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

Obviously the Klan we know today was always a hate group, but it's astounding just how large, wealthy, and powerful the group was, with millions of members (as opposed to today, where they have a few thousand at best), and members in every state of the union.

It's also astounding just how powerful they were, and how involved women were in the organization. One thing the book highlights, that reviewers generally don't mention, is how many people were in the Klan without recognizing the violent or terroristic nature of the organization. The most discomfiting parts she documents are how many people who were involved simply viewed the Klan as a very normal, responsible organization that was a boon to its communities. The Klan worked hard to develop an aura of respectability--quite successfully, at least for a while.

I am rather stunned by several of the other reviews here, which say dumb things about feminism, animal rights, etc. I suggest ignoring those reviews, as they're obviously written by silly people. This is a very good book--highly readable, informative, and insightful. I recommend it highly.


Disturbing truth   January 5, 2002
 2 out of 18 found this review helpful

I'm hardly surprised that reviews have been negative as this book breaks into the holy ground of feminism, proving beyond doubt that feminism and racism shared early roots.

I have done a lot of studying on feminism and there is little here that isn't available elsewhere but this work puts much in one place, making it easy to show how the modern femininist organisation NOW and the earlier WKKK are so closely related. More to the point it shows how feminism is a form of hate or superiority cult and has little to do with real equality. For example an extreme radical animal rights type is undisputed as an animal lover - are extreme radical feminists known for a desire for extreme equality? Or simply bias towards women and contempt for men?


Interesting, but...   September 18, 2000
 4 out of 19 found this review helpful

As I read Ms. Blee's book, I am concerned that she is using information from people who are now about 70 years old, who would have been small children when the Klan was in power, to make such all encompasing statements about the Klan. A child sees the world around him much differently than an adult. A child would relish going to parades, parties, gatherings and enjoy them. If Ms. Blee asks the participants to describe their feelings as a child, then reports them as their current feelings, then the reader must be aware of the bias of the author. Did Ms. Blee ask the participants of her interviews what their feelings were 65 years ago, or what their feelings are now, on reflection? I know that she asked the former and used that information to substantiate her own biases about the Klan.


Complicates our view of race, gender, and social movements   November 8, 1999
 14 out of 19 found this review helpful

Blee's work on women in hate movements sheds new light on why women join and support white supremacist movements. Her analysis of extensive archival data and interviews complicates how our assumptions about the role of gender in promoting bigotry and prejudice, while at the same time heralding eerily feminist principles. My students loved it because it was clear, engaging, and gave them several issues to grapple with around research and data interpretation. Though white supremacists were (and still are) on the whole, economically disenfranchised adn educationally bankrupt, Blee shows how a few "dangerous minds" are capable of mobilizing mass numbers of people in the name of "racial superiority."