The Women's Movement

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 471.

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Women in the United States began to fight for their equal­ity around the time of the U.S. Civil War. The women who had fought against slavery were pleased when the Fifteenth Amendment, allowing black men to vote, was passed in 1870, but they were angry that they had not received the same right. They had to wait 50 years, until 1920, for the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

The role of women in society changed very little between 1920 and the beginning of World War II. Dur­ing the war (1939-1945), thousands of women joined the workforce because they were needed in the factories while the men were away at war. After the war, most women were asked to leave their jobs and let the men return to work. During the 1950s, when the nation's economy was good, they were encouraged to stay home and maintain the traditional role of wife and mother. During the 1960s and 1970s, however, many things changed in American society. The civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War led to protests across the nation. Many women, par­ticularly young women, began to question their traditional roles and their unequal treatment. They saw the advances made by African Americans and began to protest for rights for themselves.

In 1960, many colleges and professional schools only admitted men, and employers were permitted to choose among job applicants based on their gender. Less than 40 percent of women who graduated from high school went on to college. Only about 10 percent of medical students were women. Even women who finished college often did not join the workforce; instead they married and had families. Women married at an average age of 20 and had an average of three or four children. Only 30 percent of women worked, and they were limited to a very small set of jobs, such as teachers and secretaries. Usually, they earned less than half of what men earned.

During the 1960s, women began to use many of the strategies that had been successful in the civil rights movement: protests, boycotts, and political pressure. In 1961, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was established to fight for equal rights for women. Since that time, women have achieved some degree of equality in the home and the workplace. For example, before the women's movement began, far more men than women attended college. Today slightly more women than men attend college; the number of men and women attending law, medical, and business schools is almost equal. Women today make up more than half of the labor force, and some have become leaders in gov­ernment and business. By law, employers may no longer discriminate based on gender; in fact, they may not specify gender in job advertisements. Women now marry later, at the average age of 25, and have fewer children; many husbands share more of the work in the home.

Nevertheless, there is still a gap between men and women, particu­larly in the workplace. Women earn an average of 87 cents for every dollar that men with equal experience earn for equal work. Although women make up half of the labor force, 80 percent of them work in just 5 percent of job categories, generally the jobs that have the lowest pay. There have been many improvements in the status of women, but inequalities remain. Perhaps the most important achievement of the women's movement is that girls who are born today expect an equal chance for success.