Why read Women of the Klan?

Book cover of Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s

Book description

Ignorant. Brutal. Male. One of these stereotypes of the Ku Klux Klan offer a misleading picture. In "Women of the Klan", sociologist Kathleen Blee unveils an accurate portrait of a racist movement that appealed to ordinary people throughout the country. In so doing, she dismantles the popular notion that politically…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Women of the Klan as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jeff Stookey

Author

I couldn’t have written my trilogy without reading this book. It taught me so much about the women in the KKK, their attitudes and beliefs, their social status and background, their activities and support for the Klan, and so much more. The book is so deeply researched that it provides keen insights into the gender politics of the 1920s, the differing ways of thinking between the men in the Klan versus the women in the Klan, and their dissimilar approaches to carrying out “Klanishness.” The women that Blee describes held the typical mainstream views of white, Protestant, native-born Americans, who…

From Jeff's list on The best books about the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Oregon and the USA.