Women- Key events and facts Flashcards

Question

Contraception and the Pill in the 1950s/60s

Answer 1

- NOW was founded in 1966 and became the first national organization to work towards the legalization of abortion - 1964- President Johnson launched state-funded birth control for the poor. - Pill launched in 1957 - Within 2 years of government approval (May 1960), 1.2 million women were on the pill every day. - More women used the pill than accessed abortions. 10 million by 1992 compared to 1.4 million abortions accessed by 1991 BUT: Abortion was a contended topic - Griswold v Connecticut 1965

Answer 2

1965 The Supreme Court overturned one of the last state laws prohibiting the prescription or use of contraceptives by married couples. The constitutional right of married couples to use contraception was established which established women’s right to privacy as fertility and contraception is made a private issue

Answer 3

- 1973 - The US Supreme Court declared that the Constitution protected a woman's right to terminate early pregnancy. - The Court arrived at its decision by concluding that the issue of abortion and abortion rights falls under the right to privacy as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Essentially struck down anti-abortion laws - BUT: Decision challenged by state legislatures which refused to implement the ruling, leading to a plethora of appeals to the Supreme Court in the ensuing years against state-imposed restrictions on the availability of abortions - BUT: Although the Court did initially strike down many of the decisions made by state authorities, it later responded by granting states the right to impose some restrictions on the availability of abortions

Answer 4

1972 | - Established the right of unmarried women to access contraception on the same basis as married women

Answer 5

- Publications such as the feminist magazine ‘Ms’, edited by Gloria Steinem first published in 1972 shaped feminist values. By the end of the year, ‘Ms’ had a circulation of 200,000 copies

Answer 6

- 1974 - Funded the development of non-sexist teaching materials and model programs that encouraged full educational opportunities for girls and women

Answer 7

- The number of working women rose from 2 million in 1870 (15% of all women) to 8 million in 1910 (21%) - Boom in education opportunities for women - By 1900 there were 949,000 women working as teachers, secretaries, librarians and telephone operators. BUT: - Still no career pathway to white-collar work - Still the expectation that once married, women would leave the workforce

Answer 8

- America’s entry into the war in 1917 increased the demand for labour substantially and resulted in many married women entering the labour market to replace male workers who had gone to fight - Between 1917 and 1918, 1 million women worked in industry. - WW1 brought about the ‘National League for Women’s Service’ which helped reduce stereotypes and allowed women jobs as military nurses. BUT: - Wage differences - No long term change (Largely superficial) - Rural women experienced far less change

Answer 9

- Women could vote for politicians who represented their interests - Number of working-class women in the workforce increased from 22.8% to 28.8% BUT: - Little impact on wages - The depression caused even more reason for men to claim women were “stealing their jobs” and by 1936 82% of Americans were opposed to women working. - Drop from nearly 29% married women working in the boom to 12% in 1930.

Answer 10

- Trade Union membership increased from 265,000 to 800,000 in the 1930s - Social Security Act (1935)- Introduced welfare benefits for poor families which helped married women as it released some of the pressure on them. - Aid to Dependent Children (1935)- Helped women who were unable to work, had young families and no male head of house. Benefits to white women. - The Fair Labour Standards Act (1938)- This set minimum wage levels which benefitted working women. BUT: - Still did not equal male wage levels. (E.g. Female teacher earned 20% less than her male counterpart in 1939.) - Women only accounted for 7% of CWA (The Civil Works Administration) jobs nationwide, and the 12% of FERA ( Federal Emergency Relief Administration) workers who were women received lower wages than men.

Answer 11

Most important TP… - By 1945, there were five million more working women than in 1940 - 350,000 women joined the armed forces - Far greater impact on married women than WW1 - After 1945 around 75% of women wanted to remain in paid employment - By 1960 there were twice as many working women as in 1940. Not most important TP… - Women seen as cheap labour and experienced a regression in pay as by 1960, women were earning 60% of what men earnt which was down from 65% in 1950. - 2 million women lost their jobs by 1946 - G.I. Bill of Rights (1944) - In the immediate aftermath of the war, large numbers of women were laid off to make way for the returning soldiers, a clear indication that the concept of ‘separate spheres’ had not been seriously eroded

Answer 12

- 1944 - Established the right of ex-servicemen to access higher education and provided federal funding to facilitate this. Huge increase in the numbers of men entering colleges and universities after the war, with the normal enrolment of 4,500 students at the University of Indiana expanding to over 10,300 in the mid-1940s. Although more women were entering higher education, the number of men was increasing at a much faster rate.

Answer 13

- 1963 Equal Pay Act (But: Did not apply to ethnic minorities, still de facto inequality of wages) - 1964 Civil Rights Act banned employment discrimination on the basis of sex, national origin, race, colour or religion - ended de jure sexism in the workplace

Answer 14

- In 1966 Betty Friedan helped found the National Organisation for Women (NOW). The main goal of NOW was the ending of sexual discrimination in employment but took on issues such as the provision of childcare centres of working mothers and paid maternity leave. - Through legal action, NOW secured $30 million back pay between 1966 and 1971 for women who had been underpaid for equal work. - NOW grew to become a network of more than 500,000 grassroots activists with members in each state - Between 1970 and 1980 there is 10% less gender segregation in the workplace.

Answer 15

- Although many women may have been discriminated against in business enterprises and public services, by the mid-1990s, an increasing number of women were making progress in the business world as a result of their own enterprise - By 1996 American women owned 7.7 million businesses employing around 15.5 million people and generating many billions of dollars. An estimated 3.5 million women owned home-based businesses and employed several million workers both full and part time

Answer 16

1947 Women were deemed equally qualified as men to serve on juries Shows willingness of the Supreme Court to see women as more equal

Answer 17

1875 | Allowed states to prohibit women from voting

Answer 18

1961 Supreme Court upholds rules adopted by the state of Florida that made it far less likely for women than men to be called for jury service

Answer 19

- There was an increase in the number of women in state legislatures from 144 to 228 - Some increase in Women in Congress and in public office, although not extensive - Advisory committee for women set up BUT: - They were not involved in any wartime decision-making in the homefront - Women in positions of influence were unable to secure support for working women to the extent that the British had - Women remained divided with some not supporting greater help for working mothers as they believed war should not erode traditional family values - Post-war years saw a great desire to go ‘back to normal’

Answer 20

- 1976 - Barred the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortion unless the pregnancy arose from incest or rape, or to save the life of the mother - Example of not complete equality

Answer 21

1908 Restriction on Women's working hours in Oregon upheld Pushed by the National Consumers League (NCL)

Women- Key events and facts Flashcards

(46 cards)