Image: Dr. Weitzman and one of her students, Zainab Salbi.
It is very difficult to find biographical information on Lenore J. Weitzman. What can be gathered about the life of this influential scholar begins, therefore, with parts of her education. Dr. Weitzman, called Lenni by those who know her, earned a B.S. at Cornell University in 1964, a Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University in 1970, and was a Russell Sage Post-doctoral fellow at Yale Law School in 1971 (Sociologists Remember, 2003 and GMU Administrative Catalog, n.d.). Lenore J. Weitzman’s development as an academic is clearly plotted though her educational path- the institutions at which she studied, and the subjects she studied there. Although the specifics of when, where, and the positions she held are not easily accessible, Dr. Weitzman began her teaching career after receiving her doctorate, and is known to have taught at both Harvard and Stanford for a time.
Also significant is her marriage to William “Si” Josiah Goode, a professor of sociology at Stanford University, in 1978 (Sociologists Remember, 2003). The four books Lenore Weitzman published in the following time period, 1979 to 1991, focus mainly on law. Her academic development was further contributed to by role models such as her husband, co-authors, and her colleagues in the American Sociological Association (ASA- http://www.asanet.org/).
Goode’s “work covered basic issues in sociological theory focusing on social control systems of prestige, force and force threat, and love” (Sociologists Remember, 2003). It is especially easy to see the similarities between Weitzman’s works on the effects of marriage contracts and divorce and Goode’s World Revolution and Family Patterns (1963) and World Changes in Divorce Patterns (1993) (Sociologists Remember, 2003). As a member of the ASA caucus on The Status of Women in the Profession, Weitzman worked with Elise M. Boulding, Rose Laub Coser, Paul C. Glick, Cora Bagley Marrett, and James A. Sweet, publishing the 1970 report on The Status of Women in Sociology, 1968-72. The caucus members were obviously of a similar mind at least as far as their political stance in support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). In fact, supporting the ERA was of enough universal significance to the caucus members that because Georgia did not support the legislation, they moved their meeting place from Atlanta to New York City (Rhoades 1981 History Chapter 9, 2005).
In addition to her ASA colleagues, Lenore Weitzman has had several co-authors: Helen MacGill Hughes (The Status of Women in Sociology, 1968-1972and Report to the American Sociological Association of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession.), Maclean Mavis (Economic Consequences of Divorce: The International Perspective), Ruth B. Dixon (When Husbands File for Divorce and Evaluating the Impact of No-Fault Divorce in California), and Dalia Ofer (Women in the Holocaust). The book edited by Weitzman and Ofer, Women in the Holocaust, has many contributors, some of whom are Yehuda Bauer, who describes the life of a leader of an underground refugee group, Gisi Fleischmann, and claims that gender adds to study about the Holocaust; Gershon Bacon presents research on Jewish Women in Interwar Poland and its implications for studying this topic; Gisela Bock discusses ordinary German Gentile women who contributed to the systematic genocide; Dalia Ofer studies gender particularly as it is relevant in the diaries and memoirs of persons who were in the Warsaw ghetto; Lawrence Langer warns that gender may not be a helpful or relevant perspective by which to such suffering because the camps “‘severely diminished [the] role that gendered behavior played during those cruel years’” (Ryan, 1999).
Numerous reviewers have given positive feedback and write-ups of Dr. Weitzman’s work. The Divorce Revolution in particular was received by the majority of the public as not only shocking, but an urgent call to action and reform of the inequalities between post-divorce situations for men and women. One study, however, stands out as a staunch criticism of the book. Richard R. Peterson published Statistical Errors, Faulty Conclusions, Misguided Policy: Reply to Weitzman, significantly marking the fact that not all of Weitzman’s work has been without controversy. In her development as an academic, the rise of such controversy was certainly a formative event. Not only did it follow clear success in which a sociological work became an effective change-agent, but it proceeded a backlash of accusations that merited a response publication in which Weitzman defends her research, The Economic Consequences of Divorce Are Still Unequal: Comment on Peterson, which can be found in part at the link below (1996).
http://www.jstor.org/view/00031224/di974431/97p0126s/0?currentResult=00031224%2bd....
In 1998, Weitzman and Goode moved to Virginia, where Weitzman took a position as the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Sociology and Law at George Mason University- a position she still holds (Ofer & Weitzman, 1998). A shift in her scholarship appears in 1998, when she co-authored Women in the Holocaust with Dalia Ofer (Bio 2005).
Goode passed away unexpectedly in May 4, 2003, and the amount of eulogistic literature following the loss is a testament to his widespread academic influence and popularity. Weitzman is continuing her work on the Holocaust, writing and doing more interviews.
Resources
GMU Administrative Catalog. Retrieved February 15, 2007, from www.gmu.edu/catalog/admin/w.html, 2/15/2007.
Ofer, D., Weitzman, L. (Eds.). (1998). Woman in the Holocaust. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press.
Rhoades 1981 History Chapter 9 American Sociological Association. (2005). Retrieved
February 15, 2007, from http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=ASA+History&
name=Rhoades+1981+History+C....
Ryan, J. (1999). Review: [Untitled] of Women in the Holocaust by Dalia Ofer; Lenore J.
Weitzman. The Slavic and East European Journal, 43(2), 399-401. Retrieved
February 14, 2007, from JSTOR database: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-
6752%28199922%291%3A43%3A2%3C399%3AWITH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0.
Sociologists Remember William J. Goode. Retrieved March 22, 2007, from
http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/julyaugust03/fn9.html.
Weitzman, L. (~2006-2007). Curriculum Vitae. E-mailed from Prof. Weitzman on March
12, 2007.
Weitzman, Lenore J. Autobiographical Sketch. E-mailed from Prof. Weitzman on March
12, 2007.
William J. Goode American Sociological Association. Retrieved February 15, 2007,
from http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=William+J.+Goode§ion=Presidents.
Also significant is her marriage to William “Si” Josiah Goode, a professor of sociology at Stanford University, in 1978 (Sociologists Remember, 2003). The four books Lenore Weitzman published in the following time period, 1979 to 1991, focus mainly on law. Her academic development was further contributed to by role models such as her husband, co-authors, and her colleagues in the American Sociological Association (ASA- http://www.asanet.org/).
Goode’s “work covered basic issues in sociological theory focusing on social control systems of prestige, force and force threat, and love” (Sociologists Remember, 2003). It is especially easy to see the similarities between Weitzman’s works on the effects of marriage contracts and divorce and Goode’s World Revolution and Family Patterns (1963) and World Changes in Divorce Patterns (1993) (Sociologists Remember, 2003). As a member of the ASA caucus on The Status of Women in the Profession, Weitzman worked with Elise M. Boulding, Rose Laub Coser, Paul C. Glick, Cora Bagley Marrett, and James A. Sweet, publishing the 1970 report on The Status of Women in Sociology, 1968-72. The caucus members were obviously of a similar mind at least as far as their political stance in support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). In fact, supporting the ERA was of enough universal significance to the caucus members that because Georgia did not support the legislation, they moved their meeting place from Atlanta to New York City (Rhoades 1981 History Chapter 9, 2005).
In addition to her ASA colleagues, Lenore Weitzman has had several co-authors: Helen MacGill Hughes (The Status of Women in Sociology, 1968-1972and Report to the American Sociological Association of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession.), Maclean Mavis (Economic Consequences of Divorce: The International Perspective), Ruth B. Dixon (When Husbands File for Divorce and Evaluating the Impact of No-Fault Divorce in California), and Dalia Ofer (Women in the Holocaust). The book edited by Weitzman and Ofer, Women in the Holocaust, has many contributors, some of whom are Yehuda Bauer, who describes the life of a leader of an underground refugee group, Gisi Fleischmann, and claims that gender adds to study about the Holocaust; Gershon Bacon presents research on Jewish Women in Interwar Poland and its implications for studying this topic; Gisela Bock discusses ordinary German Gentile women who contributed to the systematic genocide; Dalia Ofer studies gender particularly as it is relevant in the diaries and memoirs of persons who were in the Warsaw ghetto; Lawrence Langer warns that gender may not be a helpful or relevant perspective by which to such suffering because the camps “‘severely diminished [the] role that gendered behavior played during those cruel years’” (Ryan, 1999).
Numerous reviewers have given positive feedback and write-ups of Dr. Weitzman’s work. The Divorce Revolution in particular was received by the majority of the public as not only shocking, but an urgent call to action and reform of the inequalities between post-divorce situations for men and women. One study, however, stands out as a staunch criticism of the book. Richard R. Peterson published Statistical Errors, Faulty Conclusions, Misguided Policy: Reply to Weitzman, significantly marking the fact that not all of Weitzman’s work has been without controversy. In her development as an academic, the rise of such controversy was certainly a formative event. Not only did it follow clear success in which a sociological work became an effective change-agent, but it proceeded a backlash of accusations that merited a response publication in which Weitzman defends her research, The Economic Consequences of Divorce Are Still Unequal: Comment on Peterson, which can be found in part at the link below (1996).
http://www.jstor.org/view/00031224/di974431/97p0126s/0?currentResult=00031224%2bd....
In 1998, Weitzman and Goode moved to Virginia, where Weitzman took a position as the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Sociology and Law at George Mason University- a position she still holds (Ofer & Weitzman, 1998). A shift in her scholarship appears in 1998, when she co-authored Women in the Holocaust with Dalia Ofer (Bio 2005).
Goode passed away unexpectedly in May 4, 2003, and the amount of eulogistic literature following the loss is a testament to his widespread academic influence and popularity. Weitzman is continuing her work on the Holocaust, writing and doing more interviews.
Resources
GMU Administrative Catalog. Retrieved February 15, 2007, from www.gmu.edu/catalog/admin/w.html, 2/15/2007.
Ofer, D., Weitzman, L. (Eds.). (1998). Woman in the Holocaust. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press.
Rhoades 1981 History Chapter 9 American Sociological Association. (2005). Retrieved
February 15, 2007, from http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=ASA+History&
name=Rhoades+1981+History+C....
Ryan, J. (1999). Review: [Untitled] of Women in the Holocaust by Dalia Ofer; Lenore J.
Weitzman. The Slavic and East European Journal, 43(2), 399-401. Retrieved
February 14, 2007, from JSTOR database: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-
6752%28199922%291%3A43%3A2%3C399%3AWITH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0.
Sociologists Remember William J. Goode. Retrieved March 22, 2007, from
http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/julyaugust03/fn9.html.
Weitzman, L. (~2006-2007). Curriculum Vitae. E-mailed from Prof. Weitzman on March
12, 2007.
Weitzman, Lenore J. Autobiographical Sketch. E-mailed from Prof. Weitzman on March
12, 2007.
William J. Goode American Sociological Association. Retrieved February 15, 2007,
from http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=William+J.+Goode§ion=Presidents.