The Changing Position Of Women

Question 1

When were women given the vote

Answer 1

18th August 1920, 19th amendment passed

Question 2

What was the League of Women’s voters and when was it set up

Answer 2

1920, conducted voter registration drives, to encourage women to vote

Question 3

Impact of women gaining the vote

Answer 3

Poorer women didn’t vote, or voted the way their husband told them to
Few black women vote, especially in the south
Mainly educated white women who felt the change

Question 4

Impact of WW1 on women

Answer 4

Gave them a chance to work but wages were less than men’s
Most women fired after the war
Got the vote
Most thought their role in jobs should be temporary, should return the jobs to men returning from war

Question 5

Impact of roaring twenties on women

Answer 5

Changing industries created more office jobs, e.g. a typing pool which was accepted as women’s work
Women in the same jobs as women were paid less, often in the ‘last hired, first fired’ situation
1910-1940 number of women went from 7 million to 13 million (8.3% of population to 9.8% of population)

Question 6

What were flappers

Answer 6

Independent women who worked, cut their hair short, wore short dresses and silk stockings, smoked and drank in public, drove their own cars
Behaved like young men, went to male-dominated sports events without a male escort
Some went to jazz clubs and speakeasies alone

Question 7

Position of married women in the 1920s

Answer 7

Expected to stay home and raise a family
If they had to work, obliged to work at home for very low wages
Teaching barred to married women, many employers wouldn’t employ married women

Question 8

What was the impact of flappers

Answer 8

Shifted public perception of women
Only a small % and many adopted more traditional role once married

Question 9

What was the Women’s Bureau of Labor and when was it set up

Answer 9

1920, set up to improve women’s working conditions and campaign for wider employment of women

Question 10

Impact of the Great Depression on women

Answer 10

Depended on class
Lots of women working as the only income or to supplement husbands income, not because they wanted to work
Women’s bureau largely ignored within bureau of labor but passed legislation for minimum wage (which men didn’t have) and restricted working hours, which meant poorest women lost their jobs or broke the law
If you didn’t have work, forced to apply for relief programmes if the state offered any, otherwise in migrant labour market which had poor pay and conditions.
Difficult to raise kids

Question 11

Impact of the New Deal on women

Answer 11

New Deal’s Aid for Families with Dependent Children: benefits for poorest families
Most policies on unemployment and working conditions benefited men (e.g. CCC employed 2.5 million men 17-23 replanting forests and digging reservoirs)

Question 12

Eleanor Roosevelt’s impact on women in the new deal

Answer 12

1933: camp tera set up and funded by private organisations
30 April 1934: White House conference for unemployed women held by Eleanor Roosevelt, camp now federally funded
1936: 36 camps with 5000 women a year but only for 2/3 months with no pay, trained in budget management

Question 13

Impact of new deal on black women

Answer 13

Benefited less: earned 23 cents per dollar that a white man earned (white women earned 61)
Fannie Peck: set up series of housewives leagues in Detroit in 1930, encouraged women to shop in black-run shops and organise local help, spread to other towns and helped on a small scale

Question 14

Impact of WW2 on women

Answer 14

% of married women in the workforce rose from 15 to 23
Propaganda for women in the workforce
Around 3 million women in agriculture in June 1943
Number of black women in nursing courses: 1,000 in 1939 to 2,600 in 1945 (due to worker shortages)
But: some employers refused to employ black women (said they would have sexual diseases, employees refused to share toilets)

Question 15

Impact of the Langham Act and when was it

Answer 15

1940, childcare provision in 1941
Only 16% of married women worked in 1940 due to childcare, 1944: 130,000 children in day care

Question 16

What was the Women’s Land Army of America

Answer 16

Reformed for WW2, provided farm workers
Held workshops and meetings, had publication: The Women’s Land Army Newsletter

Question 17

Changes to the position women immediately after WW2

Answer 17

Not re-employed by factories that stopped producing war goods as most men wanted their jobs back
Half of the married women left work, due to choice or social pressure or because federally funded day-care centres shut down in 1946

Question 18

Long-term changes to the position of women after WW2

Answer 18

Employment rose again, especially for married women from 45-54 (10.1% in 1940 to 22.2% in 1950)
Due to gender restrictions for certain jobs being lifted, wider range of jobs available
Large change in attitude towards married women working: 1936, 82% thought married women shouldn’t work, 1942 it was 13%, 1978 it was 38%
Attitudes of women changed: developed aptitude and appetite for work
But: still paid less than men for same work (may be why they were employed), still clerical, domestic, and shop work and if they left these jobs, faced hostility

Question 19

Impact of suburban living on the position of women (1940-60)

Answer 19

Wives tended to stay at home and look after the house and children
Women who worked could be excluded from the social circle of the women who didn’t work
Housewives could be excluded due to not conforming to demands of the group or the development
Propaganda presented suburban housewife as part of the American Dream e.g. ‘I love Lucy’ show

Question 20

What did the Commission of Enquiry on the Status of Women find

Answer 20

Praised Equal Pay Act and wider job opportunities for women in federal government (after presidential directive of 1960)
Found that the Equal Pay Act needed badly and needed enforcing
- women accounted for 1/3 workers, discriminated against in access to training, work, and promotion
- wages lower, minimum wage didn’t apply to low-paid work women did (hotel/domestic work)
- not enough daycare to help married women work effectively
Said that non-white women in a worse position due to racial discrimination
Said girls were not encouraged to think about careers and parents didn’t encourage their daughters into higher education

Question 21

When was the Commission of Enquiry on the Status of Women

Answer 21

1961, published 1963

Question 22

When was the Equal Pay Act

Answer 22

1961

Question 23

When was the education act and what was it

Answer 23

1958
Said schools should have job counsellors to work with students
Too few counsellors: 12000 for all states schools in the USA, few in low-income areas
Few counsellors trained, advice was patchy and dangerous, especially in considering abilities and needs of girls

Question 24

Effect of the Commission of Enquiry on the Status of Women

Answer 24

Had some effect on government thinking
1964 Civil Rights Act: included sexual equality
Women found the gap between passing of law and its enforcement

Question 25

Women’s liberation organisation set up in 1966

Answer 25

NOW (national organisation for women): 30 June

Question 26

Women’s liberation organisation set up in 1968

Answer 26

FEW (federally employed women) WEAL (women’s equity action league)

Question 27

Women’s liberation organisation set up in 1969

Answer 27

National association for the repeal of abortion laws

Question 28

Women’s liberation organisation set up in 1971

Answer 28

National women’s political caucus

Question 29

What did Betty Friedan do

Answer 29

Published ‘the feminine mystique’: about constraints of suburban life and problems of white, educated, married women One of the founding members of NOW

Question 30

When was the feminine mystique published

Answer 30

1963

Question 31

Impact of the feminine mystique

Answer 31

Got women thinking about their rights and lives in a new way Provoked controversy, ensured it was widely read and argued about, on TV Spurred women (especially white, educated, middle-class) to organise themselves and work more actively for women’s rights

Question 32

What did NOW do

Answer 32

Aimed to work within the political system to get equality and better enforcement of the civil rights act and equal pay act Pressure congress to pass the ERA (equal rights act) that had been asked for since 1923 Held meetings, collected petitions and data, demonstrated and lobbied politicians (federal, state, and local) for change Educating people and campaigning about the problems, providing services and support for working women

Question 33

What were the radical groups that were set up for the women’s liberation movement

Answer 33

Young, white, middle-class, college educated members Often also worked in the civil rights movement or other radical groups as well - faced sexism in these groups, set up seperate groups to push for liberation and equality

Question 34

How did the women’s liberation movement start

Answer 34

March 1968: national magazine started that spread news from all groups, ‘voice of the women’s liberation movement’ Run by volunteers, began selling 200 copies Sold 2000 the next year but collapsed under workload Set ball rolling for other magazines and news sheets

Question 35

Main women’s strike

Answer 35

26 August 1970: 50th anniversary of women getting the vote Almost every feminist group took part Some didn’t go to work, some took part in countrywide marches and demonstrations Slogans e.g. ‘don’t iron whilst the strike is hot’

Question 36

Demands of the 1970 women’s strike

Answer 36

Equal opportunity in jobs and education Free childcare, community controlled Free abortion on demand

Question 37

Effect of the 1970 women’s strike

Answer 37

Lots of publicity for the movement NOW membership rose by over 50% (1,000 in 1967 to 40,000 in 1974)

Question 38

Effects of the women’s liberation movement

Answer 38

Brought issue of equality into the public eye Radical groups drew most publicity (easier to dismiss/ make fun of)

Question 39

Publication during the women’s liberation movement

Answer 39

Sexual politics, Kate Millet, 1970: tackled dominance of men in literature and their attitudes to women, extreme lengths to criticise patriarchy in literature Ms magazine, Gloria Steinem, 1972: praised as catering to the real needs of modern, professional women

Question 40

Opposition to women’s liberation movement

Answer 40

Lots of opposition amongst men (some radical groups declared all men as the enemy) Conservatives rejected the movement, stressed the ‘un-americanness’ of demands and abandonment of traditional roles Swing away from liberalism meant demands lost support Phyllis Schlafly: objected to demands for ERA set up STOP ERA (stop taking our privileges) in 1972 - thought women were designed to have babies, shouldn’t be equal in work, needed support of husband in family, women would lose tax and benefit privileges under equal rights

Question 41

Gains in the women’s liberation movement

Answer 41

- Equal pay act, civil rights act - LBJ extended executive order for affirmative action to improve employment conditions for those discriminated against - After 1970: few states allowed abortions in tightly specified circumstances - 1972: Supreme Court allowed access to contraception for married and unmarried women in Eisenstadt v Baird - Abortion federally legalised 22 February 1973, Roe v Wade

Question 42

Limitations to women’s liberation movement

Answer 42

- 22 March 1972: ERA passed as amendment to constitution, needed ratification of 38 out of 50 states, allowed 10 years, by 1982 15 were still refusing - Didn’t sign up to 1979 UN policy of introducing non-discrimination against women in all aspects of life - still difficult to enforce legislation, ‘acceptable’ methods of discrimination in the workplace found

Question 43

Why did the women’s liberation movement end

Answer 43

liberation movement disintegrated, grow in conservatism and divide in aims of different groups Non-white/ non-middle class women felt excluded Seperate campaign groups made: CLUW (congress of labour union women) focused on rights of working women in industrial work, Mexican American women’s organisation and national alliance of black feminists