Download or read book Open Country, Iowa written by Deborah Fink and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1986-10-31 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Open Country, Iowa links anthropology and history in a woman's perspective on the changing social patterns of rural Iowa communities. Using life stories which she has collected, Deborah Fink explores the experiences of today's women. She traces them to past influences, beginning with the time of the first settlers, and shows how family, religion, and work have changed over the years. Her interpretation of social patterns as determined by the history of national politics, economics, kinship, and community culture, call into question some common understandings about the traditional role of women and about changes initiated by World War II.