Feminism And Equality Essay Research Paper The

Feminism And Equality Essay, Research Paper

The rights and status of women have improved considerably in the last century; however, gender equality has recently been threatened within the last decade. Blatantly sexist laws and practices are slowly being eliminated while social perceptions of “women’s roles” continue to stagnate and even degrade back to traditional ideals. It is these social perceptions that challenge the evolution of women as equal on all levels. In this study, I uld like to suggest that subtle and blatant sexism continues to exist throughout educational, economic, professional and legal arenas.

Women who carefully follow their expected roles may never recognize sexism as an oppressive force in their life. Throughout my research, I have found a corrilation between women’s experiences in the nineties and with Betty Friedan’s, essay: The Way We Were written in 1949. She dealt with a society that expected women to fulfill certain roles. Those roles completely disregarded the needs of educated and motivated business women and scientific women. Actually, the subtle message that society gave was that the educated woman was actually selfish and evil.

It appears American culture prefers women as non-professional, non-intellectual, homemakers and mothers. This mentality is not easily resolved, because it is introduced at a young age. Alice Brooks experienced inequality on the basis of her race and her sex. In her autobiography, A Dream Deferred, she recalls the reaction of her father when she brought up the idea of college to him:

I found a scholarship for veterans’ children and asked my father to sign and furnish proof that he was a veteran. He refused and told me that I was only going to get married and have babies. I needed to stay home and help my mother with her kids. My brother needed college to support a family. Not only was I not going to get any help, I was also tagged as selfish because I wanted to go to college.

When reading her essay, I developed a strong sense of injustice not only for her, but for the female race. As daugheters of God, equal partners in this world, whether it be in the work force or in child rearing, have the right, just like anybody else, to choice what she wants to do with our lives. Those that decided to come to this earth chose to follow the Plan of Salvation which in return allows us to have free agency. A common view among all races and sects is the expectations and limitations placed on women to be the housewife, the mother, the comforter.

A critic of the women’s movement would quickly remind us that women have the choice to decline marriage and sex, and pursue their individual interests. However, I would argue that the social pressures women must endure if they do not conform to their expected role is a heavy burden. I feel that we treat those women who decide to take a professional field with distaste, and that the women is not doing her “Godly duties.” The problem goes beyond social conformity and crosses into government intervention (or lack thereof). The 1980’s saw the pendulum swing against the women’s movement. Violent acts against women who sought abortions became common and the government was unsympathetic to the victims.

There are parallels between the Southern Black’s civil rights movement and the women’s movement: Blacks have long been accustomed to the white government being unsympathetic to violent acts against them. During the civil rights movement, legal action seemed only to come when a white civil rights activist was killed. Women are facing similar disregard presently, and their movement is truly one for civil rights.

Alma Baron in his article “Women in Business-are they still Fighting Shadows”, examines the congressional passage of the 1972 equal rights amendment, and suggests how women are being treated unfairly in work situations. He further continues to say that “Women should avoid fighting the shadows of males, and asses themselves honestly and begin to professionally apply themselves with self-assurance” (11).

This attitude of rising blatant and subtle attacks on women’s civil rights is further exemplified in recent reactions to affirmative action plans. These plans have been devised to try to give women and minorities an opportunity to participate in traditionally white male dominated areas. However, we see the same trends in legal action for the use of affirmative action plans such as the 1980’s backlash against the Roe v. Wade decision. A few interesting points were presented in the case, Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara (480 U.S. 616 (1987)). Mr. Paul E. Johnson filed suit against the Santa Clara County Transportation Agency when he was denied a promotion, feeling the company’s affirmative action plan denied him of his civil rights.

Some interesting facts were presented in this case: specifically, 9 of the 10 Para-Professionals and 110 of the 145 Office and Clerical Workers were women. By contrast, women were only 2 of the 28 Officials and Administrators, 5 of the 58 Professionals, 12 of the 124 Technicians, none of the Skilled Crafts Workers, and 1 – who was Joyce – of the 110 Road Maintenance Workers.

The above statistics show women have been considerably underrepresented at the Santa Clara County Transportation Agency. These numbers are not uncommon and are found throughout business. The current p