Gender

1900-Present Document 2: United States

Macridis, Roy & Hulliung, Mark, "Contemporary Political Ideologies," 1996

Radek, Kimberly M. Women in Literature 2001.
Spodek, Howard "T he World's History," vol 2. 1998

The women of the 20th century following in the foot step of their feminist ancestors continuing the fight for
the total realization of the goals of the right to vote, to archive equality in property rights, access to education,
access to jobs and fair pay, divorce, and children's custody.
So throughout the 20th century women continued fighting to archive equality in the work place. In 1933 the
National Industrial Recovery Act was passed and with it women benefit from wage raise, shortest working hours,
and a number of employment opportunities. However the fight continued since this provision only applied to the
areas of trade and industry, so women working as clerks or domestic where not cover.
The political arena is the one area, where we see a little bit of discontinuity between the feminist of the 19th and
20th century. In the 1920, women finally archive one of their most desire goals, the right to vote.
Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique in 1963 fueled the feminist movement, which had been nearly
dormant after 1920, and women began to demand change in politics, education, and business, and brought the
gender role debate into the national conscience . The book laid bare the severe unhappiness of women who
presumably enjoyed the best life the Cold War United States could provide. Feminists provided just one signal that
not all was well within the capitalist orbit. Women activists started to adopt the very language and terms of both
Marxism and anti-colonialism in their own quest for equality and independence. They referred to women as an
"oppressed class" and argued against male colonization" of female bodies and for "women's liberation."
Women saw a great payoff when the National Labor Relations Board was founded, since it gave women
workers, especially textile workers, the right to deal as a collective for better wages, and working conditions. An
even better reward for this continuous fight was the Equal Pay Act, which established equal pay for men and
women for the same kind of job, and prohibited discrimination practices against women. This act was further
broader with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which expressly prohibited all discrimination on the bases of race, and
sex. Finally the years and years of fighting were paying off. These laws were not just word in papers, they were
enforced by institution like the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, in the case of The Civil Act of 1964.
In addition to fighting for equality in the working place, feminist in the 20th century were fighting for women's
education. Women could become lawyers and doctors, but these professions were not always socially acceptable.
The fear of social exclusion pushed women to concentrate in professions that were socially acceptable like
teaching, and nursing. For those women who chose to be doctors or lawyers, even after they got their degrees there
was no guarantee that they would be able to practice in their field. In some occasions, women were not recognized
by institution and associations like the BAR association as professionals, so they could not get a license and
practice. So, just like in the work place, 20th century women continued to fight for equality when it came to
education. In 1966 women created the National Organization for women (NOW). This group and others like it
where dedicated to promote information, and mobilize voters to demand equal education opportunities for women.
These efforts did not fall in deaf ears. In 1972, the Education Act was created. This act prohibited sex
discrimination in education. Finally the courts, number one enemy of feminists, let down their guards, and became
increasingly sympathetic toward women's issues, and began to strike down discriminatory legislation and practices.
By the end of the 1960s and the early 1970s, there were male movement groups as well as female ones,
because men were beginning to realize how restricted they had been by these rigid gender roles. Men were being
pressured to spend more time at work, even if they wanted to be at home and/or family-centered. The gender
debate became a media event, as talk shows, newspapers, and magazines debated the issues, wondering, for
instance, if men could cry, and if they could, should it be allowed? Men were supposed to be logical and
unemotional, after all, not emotional, could mens emotionalism be a sign of femininity?

By 1973, however, the climate was changing again. Phyllis Schlafly, a respected female lawyer organized
the Stop the ERA group and traveled around the country, willing to sacrifice her familys moral health,
apparently, for the larger threat of a national crisis of potentially motherless families. As a political tactician and
strategist, she was brilliant. She convinced people that equality would result in men and women serving side by
side in war together, using the same public restrooms, and allowing homosexuals into the classroom with young
children. (roflmao)
During the 20th century women wanted to be able to decide when to have children, or if to have children at
all. With the sexual liberation of women, for the first time there was talk about birth control, and abortion. For the
first time women would have a choice, in what happened with their bodies. Women could plan a career and a
family without one being interfered with by the othe r and thus avoid the notion that "biology is destiny."
Women were somewhat active in the political arena. For example, in the US, in state legislatures, the
number of women in 1989 was about 20% compare to an 8% in 1975.

Gender in the U.S. 1950s and 1960s (Cold War)

Bentley, Jerry. Traditions and Encounters. 1999.

In the United States the civil rights movement that demanded equality for African-Americans influenced the
women's movement and provided a training ground for women activists.
When Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon squared off in the kitchen debate in Moscow, their argument
underscored the importance of women and domesticity as a means of understanding the differences between their
respective societies and by extension, between all capitalist and communist societies. Citizens of the United States,
like Nixon, celebrated the wondrous home appliances that made the lives of housewives and mothers so
comfortable and that distinguished these U.S. women from their toiling Soviet counterparts . Clinging to the
notion that U.S. women best served their families and their nation by staying home and rearing patriotic
children, social and political leaders in the United States believed that families provided the best defense against
communist infiltration in their nation. Women did not need to work, as they did in the Soviet Union, because their
husbands earned enough to support the family in suburban splendor and because a mother's most important job was
keeping the family happy and loyal.
While the burden of domestic containment fell on all members of the family, women were most affected by its
restraints. Married women in the United States actually worked in larger numbers during the cold war than
during World War II, and many began to resent having to feel shame or guilt at not living up to the domestic
ideals being showcased on the new and widely viewed television shows that sustained the U.S. public during
the cold war. Not all women aspired to be June Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963 TV show), and female
discontent with postwar domesticity in the United States helped to fuel the modem feminist movement. Aligning
themselves to some extent with women in societies like the Soviet Union and taking inspiration from women in Asia
and Africa who fought for their independence from the colonial powers---and often won legal equality as a result-U.S. women rejected cold war norms and agitated for their own equal rights.
By the late 1970s the US divorce rate war over 40%. The growing divorce rate produced an increase of
female poverty. New work roles revealed the persistent earnings gap between men and women.

1943 Guide to Hiring Women (U.S.)

The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of
Transportation Magazine. This was written for male supervisors of
women in the work force during World War II. "Eleven Tips on
Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees: There's no
longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for
jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has
settled that point. The important things now are to select the most
efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage.
Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:
1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of
responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be
flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still
have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public
efficiently.
2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have
worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women
who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting
themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always
well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even
tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions.
This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be
has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.
5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads
on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.
6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the
management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers
when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.
7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women
are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.
8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for
feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh
lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.
9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off
harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.
10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father
may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.
11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed
too much in keeping women happy."