Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-Education in the Ivy League [Hardcover]

Gina Barreca (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2005

A humorous and provocative account of being a female undergraduate at Dartmouth College in its turbulent first years of co-education.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Recalling her Dartmouth days with "a combination of pride, astonishment and affection"—and acknowledging that "astonishment dominates"—Brooklyn-raised Barecca serves up a witty, episodic, chatty and decidedly personal account of being one of the first women on the campus in the 1970s, when a few "ubercoeds" trotted about in sweater sets while "Better Dead Than Coed" banners festooned Fraternity Row. Of course, Barecca felt like "a duck in a swan suit" when she tried to wear Talbots—so she settled for being the dark-haired girl from Oceanside who wore thrift-store hats in classes full of students whose "blond heads [glow] with their own reflected light like enormous fireflies." That particular quote comes from her 1975 diary; she also includes snippets from textbooks and other memoirs, a facsimile of one of her underwhelming grade reports and photos of herself in various silly but flattering poses and guises. Barecca (They Used to Call Me Snow White, But I Drifted) is an unfailingly winning narrator (even when she weirdly refers to herself in the third person) and if her book is more memoir than history, it's a delightful tour of one woman's college experience, seasoned with a consciousness of issues of gender and class. (Apr.)
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Review

"Barreca serves up a witty, episodic, chatty and decidedly personal account of being one of the first women on the [Dartmouth campus in the 1970s . . . Barreca is an unfailingly winning narrator and if her book is more memoir than history, it's a delightful tour of one woman's college experience, seasoned with a consciousness of issues of gender and class."--Publishers Weekly

"Barreca's humor shines through."--Library Journal

"Over four years at an elite school in remote New Hampshire, smack in the middle of the women's movement, Barreca learned to do what any sassy smartypants would: challenge stale ideas and press buttons . . . 'a good education can be subversive' [Gina Barreca writes in her recent book on the experience."--Chicago Tribune

"Whether you attended college at the same time as Barreca, or have children in college now, or just enjoy reading a well-written memoir, you're likely to enjoy reading Babes in Boyland."--Executive Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: UPNE (March 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584652993
• ISBN-13: 978-1584652991
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deemed a "feminist humor maven" by Ms. Magazine and "Very, very funny. For a woman" by Dave Barry, Gina Barreca is most recently the author of It's Not That I'm Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World (St. Martin's, 2009/ppb. 2010). She has appeared on 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, the BBC, The Today Show, CNN, Joy Behar, and Oprah to discuss gender, power, politics, and humor. Her earlier books, include the bestselling They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor, as well as Perfect Husband and Other Fairy Tales: Demystifying Men, Marriage and Romance, Sweet Revenge: The Wicked Delights of Getting Even, and Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League; her books have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and German. She's the editor of seventeen books, including The Signet Book of American Humor and The Penguin Book of Women's Humor as well as The Erotics of Instruction and A Sit-Down With the Sopranos. She writes for the "Brainstorm" section of The Chronicle of Higher Education and blogs for Psychology Today, does a weekly column for The Hartford Courant, a monthly column for Principal Leadership, and occasionally spars with her former co-author (of I'm With Stupid: One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstandings Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up) Gene Weingarten in his "Below the Beltway" column in The Washington Post. With degrees from Dartmouth College, Cambridge University, and the City University of New York, Barreca is Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, sexy, sassy; what goes on under the ivy leaf..., May 16, 2005

By 

book maven (portland, oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-Education in the Ivy League (Hardcover)

that they don't want you to see? A must-read for anybody who went to college in the '70s or early 80s, and for any girl who feels she isn't welcome in Boyland even today. Short and sassy.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The boys thought they'd get away with something., February 14, 2008

By 

Lee A. Jacobus "Author of Volcanic Jesus" (Clinton, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-Education in the Ivy League (Hardcover)

Sweet revenge. Those foolish young men at Dartmouth thought they'd haze the newly arrived coeds because as Dartmouth men, they were superior. Well, Barreca balances the ledger in this book--and big time. Those men are unmasked as nothing more than boys who think that by acting smart they were really smart. Think again. Barreca has seen through masculine insecurity and has shown us what a really smart, sensitive, and observing woman can make out of a difficult situation. This is a snappy, funny, really surprising and charming book. Give a copy away to that young woman heading off to college. She'll love it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars applying to college and got the book, September 19, 2005

By 

hasgirl "hazgirl" (cold harbor ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-Education in the Ivy League (Hardcover)

from my mom who went to school in the seventies. i love it. it's really honest. not so much has changed because i still feel weird around people who have a lot more money or who i think are smarter than me. (or is that than smarter than i?)the author deals with all this stuff but in a funny way.