Rubyfruit Jungle | Historical Context

Rubyfruit Jungle Historical Context

1973

Rubyfruit Jungle was published in a very tumultuous year in American history. The U. S. military was integrated by gender as the women-only branches were eliminated. The last U.S. combat personnel were withdrawn from Vietnam, officially ending the Vietnam War.

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court established a woman's right to abortion. Billie Jean King scored an enormous symbolic victory for female athletes when she beats Bobby Riggs in "The Battle of the Sexes," a televised tennis tournament watched by nearly forty-eight million people.

The 1950s: The Beginning of Civil Rights

The first part of Rubyfruit Jungle is set in the early 1950s. There are no overt signs of racism or segregation because Molly lives in a very segregated area. Yet when Molly's family moves to Florida, she experiences racism for the first time. She discovers that African Americans are considered "separate but equal" by law: they must use separate washrooms, drinking fountains, and...
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