Mirra Komarovsky (February 5, 1905 – January 30, 1999), was an American pioneer in the

sociology of gender Sociology of gender is a subfield of sociology. As one of the most important social structures is status (position that an individual possesses which effects how they are treated by society). One of the most important statuses an individual cla ...

Early years

Born to Mendel and Anna Komarovsky (née Steinberg)Mirra Komarovsky, Authority on Women's Studies, Dies at 93

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

in a privileged

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, her family fled the country after the 1917

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. Komarovsky's parents were

Zionists Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly cor ...

and landowning Jews in

Akkerman Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (, ; ; ), historically known as Aq Kirmān () or by other names, is a port city in Odesa Oblast, southwestern Ukraine. It is situated on the right bank of the Dniester Estuary leading to the Black Sea, in the historical r ...

, Russia, until tsarist police drove them from their home. They moved initially to

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

(in what is now

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

) and then to

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

after the Bolshevik Revolution, when Mirra was 16. In Baku, Komarovsky lived a solidly middle-class lifestyle; she was

homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

ed by private tutors and learned Russian, English, Hebrew, and French, as well as playing the piano.

Life in the United States

Once in the United States, she graduated from Wichita High School within a year and in 1922,Mirra Komarovsky
Britannica.com she was admitted to

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

as part of the class of 1926. One of her professors, sociologist

William Ogburn William Fielding Ogburn (June 29, 1886 – April 27, 1959) was an American sociologist who was born in Butler, Georgia and died in Tallahassee, Florida. He was also a statistician and an educator. Ogburn received his B.A. degree from Mercer Un ...

, advised her not to pursue higher education, largely because of the prescribed

gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

s and anti-semitism at the time. Nonetheless, she earned her master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and proceeded to earn her Ph.D.

Komarovsky as a sociologist

Komarovsky's dissertation topic, which she stumbled upon in 1935 through a research position with mathematician

Paul Lazarsfeld Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (February 13, 1901August 30, 1976) was an Austrian-American sociologist and mathematician. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organizat ...

at the New York

Institute for Social Research Institute for Social Research may refer to: * Norwegian Institute for Social Research, a private research institute in Oslo, Norway * University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, a research institute in Frankfurt, Germany * University of ...

, was “The Unemployed Man and His Family." She earned her Ph.D. in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in 1940 from

because of this work. Later published as a book, ''The Unemployed Man'' was an intensive study of fifty-nine families in the qualitative sociological method. Komarovsky built her legacy on researching the social and cultural attitudes of families. Much of her work focused on the idea of “ cultural lag,” in which the cultural attitudes surrounding women generally lag behind technological and social advances. Throughout the rest of her career, she continued to study the role of women and the outlooks of society towards those roles. She became one of the first social scientists to look critically at gender and the role of women in society. Professor Komarovsky retired in 1970 after 32 years on the faculty of

. But she returned to Barnard in 1978 and became the chairwoman of its

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

program until 1992 In 1973 and 1974, she became the second woman after Dorothy Swaine Thomas to be president of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fi ...

. Her research during the 1980s tracked many of the changes taking place in the consciousness of young women and their life choices in response to the feminist movement.

Personal life

In 1940, she married Marcus A. Heyman. She died at New York City on January 30, 1999.Mirra Komarovsky

Notable works

* ''Leisure: A Suburban Study'', 1934 * ''The Unemployed Man and His Family'', 1940 * ''Women in the Modern World. Their Education and Their Dilemmas'', 1953 * ''Common Frontiers of the Social Sciences'', 1957 * ''Blue-Collar Marriage'', 1964 * ''Sociology and Public Policy'', (975 * ''Dilemmas of Masculinity: A Study of College Youth'', 1976 * ''Women in College. Shaping New Feminine Identities'', 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Komarovsky, Mirra 1905 births 1999 deaths Soviet emigrants to the United States Jews from the Russian Empire American sociologists Barnard College faculty Barnard College alumni Columbia University alumni Jewish sociologists American women sociologists 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American scientists