Transcript WOMEN IN U.S. HISTORY - Teaching American History (TAH)

WOMEN IN U.S. HISTORY
Equality in Work
1950’s to 2000
Paid Work: 1945-1963
Have to or Want to?
The war is over; what do we do now?
 Some women quit their jobs; some were fired; some
were demoted to lower skill jobs for less pay.
 Public judged whether a woman should work by her
reason – support the family or make extra money…..
Which was acceptable?
Although many employers stopped the practice of
firing women when they got married, they limited
female ambition to dead-end, low paying jobs,
usually “pink collar” service and clerical.
Sexism is a social disease!
You cannot …
Be anything but a teacher, secretary,
nurse
Expect to earn as much as men
Still work if you are pregnant
Serve on a jury
Apply for a credit card or loan
without your husband’s permission
Enroll in an Ivy League college or
get into med or law school.
Commission on the Status of Women
Student groups protested unequal work status while others
worked through government channels.
In 1961, President Kennedy formed the Commission on the
Status of Women.
In 1963, the commission found the workplace was profoundly
and intentionally unequal …
In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act that required equal
pay for equal work --- it didn’t work! Why?
Men and women worked at different jobs.
The law was difficult to enforce.
Who am I?
What should I
be?
What are my
choices?
Why not?
Women Protest (Again?)
What were characteristics of women’s
activism regarding suffrage? Did it work for
them? Why?
• Be heard! Be seen!
What did women learn and adapt from the
Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s?
• Be heard! Be seen!
DID IT WORK?
PAID WORK ISSUES
Equal Pay for
Equal Work
Affirmative
Action
Sexual
Harassment
Here is one opinion
Equal Pay
IS THIS SEGMENT A REALISTIC PROTRAYAL OF THE
WAY ALL PEOPLE FELT ABOUT EQUAL PAY FOR
WOMEN? GIVE YOUR OPINION IN ONE PARAGRAPH
GIVING TWO FACTS FOR YOUR ANSWERS.
LEGALITIES
EQUAL PAY ACT OF 1963
SEC. 206. [Section 6](d) (1) No employer having
employees subject to any provisions of this
section shall discriminate, within any
establishment in which such employees are
employed, between employees on the basis of
sex by paying wages to employees in such
establishment at a rate less than the rate at
which he pays wages to employees of the
opposite sex in such establishment for equal
work on jobs the performance of which requires
equal skill ,effort, and responsibility, and which
are performed under similar working conditions,
except where such payment is made pursuant to
(i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a
system which measures earnings by quantity or
quality of production; or (iv) a differential based
on any other factor other than sex: Provided,
That an employer who is paying a wage rate
differential in violation of this subsection shall
not, in order to comply with the provisions of
this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any
employee.
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, 42 USC 2000e, makes it
unlawful for an employer to hire
or discharge any individual, or
otherwise to discriminate against
any individual with respect to
his/her compensation, terms,
conditions or privileges of
employment, because of an
individual’s race, color, religion,
sex or national origin. This covers
hiring, firing, promotions and all
workplace conduct.
Hero of Equality:
Lilly Ledbetter
…and her law
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
The bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964
stating that the 180-day statute of limitations
for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay
discrimination resets with each new
discriminatory paycheck. The law was a direct
answer to the Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), a U.S.
Supreme Court decision holding that the
statute of limitations for presenting an equalpay lawsuit begins at the date the pay was
agreed upon, not at the date of the most
recent paycheck, as a lower court had ruled.
What qualities make
Lilly a hero?
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
WHAT IS IT?
… an active effort to improve the employment or
educational opportunities of members of minority
groups and women; also : a similar effort to promote
the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons
MERRIAM WEBSTER DICTIONARY
Working Girl and discrimination
Watch the film clips for the following
information:
Examples of discrimination by men and women
How does Tess triumph?
What steps did Tess take to create her success?
What changes did she make in the work place?
WRITE YOUR ANSWERS AND HAND THEM IN AT THE
END OF THE CLASS.
Executive Discrimination
In the movie, Baby Boom, discrimination is more subtle but still
present in the workplace. Give examples in relation to the
following situations:
Partnership Conversation: “…I can have it all…”
(Clue: What did she do to fit in?)
Job Loss: “…you’ve changed…”
(Clue: What was different?)
Home Business:”…I am a cold, career woman…”
(Clue: How did her executive skills translate to new work?)
Negotiations for company sale: “I don’t want to make sacrifices and I
shouldn’t have to…”
(Clue: What is the underlying message of the film? Is it true?)
HAND IN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS AT THE END OF CLASS.
Workplace Discrimination Challenged
• Women’s lobbying resulted in federal actions in the early
1970’s:
Women’s inclusion in 1963 and 1964 Acts was clarified.
1971: unconstitutional to legally favor one gender over another
Patterns of segregated labor were overturned.
1974: legislation prohibited discrimination by gender for credit transactions.
1978: pregnant women received explicit protection under the 1974 Act.
• Local women’s activist groups demonstrated against
companies, picketed newspapers and staffed telephone hot
lines to offer advice on workplace discrimination.
• Women organized in their work places and made demands;
grassroots efforts were effective nationally.
H
E
R
O
E
S
THEN AND
NOW!
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
EXAMPLES
• Pre-discrimination laws:
Some examples:
What is acceptable?
• Post-discrimination laws:
More examples
What is acceptable?
What has changed? Why?
Sexual Harassment at Work
• Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination, in the United
States, that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• Sexual harassment occurs when one employee makes
continued, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature, to another employee, against his or her wishes.
• According to a current issues update from the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual
harassment occurs, "when submission to or rejection of this
conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's
employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's
work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or
offensive work environment.” http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarys/a/sexualharassdef.htm
Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas
• In 1991, Clarence Thomas was nominated to a place on the Supreme
Court by President George H. W. Bush. Thomas had been Reagan’s
chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). He
had proven to be very conservative and opposed to Affirmative Action.
• During the hearings, Anita Hill, Also an African American lawyer, charged
that Thomas had sexually harassed her when she worked for him at EEOC.
Thomas denied all charges and equated it to a lynching.
• Senators did not appreciate the gravity of the situation and approved
Thomas’ nomination.
BACKLASH
Sexual harassment became part of the public consciousness.
Polls revealed 4 of 10 women said they faced unwanted sexual advances at work.
RESULTS
The power, assertiveness and participation of women in electoral politics increased
The Current Situation
Positives
• By 2009, women’s wages
averaged growth to 80% of men’s.
• By 2006, 49% of medical and law
degrees were earned by women.
• By 2002, women were 25% of
highly paid executives.
• Barriers have fallen in many maledominated occupations and
professions.
• Female unionization increases
helped raise pay rates for femaledominated professions.
Negatives
• There is still a 20% wage gap.
• The majority of women still work
in female-dominated jobs that
pay less (clerical and
administrative support, domestic
and institutional health service.
• The clout of Affirmative Action
has bee decreased by new laws
and the rescinding of old ones
that banned discrimination.
Opponents charged “reverse
discrimination”.
Where are we now?
Is this the truth?
Is this the truth?
Concession speech: Hillary Rodham Clinton, June 7, 2008
Where do we go from here?
Let’s change Hillary’s focus on little girls to …
“every person can dream and his/her dreams
can come true in America…”
How can this happen?
What must you do?
How will you do it?
Why?