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ISBN: 9781552453520

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Hard to Do

The Surprising, Feminist History of Breaking Up

From Jane Austen to Taylor Swift, Hard to Do breaks down the surprising politics of romantic love and its dissolution. Whatever the underlying motives – love, money, or mere masochism – the fact is that getting involved in a romantic partnership is emotionally, morally, and even politically fraught. Kelli María Korducki turns a Marxist lens on the relatively short history of romantic partnership, tracing how the socio-economic dynamics between men and women have transformed the ways women conceive of domestic partnership. With perceptive, reported insights on the ways marriage and divorce are legislated, the rituals of twentieth-century courtship, and contemporary practices for calling it off, Korducki reveals that, for all women, choosing to end a relationship is a radical action with very limited cultural precedent.

Contributors

Kelli Maria Korducki

Kelli María Korducki is a journalist and cultural critic. Her byline has appeared frequently in the Globe and Mail and National Post, as well as in the New Inquiry, NPR,The Walrus, Vice, and the Hairpin. She was nominated for a 2015 National Magazine Award for 'Tiny Triumphs,' a 10,000-word meditation on the humble hot dog for Little Brother. A former editor-in-chief of the popular news blog The Toronotist, Korducki is based in Toronto and Brooklyn.
Chapter Title Contents Contributors Pages Year Price

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Western culture upholds the nuclear family as its foundation. Yet, in recent years women have gained more freedom to leave relationships they previously were unable to. Korducki states that she … 17 $1.70

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Korducki highlights the trauma of breaking up with her long-term partner and explores why society believes women are "hard-wired" to be nurturing mothers. 23 $2.30

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Korducki examines the shift in marriage from one of practical, pragmatic partnership to one that prioritized personal happiness. 31 $3.10

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Korducki highlights the legal obstacles that prohibited many from getting married and prevented others from filing for divorce. 18 $1.80

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This chapter explores the Dred Scott case of 1857 and its legal implications in regard to family-making, specifically marriage, for Black people during and after the US Civil War. 20 $2.00

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Korducki explores, or rather explodes, the myth of the 1920s Flapper popularized today and its inherent symbols – independent women, bobbed hair, rouged cheeks, smoking cigarettes, driving … 31 $3.10

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Following the Second World War the number of marriages soared, but with new economic agency and the advent of the women’s liberation movement, the 1970s witnessed a new wave of divorce. 27 $2.70

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Although the nuclear family is nowhere close to being obsolete, Korducki examines new, ever expanding patterns of cohabitation. 23 $2.30

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Women are moving past the "confines of the nuclear-family" and exploring new forms of relationships. 15 $1.50

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Korducki’s acknowledgements. 1 $0.10

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Short author biography, includes photo 1 $0.10