Blog 4 1970-Today

Gender and Power:

Women in the Workplace

Who run the world? Girls! Or shall I say women. Living in this generation, it's a women's world. Okay enough with the song quotes, but seriously, women really have come a long ways to get where we are now. We ended the 60's by forming the National Organization for Women, not a bad way to end that decade I'd say, but we weren't stopping there; we started the 70's off just as strong. Women like to be heard loud and clear and what's the best way to do that? Well a strike of course. In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortions and they also did their best to make women aware of the dangers of maintaining heterosexual relationships with men. Even though abortion is still debated about in todays world it was a huge right that was granted to women in the 70's. Sex wasn't talked about too often, but more and more people started talking all kinds of stuff about it. People were writing books and magazine articles and just simply discussing it in conversation. Crazy, I know.

 

 

Not only were women being granted rights to their own body, they were being wanted in The White House and Court (and not for accusation either). In 1984 Geraldine Ferraro was chosen for - wait for it - VICE PRESIDENT! And right after in 1986 President Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor

. She was the first women to serve on the Court! Wow, what a great achievement for both women. These women were taking advantage of this and making sure they were being heard loud and clear. Not only did they already grab everyone's attention with these achievements they continued to surprise people with their decision making and standing up for what they believed in. They weren't about to be just a pretty face, they wanted to be known and that's exactly what they are.

 

In this era women didn't actually have a set role they were suppose to follow. That's a first.! By the 1980's it was largely perceived that women were meeting their goals and succeeding in changing everyone's attitudes on gender roles. They were repealing oppressive laws that were based on sex, integrating "boys' clubs" such as military academies, the United States Armed Forces, NASA, single-sex colleges, men's clubs, and the Supreme Court, and by accomplishing the goal of making gender discrimination illegal. Women were on a roll and life for them was great.

 

Just as they thought life couldn't get any better, they were granted more money! Not as much as men of course, but it's still a step closer. In 1992 women were now getting paid 71 cents for every dollar paid to men. Now a days we think of 71 cents as almost nothing; a few coins you might find in the couch cushions if you even have the energy to search. But, 71 cents was a lot it was almost what men were making - almost. By 1996 women were going big or going home! Women were succeeding majorly in the Summer Olympics with 19 Gold Medals. That's crazy! What a great way for women to end the 90's.

 

There's always room for progress no matter how much you have already achieved. In 2000 Hillary Rodham Clinton became the only First Lady ever elected to the United States Senate. In 2005 Condoleezza Rice became the first African-American woman to be appointed Secretary of State. These events happened only 15 and 10 years ago. Showing us that even today women are stepping up their game and not stopping until they have achieved every single thing a man has and might I add, look good doing it too!

 

Beyoncé said it best - Who run the world? Girls!!!

 

 



Blog 3 1940-1969

Gender and Power:

Women in the Workplace

 So far, we have seen women progress in the workforce; they have gone from having no rights at all to being relied on during the wars. This progression continues in the 1940's. The start of the 1940's began with the attack on Pearl Harbor which resulted in the United States going to war with Germany. This put an enormous amount of pressure on the government and the American people. In 1942 the war became so big, women weren't only needed in the workplaces, they were needed in the armed forces. The Women's Army Corps (WAC) and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) were established. So, not only were millions of men volunteering to serve in the armed forces or help out on the home front, millions of women were as well. This was big for women because all of a sudden women were not depending on men, the roles had turned and now it was the United States and men who were depending on women going out into the workforce.

As the war continued and ended women were not at all about to stop there. More women were rising up and more were becoming successful. Before, birth control was illegal and the only people to use condoms were prostitutes so of course nobody would be spotted with a condom. But, Margaret Sanger was a women who wasn't going to let abortions be the only choice women had of not having a baby. She wanted a pill that could provide women with cheap, safe, effective and female-controlled contraception. Finally after finding someone to do the research and someone who was interested in this research ENOVID was FDA approved! Whoohoo! Not only were women fighting in the war, they were changing the laws, for the better. Although there were some skeptics over this pill many, many, many women were taking it and abortion rates were decreasing rapidly. Yay for safe sex!

The end of the 60's ended with the National Organization for Women being formed and best of all- a beauty pageant! You'd think women would like this right... wrong. Feminist protested this pageant for Miss America. The N.Y.R.W was the group who protested. They protested the pageant for being sexist and racist since no black women had taken place among he finalists. The women's movement gained momentum and the media increasingly took it seriously. The Miss America pageant telecasted and was ne of the highest rated programs of the year. I mean, who doesn't love beautiful women.

Over alllllll these years women continued to prove themselves, they were more than just a pretty face. Women were doing things men were and more. This period of time was probably my favorite to learn and blog about, because women weren't just fighting for more freedom, they were taking the freedom they had and they were changing things for themselves. In today's society, women are still fighting in the wars, taking birth control and attending beauty pageants. Things have continued to change though.

Women are very much appreciated in the wars today, but they aren't as appreciated as much as men are. Whenever I see a veteran being appreciated it's always been a man. A wounded man most of the time; I have yet to see women being put on this pedestal right next to men. As for birth control, we have come a long way with that. We have created more methods of birth control and although abortions are still being done the rates are much lower than in the 60's. Prostitution is still a thing but nowadays condoms are being promoted and most of the time women are hoping the men have one. Everything has changed for the better, except for beauty pageants. Now every country, state, city, and town have beauty pageants. Women competing against each other instead of encouraging each other like they did in the past. What a shame. Yes, beauty pageants can be fun but they set a certain image for women- skinny and dumb. When most of them are probably not dumb but that's how they are portrayed. Sad. But, at least the important things in life are changing for the better. Not only are these things changing, more and more women of different cultures are standing up for themselves. See what happens when one women starts the change, she gives hope to women who are born decades after.

 



 

 

 

 

Blog 2 1914-1939

Gender and Power:

Women in the Workplace

 

As most of us know, 1914 was the start of World War I; the start of a change that would change America forever. The war had men rushing to join the army, leaving many jobs employee-less. Women then had to take on the roles of the men, both at home and in the workplace. Of course women weren't granted that opportunity the next day, they had to wait a bit before it became more of a "do or die" kind of thing. The need for women in the workplace started to become urgent as 1916 rolled in. All of the jobs that were abandoned by the men had to be taken on by the women; jobs ranging from clerical jobs to auto assembly.

 

In addition to these jobs, women were signing up for jobs in the armed forces and the navy such as, nurses and clerical workers in the marines. A lot of women also eagerly applied to be "Hello Girls" which were telephone receptionists for the army near the front lines in France. While men experienced the traumatic horrors of war, women often experienced the benefits of independence in the absence of men. Unfortunately once WWI ended, many women were released from their jobs to give back to the men who had them before the war. A lot of women were fired or left to work along side with men, but of course, for a much lower wage. Equal rights? Yeah, not yet but the women were not about to give up as they were progressing more and more towards it. So what do Americans do when they want something so badly? They go on strike; and that's exactly what the women did. The most prominent being the strike for equal pay.

 

WWI did lead to many important advances for women. They gained support for women suffrage and it contributed to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 - talk about a huge win for women! Of course when things are going good, something bad is bound to happen. Like the Great Depression. Equal pay was overridden by this when people had bigger problems to worry about, like simply surviving. People were taking any jobs they could get. Who has time to protest when you're going poor (ain't nobody got time for that!).

By 1939 World War 2 began and it was like deja vu. Men were sent off to war and women were once again needed in the workplace. Since women were still not being given fair wages, a new political figure made it's way to the top. The famous Rosie the Riveter; which inspired women to join the war effort and go back out into those “commonly male” jobs. Not everyone was sold on this proposition, but there were some employers who eventually gave into equal pay for women. Even though things weren't guaranteed to stay like this after the war ended, nobody had to assemble or even lead a strike. Finally employers began to set wages in correlation to the level of work people were performing in the workplace, the more skills you had the better your pay was.

Women definitely proved they could keep up in the workplace just as good as men could. And they looked better doing it, too. Talk about determination.

 

I really enjoyed learning about this period in time because women progressed majorly in the workplace and proved their worth to men without having to protest about it for years. Go women! In todays society, women still struggle with comparison to men when it comes to the workplace. Sure, not nearly as bad as they did during WWI and WWII, but they still face some disadvantages. Women are likelier to be passed over for high profile assignments and women are said to make 77 cents for every $1 a man makes. Not fair, I know. Not all, but some men still have larger wages than women do. Some 2 times larger! Not okay. Why shouldn't women get paid the same amount or have the same exact opportunities as men? They worked for it and had no other choice but to maintain the house and the workplace and sure enough we proved how valuable women really are. Men were granted jobs because they were men, women were thrown into jobs and did them just as well as men did and they did not stop fighting until people realized that not only did women need jobs, but jobs needed women.

America has changed A LOT since both wars though and now a days men are becoming "stay at home dads" while the women are progressing in the workplace. Hmmm, sounds like payback if you ask me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog 1 1866-1914

Gender and Power:

Women in the Workplace

 

The media of the 19th Century portrayed women as people who should not work. Before the Civil War, women were expected to play the roles of the typical housewife; they were expected to stay home and take care of the children while also doing all the household chores. The man of the house was the only one to provide, to bring home the bread. However, after the Civil War, women's place in society changed dramatically. Most women were left widowed by the war and caused their families to become deprived of their breadwinners. Though this was a tragic time because of all the deaths it was also a great time for all the women. This promoted a sense of freedom for them; a chance to fight for gender equality.

 

According to our history text, "women started to enter the workforce as missionaries, teachers, and nurses." These jobs were chosen for them because it was still in their nature. Women were already expected to teach their children and take care of them; much like a teacher and a nurse does. So even though these jobs weren't quite equal to the male jobs, they were still a start.

Though women were still not yet able to vote, they also started to become more involved in politics. The WCTU went on to become their principle vehicle. Women were indeed fighting for equal rights. And it wasn't only the white women who were doing so, African American women were as well. After being freed from slavery they needed to earn a steady income as well so they joined the labor force. Women were now needed in the world, in many more ways than just a housewife and they were proving to everyone they were just as smart as men and could work along side them.

 

Just because women were happy with how things were going for them, doesn't mean everyone else was. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice was the first of several conservative lobby groups. The Society secured generous funding from J. P. Morgan and others of the cities' wealthiest citizens and began a two-decades long campaign against many things including women's independence. The Comstock Act of 1873 law was passed, which pretty much deprived women of knowledge. Birth control and almost everything that depicted the human body was banned, instead books or guide lines I should say, were promoted for women to learn home décor and how to create cheerful environments for their children and husbands. Because even after the Civil War that was still supposed to be their jobs.

 

 

 

 

In todays society, more women are working than ever before. Women are running some of the worlds best companies, such as PepsiCo. No woman is forced to rely on a man to bring in the money. They certainly have fought their way to the top. Some are even running for president. Women are now making up almost half of American workers. Now even though women have come this far in the workplace, men still have some advantages just because they are men. Some jobs pay men higher than women for doing the same thing.

 

 

So we can see that old habits die hard. Even though our world is changing and wants so badly for everyone to be treated equally, especially women, we all still have a little bit of the 1860's left in us. Even women do. Today a lot of women will still choose to be stay at home moms because they believe that is what a woman is "supposed" to do. But, the great thing about the 21st Century is women can choose who they want to be, what they want to do, and where they want to go. Most importantly, they are in charge of their own bodies.

 

I was told a quote by my high school history teacher saying, "What we learn from history is that we don't learn from history." Mainly because a lot of things that happened in history are repeated in todays world like wars, trade, racism, and even inequality. The progress of women in the workplace over the years, I think, is one thing we did learn from. It makes me spark up the question, what would today be like if women never fought for equal rights? Everything would be so different.