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Preface This is a study o f th e emotiona l live s of adolescen t an d adul t women i n the United State s in the early twentieth century . We assume that cultur e plays a n importan t rol e i n shapin g th e emotion s o f individuals . Conse quently , w e hav e relie d o n th e wor k o f cultura l an d socia l historians , especially work s i n th e relativel y ne w fiel d o f histor y o f th e emotions . Following a long tradition i n the periodization o f the twentieth century , we se e th e 1910 s throug h th e earl y 1930 s a s a tim e o f transitio n fro m Victorian to modern culture, and in the chapters that follow we describe the majo r cultura l change s tha t shape d th e live s o f America n women . Yet our approac h ha s bee n to write cultural histor y a s personal history . Although w e hav e rea d widel y i n th e cultura l material s o f ou r period , we hav e als o closel y studie d th e writing s o f wome n comin g o f ag e an d living throug h thei r adul t live s i n th e 1910 s throug h th e earl y 1920s . Through their writings, we have attempted to understand how individual women appropriate d th e cultural messages of this period an d used the m to understan d an d t o shap e thei r experience s o f friendship , love , moth erhood , loss, and loneliness . Relying o n th e persona l writing s o f wome n ha s shape d ou r wor k i n two ways . First, the diaries , letters, and reminiscence s o f approximatel y fifty women, bor n betwee n 188 7 an d 1916 , have helpe d se t the agend a for ou r research. Although w e began reading primary document s with a set of questions an d topic s to consider, the self-writings o f women ofte n led us to new questions. Most o f the emotional issues that we explore in the chapters that follow emerge d not from th e cultural materials that we read bu t fro m th e concerns o f women experiencin g these emotions. SecIX x Preface ond, women' s writing s hav e give n u s th e bes t source s availabl e fo r un derstanding th e live d experienc e o f emotion . Wome n ma y hav e writte n to protest gende r imbalance s o r to claim their distinctiv e voice, but they also wrote t o understan d an d shap e their feelings. 1 Their writings allo w us t o explor e th e cultur e o f th e first decade s o f thi s centur y fro m th e perspective of emotionally engaged participants . Women's words make clear the turning awa y from th e Victorian pas t toward moder n culture . Wome n worke d t o adop t th e emotiona l style s of the new century. Yet we have found, i n every stage of their lives, that women frequentl y faile d t o live out the emotional images they had take n as their own . A persistent tensio n underla y th e emotiona l live s of earl y twentieth-century women . Although embracin g the new emotional style, women struggle d wit h lingerin g message s fro m Victoria n source s an d with thei r ow n failur e t o successfull y manag e emotion s o r t o navigat e the century's new emotional demands . Of course , claim s abou t th e experienc e o f wome n mus t com e wit h many caveats . Thi s stud y deal s wit h white , middle-clas s women . Eve n within thi s narro w category , th e wome n w e hav e studie d ar e largel y Protestant, bette r educated, an d more articulate than women i n the population a...

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