Swimming in the Steno Pool

A Retro Guide to Making It in the Office

By: Lynn Peril

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Paperback | 1 April 2011 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.08 x 15.74 x 2.03

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The job of the secretary has been alternately lauded as a wonderful career opportunity for women and excoriated as dead-end busy work. And as author-secretary Lynn Peril explains in this hilarious cultural history, it is both. From the all-male antebellum offices of the Civil War era to today's tech-savvy administrative (or even virtual) assistants - Peril proves the perfect, feisty, 'femorabilia'-collecting guide to the evolution of this famed but often overlooked profession, with a special focus on all the juiciest, Mad Men reminiscent office politics and power relations. Taking as her model the secretarial guidebooks of the 40s, 50s and 60s that lecture on everything from key administrative skills to the charm, poise, attire, and ability to shower positive reinforcement on one's boss essential to success in the field, Peril shows how secretaries breached the wall dividing a woman's sphere (home) from the man's (office) and made way for the 'career women' who would eventually hire secretaries of their own. Peril's research situates secretaries in their various historical moments - showing how, collectively, they both advanced and resisted the feminist movement - so that readers get a lively lesson in women's studies as they delight in Peril's humor, wit, and contagious passion for retro treasures.

Industry Reviews

A humorous guide to exploring the changing definition of a woman's role in the workplace.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

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