Mennonite women in Canada a history - Epp, Marlene (University of Manitoba Press, 2008)
Includes bibliographical references (p. [337]-365) and index
'The curious Mennonite': seeing Canadiand Mennonite women through low-lying fog -- Pioneers, refugees, and transnationals: women immigrate to Canada -- Wives, mothers, and 'others': women within families -- Preachers, prophets, and missionaries: women in the church -- Nonconformists, nonresistors, and citizens: women living in the world -- Quilters, canners, and writers: women in the material world
"Marlene Epp explores women's roles, as prescribed and as lived, within the contexts of immigration and settlement, household and family, church and organizational life, work and education, and in response to social trends and events. She questions how Mennonites dictate women's "place" within the church, family, and community, and how women, collectively and individually, actually behave. Epp found that in virtually all aspects of women's lives, there exists a contradiction between behavioural ideals and practicalities. She also found that their responses to dictates about their proper place ranged from acceptance to rebellion, and almost always unsettled a clear delineation of their roles." "Using diaries, oral histories, church histories, genealogies, and memoirs, Epp has painstakingly pieced together a rich and fascinating story of Canadian Mennonite women that deserves to be read by women and men everywhere."--Jacket