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8 The Changing Bole of Women

PART A Background Information

STATISTICS REVEAL Comparable statistics over the past years indicate important changes that have
CHANGES FOR occurred in the employment rates, education levels, and family roles and

WOMEN expectations of American women.

• More women are entering the labor force. In 1940 only 27.4 percent of all
American women worked outside the home. By 1970 the figure had risen to
42.6 and by 1986, 54.7 percent. Projections indicate that by 1990 women will
constitute more than half of the American labor force.

• More women have been attaining higher education levels. In 1960, of all
persons aged 25 and older who had been in college four or more years, 39
percent were women. By 1975, the proportion had grown to 41 percent, and
it reached 45 percent by 1980.

• Women are having fewer children. In the 1950s, the average mother had 3
or 4 children. In the 1980s, the average mother has 1 or 2 children.

• More young women are single. In 1970, the proportion of women from 25 to
29 who had never married was 10.5 percent. By 1985, the proportion of
single (never-married) women between those ages was 26.4 percent.

• Women are marrying at a later age. The median age of females at first
marriage rose from 20.6 in 1970 to 22.5 in 1983.

Opinion polls reveal that women's attitudes toward family roles and child rearing are changing:

• The majority of women no longer favor traditional marriages. In 1974, 49
percent of American women said they favored traditional marriages in
which the husband is the money-earner and the wife the homemaker and
child rearer; however, in 1985, 57 percent of women were convinced that a
better marriage is one in which the husband and wife share responsibilities
of careers, housekeeping, and child rearing.

• Couples want to have fewer children. In 1941, when men and women were
asked what they considered the ideal number of children to have in a
family, the median ideal number was 3.7. That number dropped to 2.8 in
1986.

These statistics on demographics and attitudes indicate that the role of women in American society is changing. Marriage and motherhood are no

128 AMERICA IN CLOSE-UP

SEX

DISCRIMINATION

THE MODERN

FEMINIST

MOVEMENT

LEGISLATION FOR EQUALITY

PROFESSIONAL

WOMEN

longer perceived as a woman's only areas of responsibility. Women now compete with men for professional training, employment, leadership positions, and political power.

For many years, discriminatory laws and practices barred women from entering male-dominated spheres. Feminists have drawn attention to inequal­ities between the sexes and have succeeded in breaking down many of the barriers that kept women from professional and economic advancement.

Although inequalities still exist, American women have many more rights than they did a hundred years ago. During the nineteenth century, women did not have many of the legal rights they take for granted today. They were not allowed to vote, buy liquor, hold certain jobs, file lawsuits on their own behalf, or retain custody of their children after a divorce. These laws were seen as necessary on the basis of "romantic paternalism," a concept held by men in power that it was their duty to protect women. This attitude persisted despite the women suffragists' campaign for the vote and other freedoms. Although the women's suffrage movement began in the 1830s, it was not until 1920 that a constitutional amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote.

In more recent decades, women have secured many rights as a result of the modern feminist movement, which gained momentum in the 1960s. When Betty Friedan (born 1921) wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963, declaring that motherhood and housekeeping do not provide the fulfillment women want, she articulated a discontent that many women of her generation were feeling. With this book, Friedan became the standard bearer of the modern feminist movement. In 1966 she founded the National Organization for Women (NOW). Feminists demanded greater access to jobs and political power, equal pay for equal work, and an end to the condescending way in which men often treated women.

The women's movement has helped bring about legislation that ensures greater equality of the sexes. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 guarantees that men and women filling the same jobs will receive the same pay. Job discrimination on the basis of sex was prohibited by the Equal Rights Act of 1964. In 1972, Congress barred gender-based discrimination in all federally supported edu­cation programs. The same Congress passed a law making it easier for women to qualify for loans and mortgages. A 1978 amendment to the Civil Rights Act protects pregnant women from job discrimination.

Legislation prohibiting sex discrimination has benefited many women, especially those in professional or technical fields. Women have entered many male-dominated professions. In 1980 over 8 percent of the graduates of military academies for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard were women. More and more women are training to become accountants, doctors, or lawyers and are filling other high-salaried positions. In 1960 women made up only 16.4 percent of the nation's accountants, 3.3 percent of the lawyers and judges, and 6.8 percent of the doctors. By 1980 the proportion of women in these high-paid professions had risen considerably: 36.2 percent of the accountants, 12.8 per­cent of the lawyers and judges, and 13.4 percent of the physicians were

women.

Women are securing more leadership positions in business and industry.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN 129

Women in Institutional Leadership Positions, 1970 and 1980

WOMEN IN POLITICS

^a Presidents, all corporate directors including officer-directors; senior partners in law and investment firms; governing trustees of foundations, universities, and civic and cultural organizations; secretaries, undersecretaries and assistant secretaries of federal executive branch, senior White House advisors, congressional leaders, and Supreme Court justices; four-star generals and admirals on active duty.

Although woman's share of political representation is still small, the election or appointment of a woman to political office is becoming more common. Sandra Day O'Connor (born 1930) became the first female Supreme Court justice in 1981, and in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro (born 1935) made history when she ran on the Democratic ticket as the vice-presidential candidate.

25 т

Recent Increases in Women Elected Officials: Congress and State Legislatures

1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983

Ш Women in the U.S. Congress

В Percentage of women state legislators

130 AMERICA IN CLOSE-UP

PROGRESS FOR WOMEN

PERSISTENT DISPARITIES

EARNINGS GAP

In addition to these professional and political gains, the heightened aware­ness of women's rights has brought progress in other areas. Corporations have redressed past sex discrimination by providing compensatory back pay to female employees. Federal agencies and other institutions have officially adopted non-sexist language. For example, the word "chairperson" replaces "chairman," and "mail carrier" is used instead of "mailman." In the area of education and scholarship, women's history has emerged as a new field of study. Within this discipline, scholars are reexamining the events of America's political and social history from a feminist perspective.

Despite the progress the women's movement has achieved in many areas, many goals have not been reached, and new conflicts have surfaced. Dis­crimination and inequalities still persist. Even after the adoption of legislation such as the Equal Pay Act, the difference in earnings between men and women has not changed in more than forty years. On average, working women still earn only two thirds of the average male salary.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

Even when men and women are doing similar work, the gap in earnings is wide. For example, although 81 percent of all elementary school teachers are women, the median teacher's salary is higher for males than for females. On average, female college graduates continue to earn less than male high school dropouts. While professional women have benefited from the new legislation regarding hiring and promotion practices, they represent a minority: most women are still paid less for equal work.

The women's movement suffered a major setback when the states failed to ratify a constitutional amendment to guarantee equal rights to all, regardless of sex. Feminists argued that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would simplify the legal enforcement of equal rights and would provide more uniform legal protection for women. This amendment, however, encountered strong opposi­tion from both men and women who vehemently disagreed with the goals and

THE CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN 131

ANTI-FEMINISTS

PREDICAMENT OF WORKING WOMEN

assumptions of the women's movement. Well-known anti-feminists Phyllis Schlafly (born 1924) and Midge Decter (born 1927) argued that the ERA would disrupt family life, encourage homosexual marriages, and take away women's exemption from the draft. These anti-feminists defended traditional role divisions and asserted that taking care of children, husband, and house­hold was rewarding. According to anti-feminists, the insistence on fulfillment through work and on equality with men in all spheres has placed a strain on the family. Furthermore, it has left women with the double burden of family and career.

Some feminists, including Betty Friedan, have acknowledged the predica­ment of working women. It is difficult for a professional woman to become highly successful if she must divide her energies between duties at home and those at work. Women who choose a successful career instead of a family sometimes wish they could have both. Many women who do manage both careers and families complain they are overworked. In some families, working husbands and wives share the housekeeping and child-rearing duties. But statistics continue to show that most working women still do a greater share of the housework than their husbands.

Arranging and affording child care is another burden on working parents. Day care centers for pre-school-age children are often expensive. Some cor­porations are responding to women's needs by adapting the workplace to meet the demands of working mothers. Some factories and companies now run child-care nurseries on their premises. In addition, many companies and federal agencies have established a new system of working hours called "flex time," which allows workers to arrange starting, quitting, and lunch hours according to individual and family needs. Many people feel that solutions such as these need to be more broadly instituted to relieve pressure on women and families.

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PART в Texts

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 616