The face of women in
America has witnessed a dramatic transformation over the last five decades. It
has been an ongoing fight for equality that exploded with the 1960’s arrival of
the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) and the Feminist Movement (FM). These
movements were a response to cultural, societal, and legal barriers that
discriminated against women when the government and society failed to be
responsive in addressing these social and economic inequities. Disenfranchised
and frustrated, women rose up in protest as they began the long struggle for
women’s equality and social justice issues.
At the
center of the women’s movement was the reluctant face of leadership in Gloria
Steinem whose tireless enduring advocacy and activism helped champion the cause
of women’s equality both domestically and globally. Equally important is the
profound impact of the novel The Feminine
Mystique written by Betty Freidan. This novel ignited and emboldened the
fight for women’s equality at a national level. It is critical to understand the legal and
cultural norms of women living in the
1960’s, how the women’s movement started, what the women’s movement
accomplished, and what the battles of unfinished business are in attaining
greater gender equality for American women. Understanding the historical perspective of the
1960’s American culture, women’s reproductive rights, violence against women,
and employment opportunities are necessary to appreciate the dramatic
transformation of women’s everyday lives created by the Women’s Liberation
Movement.
The Historical Perspective
The 1960’s was a period of unrest for America.
The Civil Rights Movement was in full force with protests and conflict filling the
political landscape. America was also in the throes of the military draft and
the unpopular Vietnam War with its protests growing in intensity. The women’s
movement was, and continues to be, a symptom of the failure of our culture and
government to recognize or to be responsive to women’s issues. This was the
beginning of the “invention of women as a class” (Hepola) and their fight against
discrimination, oppression, and stereotyping as well as redefining their female
sexual identities (Hepola). There were few, if any, laws when the women’s
movement started that addressed gender discrimination (Menand).
The women’s movement
began as a grassroots movement that encompassed loosely formed local support
groups and those that developed into well-structured national organizations,
with many that are still active today. Women were banning together to
communicate their frustrations and reject their economic and social inequality.
The women’s movement was fluid, with fluctuating alliances transforming into
new coalitions while addressing a multitude of women’s issues. New ideas and strategies were shared between
different women‘s groups. This willingness to communicate and interconnect
between groups enhanced the cohesiveness of messaging and coordination of
numerous moving parts (Whittier).
In the 1960’s, the USA
was experiencing a wave of women entering the workforce, and two thirds of all
new jobs were being filled by them. (The 1960s-70’s American Feminist
Movement). Although this was a major increase of women in the workplace, employment
opportunities were limited by gender, not qualifications. There were separate
pages in the classified advertisements with one section for men, and one for
women. Women were relegated to the
supporting roles of housewives, mothers, teachers, secretaries, nurses, and
waitresses (The 1960s-70s). In some states, women could not get a job without
the expressed consent of their husbands (Alterman). Many women were unable to
attend business lunches even if they held the same position as their male
counterparts. In many states, women were excluded from jury duty and were unable
to hold political office. They were openly paid less than a man with the same
job titles (Rosen).
Women represented only
6% of doctors, 3% of lawyers, and only 1% of engineers (Miller). Female
entrance into educational programs traditionally identified with men, was met
with significant resistance. At the collegiate level, education was regarded by
many women as a tool to find a husband who could provide them with an upper
class lifestyle. This was viewed as a necessity because their professional
aspirations were limited.
There were regional inconsistencies in regards
to how women were treated if traveling alone. A woman traveling without a male
escort could be met with cultural sanctions, rejection, as well as denied entry
or service. There were bars, hotels, and restaurants that refused to serve
women. A woman unescorted, could be perceived as a prostitute or be branded
with questionable morality (Hinkley).
Discrimination
abounded. Housing and access to credit, based solely on being a woman, could be
denied. Divorce could be difficult or impossible, and a woman may not have had
rights to her husband’s property or earnings. A woman had to prove “wrongdoing”
(The 1960s-70s) to obtain a divorce and this may not have included physical
abuse in some states. A husband could declare the right to control any assets
belonging to his wife (Mcguire).
American society imposed the image of the self-worth of a woman to be
valued less than a man; as her self-worth was tied to that of a man.
In the 1960’s abortion
was illegal, advertising for birth control was illegal; and the Pill, reliable
condoms, and the IUD did not exist. American women had little control over
their reproductive rights. Underground abortion clinics provided illegal
abortions. The use of dirty non-sterile procedures could cost a woman her life
(Sawhney). The possibility of death from infection or severe blood loss was a
real threat. Many devices were used by women to induce abortion, including coat
hangers. Domestic violence was not even coined in the 1960’s. There were no
legal protections from a brutal husband, free to beat his wife as if she were
his property. There was no legal action
for the raping of a wife, because marriage was a license for sex on demand.
Women’s shelters and rape crisis centers were essentially nonexistent in the
1960’s (“’Date’ Rape”).
The
Feminine Mystique
The cultural and
political environment was ripe for change as the frustrations and limitations
for women created a ground swell of discontent. Women found their voice as they
began writing about their discontent. The
Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan published in 1963, ignited controversy
and provided the women’s movement with their calling card (Mcguire). The Feminine Mystique was both
controversial and provocative. It reached a starved audience of women and
became a Best Seller. It sold millions while reaching into the homes and
communities of women across the nation and the world. It was a powder keg.
Although it was flawed by its narrow focus, primarily on educated white woman,
it was contagious to women of every class and every race. The book identified a
societal ailment that was pervasive in American culture, but it lacked an
identifying name (Mcguire and Menand). However, it started a historical movement.
Once women recognized their common symptoms of socioeconomic inequalities, they
began to mobilize to demand change.
Women were not just
fighting for their rights and freedoms against a resistant male population; they
were also meeting opposition from conservative women. It is fair to say that
there was a percentage of the female population that wanted to maintain the
freedom to choose traditional housewife and mother roles. The Feminist Movement
at times, alienated these women. However, they soon came to understand that
they needed to represent freedom of choice for all women, whatever the outcome may be. Part of the resistance to The Feminine Mystique was the hostility felt
by women who chose to be a housewife by equating it to a “concentration camp”
(Schuessler). There were other books written prior to The Feminine Mystique,
but they lacked the same impact for an attentive and hungry audience (Menand). The Feminine Mystique and the
socioeconomic culture for women in the 1960’s were explosive combinations that
detonated the modern Women’s Liberation Movement.
Stephanie Coontz’s
novel, A Strange Stirring was written
as an analysis of The Feminine Mystique. She noted that just prior to
the release of The Feminine Mystique;
a Saturday Evening Post article was
written glorifying the housewife homemaker as a respectable submissive role.
This, they reported, represented the happy satisfied majority of American women
and encouraged all women to aspire to this blissful perfection. “Old maids”,
divorced women, women without children, and working mothers were representative
of the “extreme” outsiders when discussing American women (Stirring Up). The
article wished to dispel dissatisfaction among this group of women and paint
the rosy happy picture of American perfection and idealism. They endorsed the
ideology that "being subordinate to men is a part of being feminine”
(Stirring Up). Life centered on men and keeping them satisfied. Happy
homemakers were reinforced through our culture, media and advertisements.
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem’s work
for women’s equality has continued throughout the decades, and even at the age
of seventy seven she continues to work towards women’s equality. Her argument
that we are only half way there is very compelling.
Gloria Steinem was
magna cum laude graduate of government studies at Smith College in Northampton,
Massachusetts. Steinem wrote a controversial
expose’ on Playboy bunnies and bared the realities of the sexually exploited
workers. Steinem had difficulty finding significant political journalist
assignments because as a woman, she was not taken seriously. The doors of
opportunity began opening for her when she became a founding editor of New York Magazine in 1968 when the WLM
was in its infancy. Her coverage of political and social issues led her to
investigate and report on an abortion hearing. At the same time women were
exposing the underground abortion system and the injustice of our lack of reproductive
rights and self-determination. This experience detonated her own feminist
philosophy and propelled her deep into the heart of the women’s movement
(Gloria Steinem and Hass).
Gloria Steinem has
achieved far reaching success in publishing her message to champion women’s
equality. She co-founded Ms. Magazine
in 1971 and is well published in other domestic and foreign magazines. She is a part of history in scholastic text
books and has written her own bestselling books that continue to be in
circulation (Gloria Steinem and Biography).
She is a co-founder of the Women’s Action Alliance, the National Women’s
Political Caucus, the Women’s Media Center, and other organizations geared
towards eradicating social injustices for women. Steinem has received a variety of awards for
her writing and documentaries addressing women’s inequality issues (Gloria
Steinem).
Gloria Steinem has been
relentless in increasing awareness on women’s issues. She shares information
resources, participates in activities, forums, and lobbies for legislation that
directly impacts women. She has an uncanny ability to take difficult ideas and
create a digestible popular message (Hass). Steinem is always engaged in the
women’s equality conversation and participates in speaking engagements on the
women’s inequity issues that have not been resolved. Steinem is characterized
as having “relentless focus, soothing tenacity and a lack of an ego” (Hass).
When you participate in
‘Take your daughter to work day’ you can thank Gloria Steinem. Rebecca
Traister, author of Big Girls Don’t Cry
remarks “She was a figurehead chosen by the media for complicated reasons. She
was young and white and pretty, and she looked great on magazine covers”
(Hepola). Steinem has resisted the image that she alone was the face of the
women’s movement. She has expressed her satisfaction with the media for
broadening their scope to include the vast variety of activist leaders, to
identify with the fight for equality and social justice on women’s issues. The
growing complexity of the women’s movement creates a room full of leaders with
no one single voice. “Only a diverse group can symbolize a movement,” (Hepola)
she said. As for whether she feels there can or will be another Gloria Steinem,
she replied, “I don’t think there should have been a first one” (Hepola).
The Changing Face of American Women: Reproductive Rights
Reproductive rights
were revolutionized by the birth of the Pill. The research for the Pill was
largely funded by wealthy heir Katherine McCormick who together with American
Birth Control League founder Margaret Sanger and Seale research scientist
Gregory Pincus produced the first birth control pill approved by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in 1960 (“The Birth of the Pill”). Access to the Pill
revolutionized career opportunities for women with “80% of women using birth
control by the end of the 1960’s” (Walsh and Daniels). The Pill was not without
the consequence of high dose hormonal side effects when it first was approved
by the FDA. Male physicians were initially dismissive of the symptoms of
hormonal overdose because the complainants were of course women (“The Birth of
the Pill”).
By 1965 the old
Comstock Laws that were meant to control women’s reproductive rights were
challenged in the Supreme Court case of Griswold
V. Connecticut. The Supreme Court ruled that “the private use of
contraceptives was a constitutional right.” The Comstock laws were created by
the conservative Christians to prohibit a woman’s access to birth control and
birth control information (“The Birth of the Pill”).
The Pill represented
significant freedom in career choice options for women. Women could now pursue
careers that required higher degree requirements without worrying about an
unexpected pregnancy interfering with long term professional goals. The morning
after pill or “Plan B” was designated an over the counter medication and made available
to girls of any age in 2013 (Belluck).
Access to the Pill is not just about sexual freedom; it is an economic
enhancer with one study demonstrating 8% higher incomes for those women having
access to the Pill (“Contraceptive Use”). Gloria Steinem’s comment on access to
reliable birth control, “does not confine us to define our worth or ability to
succeed by our reproductive anatomy” (Gloria Steinem and Biography).
A groundbreaking achievement
in reproductive rights for women was the Supreme Court ruling on Roe V. Wade that legalized abortions in
the US in 1973. No longer would women have to go to underground facilities and
risk their health to obtain an abortion. Today, at the state level, there have
been significant laws passed since Roe V.
Wade to limit access to a legal abortion. In 2011, ninety three new Laws were
created to inhibit access to contraception and abortion and another forty two
laws in 2012 were enacted (“Laws Affecting Reproductive Health”).
In recent years, the
anti-abortion coalition supported by the conservative Christians and the
Republican Party have made great strides infringing on women’s reproductive
rights and they show no sign of abating. At the national level, Republicans
have passed countless laws limiting abortions in the US including passage of
Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003. They have introduced “Personhood
Amendments” that declare the fertilized zygote still in the fallopian tube, to
be a person with rights equal to that of the mother. To stem the anti-abortion
violence against abortion clinics, the 1994 U.S. Supreme Court in NOW v. Scheidler unanimously upheld the
right to provide abortion services without fear of violence against the abortion
clinic or its providers (“Highlight’s From NOW”). This has not deterred
conservative extremists, as they have continued to picket clinics and harass
women seeking medical care. In some of the most extreme cases they have bombed
clinics and murdered healthcare providers performing abortion services. They
work tirelessly to defund the Planned Parenthood organization where abortion
services represent 3% of their total services offered.
The conservative
Christians consistently oppose birth control access as well as sexual education
(“The Bible Belt Miseducation”). They are protesting the Affordable Health Care
Act for its provision of birth control products for female employees. Although
they want to deny access to birth control, they are unwilling to fund needed
programs to assist impoverished women and children. This in itself is a
dichotomy because it perpetuates the cycle of oppression and poverty due to the
economic consequence of an unwanted pregnancy.
Changing Cultural Norms and Creating Equality
Many
cultural changes are being realized as a response to the women’s movement. As
women advance in the workforce, the antiquated idea about ‘who brings home the
bacon’ is being replaced with ideas of partnership between couples. The idea of
the stay at home father as the homemaker has been normalized by movies, TV
shows and American life realities. Now younger couples may choose the caretaker
based on multiple dynamic factors such as the cost of child care, incomes,
benefits, and advancement potential. Great changes have occurred in our
countries divorce laws enabling women the option of divorce based on
‘irreconcilable differences’ or ‘no fault’ divorces. While the divorce rate
increased sharply from 1970 to 1975 as ‘no-fault’ divorce laws spread across the
United States, the divorce rate has leveled off to about 40% all marriages (“Celebrating
Women”).
The Miss America
Pageant protest of 1968 was one of the first nationally covered protests of the
women’s movement. It was organized by a more radical wing of the women’s
movement called the New York Radical Women. Their roots and passions originated
from their involvement in the Civil Rights movement where females were
prohibited from significant positions within the hierarchy of power solely
because they were women. They were protesting the unrealistic symbolism of
female standards, their sexual objectification, and the racism portrayed in the
Miss America Pageant by the shear lack of any black contestants (“American
Experience”). The event was a success in garnering national media attention,
but there was some residual negative backlash from the messaging that pitted
women against women and imposed conformity to ideals rather than championing
freedom of choice and opportunity for women (Hanish).
In response to lack of
access to many bars, restaurants, and other public accommodations, the National
Organization of Women(NOW) proclaimed "Public Accommodations Week" in
1969 (“Highlight’s From NOW”). They protested the “men only” establishments
with “sit-in, picketing, demonstrations, press conferences, legislative
pressures and law suits (Hinkley). The tenacity to keep the pressure on these
establishments resulted in the equal access that women enjoy today.
The response to the
relentless outcry of protest from the WLM has also realized a series of legal
and cultural changes that have begun the process of addressing women’s
inequality in America. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) passed Congress in 1963
“prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination”(EEOC) to resolve the wage gap
between a man and a woman who was being paid less for working essentially the
same job at the same company. The struggle for equal pay for equal work has
narrowed the wage gap from 59% in 1963 to approximately 80.9% in 2013, but the
problem still persists (EEOC).
The amount of lawsuits,
landmark court hearings and Fair Pay Acts that have been put up for a vote
before Congress are too numerous to note. A recent significant piece of
legislation signed into law, was the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Act. This act reestablishes
a woman’s right for just compensation in the form of retroactive pay and equal
pay when a pay discrimination case has been proven in a court of law (“Lilly
Ledbetter”). There continues to be state to state variances in the wage gap. In
Washington DC women earn 90% of what men earn at comparable occupations and in
Wyoming women earn 64% at comparable occupations. The wage gap is also shown to
worsen with age (“The Simple Truth”).
Many citizens believe The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a black only movement against discrimination but
everyone, including women, got on board the Civil Rights train to equality. The
law prohibits a broad collection of discrimination based on sex, race, religion,
and ethnicity in every facet of employment opportunities, housing, benefits,
wages, education, and use of public spaces and services (EEOC). After the
passage of Civil Rights bill and the 1970 Equal Rights Act (ERA), the National
Organization of Women (NOW), aggressively lobbied for the passage of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. While the Civil Rights Law and the ERA
prohibited discrimination, they lacked the enforcement capacity to ensure that
that laws would be followed (EEOC). The organization NOW stepped up the
political pressure by seeking public hearings and conducting further protests
to demand enforcement of the existing laws (“Highlight’s From Now”).
Enhancing Employment Opportunities
Minimal childcare
resources inspired the women’s movement to lobby heavily for the 1970
Comprehensive Childcare Act. This act
would have provided for a national childcare program to improve economic
opportunities for women (“Highlight’s From Now”). The act was vetoed by President Richard
Nixon, who called it the "Sovietization of American children” (Spangler).
In Nixon’s speech explaining his rejection, he emphasized the potential
negative effects on the integrity of the American family in order to pander to
the conservative Christians who helped get him elected (Spangler and Cohen). There
was no foresight in the rejection of this law. Because of the changing culture
of America, with single mothers and two working parent families, the most our
country has done to accommodate childcare costs is via deductions in our tax
codes and marginally through our welfare systems (Cohen).
The women’s movement
lobbied for and Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. This
law prohibited discrimination against pregnant women from being hired or
working (“Celebrating Women”). The
passage of the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 was heralded as a great moment
for working families and women. It allowed parents to take up to 12 weeks of
leave after the birth or adoption of a child without fear of losing their job.
It also covers employee illness or care for an immediate family member (“Dept.
of Labor”). The major fault in this law is that in most cases it is unpaid
leave and it covers less than 50% of US employers (Cohen). The 1971 Supreme
Court ruling of Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp. prohibited
corporations from refusing to “hire women with preschool children unless they
also refused to hire men with preschool children” (“Celebrating Women”).
Women have made great
strides in employment opportunities, however, many continue to be obstructed by
the “glass ceiling” when it comes to executive advancements. There have been no
physical barriers prohibiting women from advancing into positions they are qualified
for, but because they are women, they are denied the promotion, and thus the term
“glass ceiling” was coined (“Feminist Majority”). Some executive opportunities
have moved beyond the “glass ceiling” to a great degree but the persistent low
numbers of women in executive positions is causing renewed analysis. In a
recent Forbes’s article, while acknowledging that “bias and misogyny” still
exists in the workplace, writer Margie Warrell explores the notion of a
“self-imposed glass cage” due to lack of confidence and external priorities such
a family responsibilities (Warrell).
The number of females
representing CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies has risen to only 4.4% (Miller). A
recent study reveals that companies that have gender diversified board of
directors, outperform male only board companies by 26 percent over a six year
period and directly contribute to the long term success of the company
(Covert). A CBS News reporter citied a Pew Research Center report, “Women are
now the main breadwinners in 40 percent of U.S. households – compared with just
11 percent back in 1960” (Koslov).
Women are building in
political influence, but hold only 20 seats in the 100 United States Senate and
hold 78 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. In statewide elected
offices women fair only slightly better holding 23% of executive office and 24%
of legislative office (“CWAP”). Women in positions of high political power have
been slow to evolve. Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House
in 2007. There were only two cabinet positions filled by a woman between 1933
and 1979. In all of US history, only 45 cabinet positions were held by women.
Today there are 7 current Cabinet positions headed by women (“List of female”).
In 1981 Sandra Day O'Connor became the first
woman Supreme Court Justice. She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
Today, there are three sitting female Supreme Court judges (Sacks). Political
representation increases power to influence legislation that directly affects
women and their opportunities. In a November 2013 episode of the Today Show, Ann Curry did a story on
women in the CIA. She noted that in 1995, women’s groups sued the CIA for
gender discrimination. Because of this law suit, in the CIA fifty percent agents
positions are filled by women and five of the eight top positions are occupied
by women. The CIA chief stated that women are a valuable asset because they tend
to be more intuitive than men.
Violence Against Women
The WLM took the
pervasive wanton violence against women and the cultural apathy towards it head
on. However, it has been a huge cultural and legal mountain to climb. In 1973
NOW began the process of establishing Rape Crisis Centers across the nation.
This not only increased public awareness, but offered supportive services where
none had existed. They campaigned to redefine rape “as an act of violence” (“Highlight’s
of NOW”).
Following a UN resolution
on violence against women in 1993, The US passed its own Violence Against Women
Act in 1994 (VAWA). The Violence Against
Women’s Act provides funding for rape kit testing, rape training for law
enforcement, establishes interstate reciprocity in the enforcement of
restraining orders that protects victims, prevents a rape victim’s sexual past
from being used at trial, and provides stronger penalties for serial
rapists. There has been a significant
drop in domestic violence. It is down 67% since 1994 and there is a 35% drop in
deaths resulting from domestic violence (“VAWA”). There is always push back
from conservatives and in 1995 (R) Newt Gingrich, then Speaker of the House, moved
to withhold funding for the Violence Against Women’s Act (“Highlight’s of NOW”).
Again, in 2013 there were four separate votes on renewal of the VAWA with
Republicans voting against it three times. They were opposed to including women
who were Native American Indians, legal immigrants and lesbians, but it was
ultimately passed because of media coverage and public pressure (Cohen).
Today, there is
increased awareness and reporting of rape, but there are still significant
numbers that go unreported (“VAWA”). Despite increased public awareness; ‘rape
culture’ remains pervasive throughout our society. What is ‘rape culture’ in America? It is an
environment where rape and sexual violence towards women is ignored, excused or
even amplified by popular culture and media outlets (“Rape Culture”). We can
see this demonstrated in the recent best seller Fifty Shades of Grey where the female protagonist is sexually
objectified and dominated by the male
protagonist. It creates a sociocultural norm erotizing male dominance that “disregards
a woman’s rights and safety” (“Rape Culture”) and perpetuates the cycle of fear
used to psychologically restrain women.
In the state of Missouri
in 2012, a 14 year old girl was raped by a high school football star and was
video recorded by a male friend. The charges were dropped by the prosecutor,
until the national and media spotlight brought attention to the small town and
the injustice in the system. The young girl and her family were forced to
relocate and their home was burned down. Since the media spotlight was turned
on, a special prosecutor has been assigned to investigate. Public outcry both
nationally and globally have produced protests of injustice served for the 14
year old (Eligon). In Alabama, Austin Clem was found guilty of raping a female
teenager and was sentenced to serve no jail time, only probation.
The Push Back Against the Women’s Movement
Conservative Christians
and Republicans have developed an inseparable partnership and continue to scratch
back reproductive rights for women and continue to create barriers to opportunity and freedoms. They have
always maintained that the women’s movement would “undermine the integrity of
the traditional family values” (“The 1960s-70s”). A conservative Christian recently wrote “Shifting
from the role of mother and housewife to another identity not found in Christ” is
the wrong solution that will receive its ultimate verdict from Christ (Hong).
Despite Hong’s concerns over potential spiritual ruin over making the wrong
choice, she acknowledges that she and modern women of today have received
direct benefits from the barriers that were removed by the women’s movement
(Hong). Religious forces continue to work against women and their struggle for freedom and equality.
Women in America were initially
radicalized because every new movement moves to the extreme before it centers.
Women were pushed against the wall and they reacted. The power to effect
cultural change can be gained from assuming a crisis mode. Today, women’s
groups have left behind the hostilities of the “male chauvinistic pig” (Didion)
and have moved towards a collaborative effort with the male side of the equality
equation (London). Men are after all; husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons.
The women who fought
the big battles continue to make their voices heard. Many are mothers and
grandmothers who grew up in the midst of the women’s movement. Today, some women
take the great accomplishments achieved by the women’s movement for granted and
many young women have become complacent. They believe, and wrongly assume that
all of the battles have been won and that women are on an equal playing field
with men. Women have come far, but not far enough in equality. In fact, women
are losing ground by forces aggressively working against them.
Greater representation
of women in judiciary and legislative offices is necessary to ensure women’s equality.
Women’s equality is a matter concern for both them and their families. It will
be up to the millennials, both men and women, to create the third wave of
activists to realize and secure the full potential of American society. According to a
recent World Economic Forum’s report, the USA ranks 23rd in the world by
women’s equality measures (Sauter). As a country with freedom and rights as the
stated essence of American culture, it can and should do better.
