Fear and ConventionalityPaperback, 8 June 1997

Widely admired by cultural critics and the avant garde when it was first published, Fear and Conventionality broke new ground for American anthropology. In it, Elsie Clews Parsons turns a cool and ironic eye on the mores and customs of her own upper-class New York society. A modern mind at the turn of the century, Parsons challenged social conventions about gender and family as part of the new feminist movement. Witty, graceful, and impassioned, this book will be of interest to social and cultural historians and anyone interested in early twentieth-century America.