There are TONS of academic books discussing these issues … let me begin with only one …
here one on the myth of the Victorian patriarchal family by the University of Glasgow …
• The Myth of the Victorian Patriarchal Family, by Eleanor Gordon (a Department of Economic and Social History, University of Glasgow, 4 University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK) and Gweneth Nair (Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Paisley, Paisley UK) … it has been available online 22 January 2002
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here’s some on Victorian clothing … quite enlightening stuff there too … I could post about that if you would like …
• Kidwell, Claudia Brush and Steele, Valerie. Men and Women: Dressing the Part, Washington 
DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989
• Maroger, Dominique, ed. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1955
• Severa, Joan. Dressed For the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900, Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1995
• De Castelbajac, Kate. The Face of the Century: 100 Years of Makeup and Style, New York: Rizzoli 1995
• Mulvey, Kate and Richards, Melissa. Decades of Beauty: The Changing Image of Women 1890s-1990s, New York: Octopus Publishing Group, 1998
• Perrot, Phillipe. Fashioning the Bourgeoisie: A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994
• Walkley, Christina. The Way to Wear’em 150 Years of Punch in Fashion, London: Peter Owen, 1985
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As I shared earlier I really enjoy …
• Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbot
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as you know women have been referred to as “civilizers” … unfortunately, many would consider these women so-called white washed feminists as well …
• Collins, Gail; America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines, HarperCollins Publishers Inc; Copyright 2003
• Hymowitz, Carol and Weissman, Michaele; A History of Women in America; Bantam Books; Copyright December 1978
• Jenkins, Malinda; Gambler’s Wife: Life of Malinda Jenkins; University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London; Copyright 1933
• Moynihan, Ruth B.; So Much to be Done: Women Settlers on the Mining and Ranching Frontier 2nd Edition; University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London; Copyright 1990
• Mulford, Karen; Trailblazers: Twenty Amazing Western Women; Northland Publishing; Copyright 2001
• Riley, Glenda; The Female Frontier: A Comparative View of Women on the Prairie and Plains; University Press of Kansas; Copyright 1988
