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67 pages 2 hours read

Liz Moore

The God of the Woods

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

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Background

Sociohistorical Context: American Women’s Roles in the Mid-20th Century

The novel focuses on the struggles that several female characters face, for in each timeline, characters such as Alice, TJ, and Barbara must navigate the complexities of rampant misogynistic social conventions that devalue and disempower women in ways both subtle and overt. For this reason, it is vital to understand the cultural expectations of gender roles that dominated the 1950s and persisted into the 1960s and 1970s in the United States.

The 1950s marked a time of unprecedented economic prosperity in America, and in the years following World War II, birth rates increased—the so-called “Baby Boom.” With the acceleration of the Cold War, the American government perpetuated the image of the nuclear family as a stable, moral unit, portraying communism as a direct and negative contrast to this social pattern. Thus, raising a large family came to be seen as a patriotic duty that advanced the greater good of American society. To achieve this goal, women—primarily those of the growing middle class—were expected to remain at the center of the domestic sphere, caring for children and remaining separate from the workforce, which was regarded as a strictly male sphere. If women opted to pursue advanced education, it was assumed that such an endeavor was meant to help them find a suitable husband, not to embrace a career of their own. As a result, women who sought independent careers beyond the domestic sphere were considered unfeminine and strange (“Mrs. America: Women’s Roles in the 1950s.” PBS: American Experience. 1996). Within the context of the novel, Alice Van Laar finds herself deeply affected by the restrictive conventions of American society, for her intellectual interests are discouraged, and she finds herself limited to the confines of domestic roles and subject to the will of her husband.

The novel also reflects the historical shifts that took place during the countercultural movement of the 1960s, which is commonly known as the second wave of the women’s rights movement in the United States (the first being the women’s suffrage movement that took place at the beginning of the century). Central to second-wave feminism was the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, in which the author reveals the dissatisfaction and emotional, mental, and intellectual turmoil that plagued women due to the misogynistic limitations that they were forced to endure. The country therefore saw a growing push for equal opportunities for women in all aspects of American life, most notably in the workforce.

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in employment based on sex, paving the way for women to enter fields from which they had previously been barred. These social advancements took place alongside a growing demand to secure civil liberties for African Americans. The 1960s and 1970s also brought about the antiwar movement as younger Americans opposed the conflict in Vietnam and other parts of southeast Asia. Furthermore, the advent of birth control pills allowed women to dictate the size of their family, delay having children, or avoid having a family altogether. This crucial combination of social changes marked a departure from the Baby Boom culture of the previous decade (Eisenberg, Bonnie and Mary Ruthsdotter. “History of the Women’s Rights Movement“ National Women’s History Alliance. 1998.)

Throughout the novel, Moore actively incorporates references to these broad cultural changes and creates characters who struggle with Navigating the Injustices of Misogyny to chart their own paths in life. Some characters, like Alice, struggle to carve out a meaningful life and succumb to the dominant societal expectations, while the younger generation—represented by characters like TJ and Barbara—actively challenge the existing system and break free from these restrictions by exploring new fields and interests.

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By Liz Moore