)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
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A quippy and irreverent collection of illustrated profiles of the great American women who weren’t attractive, well-spoken, demure, or sinless enough to receive their rightful place in history, until now, from New York Times bestselling author Therese Oneill.

Slut. Shrew. Sinful. Scold. The 19th- and early 20th-century American women profiled in this collection were called all these names and worse when they were alive. And that’s just fine.

These glorious dames earned those monikers, and one hundred years later they can wear them proudly! They refused to conform to societal standards. They bucked everyday niceties and blazed their own trails. They were collectively unbecoming as women, but they forever changed what women can become.

With irresistible charm and laugh-out-loud impertinence, New York Times bestselling author Therese Oneill chronicles the lives of eighteen unbecoming ladies whose audacity, courage, and sheer disdain for lady-like expectations left them out of so many history books. Curious readers will learn about forgotten heroines such as:
-Dr. Mary Edwards Walker: who, despite being the only woman ever awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was shunned and forgotten due to her insistence on wearing pants in public.
-Elizabeth Packard: whose careful record of her own unjust incarceration in a 19th century madhouse by her husband (her crime: not wanting to be Presbyterian anymore) led to nationwide law reforms to protect the rights of those with mental health issues.
-Lilian Gilbreth: best remembered for being the real-life mom of Cheaper by the Dozen but who probably should be remembered for scientifically removing the stigma of the sanitary napkin and designing the modern-day kitchen.
-And many more!

With dozens of illustrations and historical photographs throughout, Unbecoming a Lady shines a light on unforgettable, impressive women who deserve to be remembered.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    S&S/Simon Element
  4. Publication date
    March 5, 2024
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1982199709
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1982199708
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Unbecoming a Lady: The Forgotten Sluts and Shrews who Shaped America is a quick read, an often sarcastic and easily relatable tome for anyone who appreciates a woman with cojones.”—NY Journal of Books

“Stories of turn-of-the-century gals who were anything but well-behaved— unashamed, unvirtuous, flagrant, selfish, transgressive, weird—and are mostly unsung today? Sign me up….Give this one to all your lady friends who give no Fs.” —BookPage

“Fascinating… Oneill gathers a cast of remarkable women for an enjoyable, raucous romp through history.”— Kirkus

About the Author

Therese Oneill is the New York Times bestselling author of Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners and Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent’s Guide to Raising Flawless Children. She lives in Oregon with her family.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ S&S/Simon Element (March 5, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982199709
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982199708
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

About the authors

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Previous page
  1. L. Jonte

    L. Jonte

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    Creator of art, poetry, and prose of a grim and unserious nature. Lisa lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and enjoys spending time with her family, dog, and two cats.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Therese Oneill

    Therese Oneill

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Therese Oneill is a New York Times Bestselling humorist and historian, author of Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manner and others. She lives in Oregon with her family.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
22 global ratings
Just a flat out joy to read!
5 Stars
Just a flat out joy to read!
The women profiled in this wonderful book were fascinating. The author truly captured their brilliance, complexity, their moral courage, and downright moxie. You could tell that the author earnestly wanted to share their humanity, their ups, downs and accomplishments in all their glory. I loved getting to know these lesser known historical figures in US history. Five stars, two thumbs up, and kudos to Therese ONeill for a wonderful reading experience! I highly recommend this book!
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Top reviews from the United States

Lyndsey Zarfas
5.0 out of 5 stars Kept thinking of women I know who would want to read this!
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
Couldn’t set it down! Felt absolutely elevated in my knowledge of historical women. Laughed and cried a bit. And had to share with friends so I bought another one to give away. These women deserved to have their stories shared.

Therese makes it fun to read history.
One person found this helpful
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Lauren
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and fascinating!
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024
Thank you to Simon Element and Simon Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

This March is women's history month. If you want to read a book about women who history has ignored, I have the book for you. Using an irreverent tone (as you can tell just from the title), this book reviews the stories of women who didn't fit the mold for their time.

The sketches of each woman are grouped thematically. Many were women I had never head of before. And for those I had, I learned a new aspect of their personal story. I found them variously humorous, inspiring, and informative.

The profiles were narrated alternately by Betsy Foldes Meiman and Chanté McCormick. I found the voice changes helpful in tracking the new descriptions. Both were fantastic narrators. This quick read was well worth my time.
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Jess B
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a fun and informative book
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
This book was such fun to read, I learned about so many different women and I truly appreciated the nuanced looks at their lives (none are perfect, but instead completely human with flaws and achievements) showing that there is no one right way to be a woman (or citizen or human).

Told in a tone that reminds me of a mix of powerpoint parties and girlspaining history, it is a fascinating look at women and the times they lived - and how they upended the status quo. Obviously well researched, each profile is packed with information but doesn't get boring or repetitive. There is a large range of topics and I appreciated that of the 18 women I was familiar with very few - or new them in a narrow capacity (like Cheaper by the Dozen mother Lillian Moller Gilbreth being a engineering powerhouse).

I hope this author does more profiles in the future - I would read absolutely all of them.
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Maren Bradley Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Some not-well-behaved women who made history
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2024
While well-behaved women rarely make history, (thank you Laurel Thatcher Ulrich for the axiom), another axiom states that it’s the winners that write the history books. And the winners would love history to be neat, tidy, and self-congratulatory. Well-behaved women who at least pretended to follow the rules fit neatly into this narrative.

Where does that leave those not-well-behaved women who actually changed things? Those forgotten powerhouses are in Therese Oneill’s book Unbecoming a Lady. Not all of them, of course, or else the book would be gigantic will all the loud, fat, stubborn, stern, unyielding women who changed history. Oneill focuses on women from around the Civil War to the middle of the twentieth century of the United States, though this focus did not deprive her of choices of loud, fat, stubborn, stern, unapproving, awesome, ax-wielding, opinion-having, misbehaving women to write about.

The tone is humorous, the research is substantial, and the drawings and pictures help the audience look into the faces of those sluts and non-conforming females and feel a kinship and share a little bit of their rage, especially for those who fought their entire lives only to die before the change they desired actually came to pass.

So, yeah. Buy this book. And then aspire to be included in the second edition. That’s my goal.
One person found this helpful
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Winter Sigh Beck
5.0 out of 5 stars Just a flat out joy to read!
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
The women profiled in this wonderful book were fascinating. The author truly captured their brilliance, complexity, their moral courage, and downright moxie. You could tell that the author earnestly wanted to share their humanity, their ups, downs and accomplishments in all their glory. I loved getting to know these lesser known historical figures in US history. Five stars, two thumbs up, and kudos to Therese ONeill for a wonderful reading experience! I highly recommend this book!
Customer image
Winter Sigh Beck
5.0 out of 5 stars Just a flat out joy to read!
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
The women profiled in this wonderful book were fascinating. The author truly captured their brilliance, complexity, their moral courage, and downright moxie. You could tell that the author earnestly wanted to share their humanity, their ups, downs and accomplishments in all their glory. I loved getting to know these lesser known historical figures in US history. Five stars, two thumbs up, and kudos to Therese ONeill for a wonderful reading experience! I highly recommend this book!
Images in this review
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One person found this helpful
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Book Lover Becky
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2024
This is one of my favorite non fiction authors and this book did not disappoint! I loved learning about women who were ahead of their time! Women who laid the groundwork for our rights today (though we stiil have more work to do). Great book! Highly recommend!
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C. O.
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely loved this book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
Unbecoming a Lady by Therese O'Neill is about women to aspire to. Women who created their own success, despite adversity + = woman. I was astounded by these women, many I have never heard of before, but should be household names. I found myself calling my Daughter to tell her all about these women. This book had me laughing, and in awe at the same time. These women are my new heroes. This book is a must have!
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Tamara J. Buchli
5.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and well-cited
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
Very amusing and well-cited volume of short biographical vignettes. Some entries are more obscure than others but they are all interesting and worth knowing about.
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