i vote mae jemison!!

gail collins - when everything changed: the amazing journey of american women from 1960 to the present

this was a good book. but every time i looked at the cover it made me a little mad. why the fuck is michelle obama on the cover? yes she's a smart woman. but i don't even remember what her job was. she will likely only be remembered as president obama's wife. so why did her photo make the cover of a book about how far american women have come? as a woman who is best known as a wife of a famous man, how is she a shining example of gender advancement?

there are six photos on the book:
cover: housewife lady sitting next to the washing machine, lady in the military, michelle obama at her husband's first inauguration
spine: playboy bunny, hillary clinton giving a speech
back: author herself

maybe the collins wanted a person of color on the cover. fine. but why not condoleezza rice? at one point she was unarguably the most influential woman in the united states. sure a wife influences her husband, but not nearly in the same way the secretary of state influences a president! (btw, i don't even know if condi is married so how's that for being her own woman?) but to pick two people in the political arena is a little heavy. i think maybe she should've picked a female scientist. so how about mae jemison, the first black female astronaut? she's fucking awesome! or how about jackie joyner kersee, flo-jo, wilma rudolph, or any black female athlete? there are thousands more qualified to be on the cover!

i get that this is just the book cover. but covers are be chosen with care. and since there are only five pictures you'd think collins put a damn lot of thought into who those five women were going to be. i just wish she'd been more thoughtful. 

may 2015

alan moorehead - the fatal impact [3-19]
gail collins - when everything changed [19-15]
barbara demick - nothing to envy: real lives in north korea [5-25]
deborah feldman - unorthodox: the scandalous rejection of my hasidic roots [26-]

freakanomics (2013), side by side (2012), tinker tailor soldier spy (2011), the iron lady (2011), a year in burgundy (2013), the painting (2011), monk with a camera (2014), chef's table (season 1)