Patterns of assimilation varied not only between men and women but also according to geographical locale and social class. Germany, France, England, and the United States offered some degree of civic equality to their Jewish populations, and by the last third of the nineteenth century, their relatively small Jewish communities were generally defined by their middle-class characteristics. In contrast, the eastern European nations contained relatively large and overwhelmingly non-middle-class Jewish population. Hyman considers how these differences between East and West influenced gender norms, which in turn shaped Jewish women's responses to the changing conditions of the modern world, and how they merged in the large communities of eastern European Jewish immigrants in the United States.
The book concludes with an exploration of the sexual politics of Jewish identity. Hyman argues that the frustration of Jewish men at their "feminization" in societies in which they had achieved political equality and economic success was manifested in their criticism of, and distancing from, Jewish women.
The book integrates a wide range of primary and secondary sources to incorporate Jewish women's history into one of the salient themes in modern Jewish history, that of assimilation. The book is addressed to a wide audience: those with an interest in modern Jewish history, in women's history, and in ethnic studies and all who are concerned with the experience and identity of Jews in the modern world.
