Caroline Bird Mahoney (1915–2011) was an American feminist author.

Early life and education

Born on April 15, 1915, in

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, Caroline Bird became the youngest member of the

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class of 1935 at the age of 16, but left after her junior year to marry; she later earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree at the

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and a

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degree in

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

at the

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Career

Her books include ''The Invisible Scar'' (1966), ''Everything a Women Needs to Know to Get Paid What She's Worth'' (1973), ''Case Against College'' (1975), ''The Crowding Syndrome: Learning to Live With Too Much and Too Many'' (1976), ''Enterprising Women'' (1976), ''What Women Want'' (1979), ''The Two-Paycheck Marriage'' (1979), ''Second Careers'' (1992), and ''Lives of Our Own'' (1995). Her book ''The Invisible Scar'', about the Great Depression, was named by the

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as one of the 100 most significant books of the year. Caroline's 1968 book, ''Born Female: the High Cost of Keeping Women Down'', grew out of an article on discrimination against women in business that was rejected by ''

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''. Years later when Sofia Montenegro, an award-winning

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n journalist and prominent feminist activist, was asked how she became a revolutionary, she said that she would never forget the book that had changed her life; she was 16 years old when she read ''Born Female: the High Cost of Keeping Women Down''. According to the ''

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'', the first time the term ''sexism'' appeared in print was in Bird's speech "On Being Born Female", which was delivered before the Episcopal Church Executive Council in

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, and subsequently published on November 15, 1968, in ''Vital Speeches of the Day'' (p. 6). In this speech she said in part: "There is recognition abroad that we are in many ways a sexist country. Sexism is judging people by their sex when sex doesn't matter. Sexism is intended to rhyme with racism. Women are sexists as often as men." In 1977, Bird became an associate of the

Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) is an American nonprofit publishing organization that was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1972. The organization works to increase media democracy and strengthen independent media. Mo Basic info ...

(WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. Bird was a consultant to the National Commission on the Observance of

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in 1977 and was the chief writer of its report, ''The Spirit of Houston'' (1978). In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Bird's name and picture. She died on January 11, 2011, in Nashville,

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. The Caroline Bird Papers, 1915–1995, are held at the Archives and Special Collections Library,

Libraries.

Personal life

She married Edward A. Menuez in 1934 and they divorced in 1945; in 1957 she married J. Thomas Mahoney, who died in 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Caroline 1915 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American feminists University of Toledo alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni 21st-century American women American feminist writers