The Impact of the Womens Liberation Movement - 1960s to Present - Essay Example

 The Impact of the Women’s Liberation Movement - 1960s to Present Two major publications affected the development of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960s. The first of these was the passing of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the second was the publication of Barbara Welter’s article “The Cult of True Womanhood.” In 1964, a major piece of legislation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, greatly enhanced women’s rights in the workplace. This Act precluded employers engaging in discriminatory practices, “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1964). Since the passage of this Act, women and minorities have legal recourse against discrimination in the workplace with regards to promotions, hiring practices, dismissals, wages, training, working conditions and benefit compensation. In other words, the Act equaled the playing field for women by allowing them the same legal right to work as the men. Barbara Welter’s article exposed the constraining concept of the ‘True Woman’ and provided a context upon which women’s issues could be discussed. To understand how the Women’s Liberation Movement has affected American society since the 1960s, one must have an understanding of the theory of the ‘True Woman’ before going into how this has affected women’s issues in the years since. Welter’s article explored the realm of feminist scholarship that was identifying the means by which women were identified in society. In her article, Welter brings together an ideology that had been developing since the mid-nineteenth century that defined what it meant to be a True Woman in America. The concept was pieced together using the written records of diaries, journals, newspapers, magazines and other media which revealed that women were severely constrained within a narrow definition of what was acceptable. “The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society, could be divided into four cardinal virtues – piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. Put them all together and they spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife – woman. Without them, no matter whether there was fame, achievement or wealth, all was ashes. With them, she was promised happiness and power” (Welter, 1966: 152). Scholarship has focused on how the ideology of the True Woman was promoted both by women and men, constricting others to ‘fall into line’ if they wished to be accepted in society. “The dominant image remains that of a middle-class housewife happily trading in agricultural labor alongside men for the joys of urban domesticity and childrearing” (Hewitt 2002: 156). At the same time it was working to constrain women within a codified image, this thought process served as the catalyst to push women into the public sphere. In describing the types of woman that emerged from this culture, Welter explained “some challenged the standard, some tried to keep the virtues and enlarge the scope of womanhood. Somehow through this mixture of challenge and acceptance, or change and continuity, the True Woman evolved into the New Woman” (Welter 1966: 174). Although the idea of the True Woman really only defined a small percentage of the women of America, namely the white, middle-class urban woman, this ideology functioned to both constrain women from participating in the world outside of the home as well as to propel women into the outer world while remaining the standard ideal against which everyone, woman and man, rich and poor, white and minority, measured their own success. In leaving the farms for the cities with the new modernization and factories, Welter and others hypothesized that it became necessary for women to uphold the traditional ideologies the family had held dear while in a rural setting, thereby restricting them to a single idealized image of what embodies the True Woman. “The nineteenth-century American man was … at work long hours in a materialistic society. The religious values of his forebears were neglected in practice if not in intent, and he occasionally felt some guilt that he had turned this new land, this temple of the chosen people, into one vast counting house. But he could salve his conscience by reflecting that he had left behind a hostage, not only to fortune, but to all the values which he held so dear and treated so lightly. Woman, in the cult of True Womanhood … was the hostage in the home” (Welter 1966: 21). The world thus created left men free to pursue every material pursuit they wished while women were constrained to remain at home and protect the moral and ethical values of the family unit. “The ideals Welter uncovered in her analysis of nineteenth-century prescriptive literature, novels, diaries, and correspondence did not simply codify modern notions of women’s place. Rather, in response to dramatic economic and political upheavals, they constructed white, middle-class ‘True Women’ as the gladiators at the gate, fending off the evils that accompanied the pursuit of wealth and power by bourgeois men and the expansion of cities, factories, and plantations that fed their success. Yet this was a warrior without armor taking her stand behind a white picket fence. As Welter noted, the nineteenth-century True Woman had ‘to uphold the pillars of the temple with her frail white hand.’” (Hewitt 2002: 157). That women subscribed to this ideology is evident in that “many [women] accepted the promise of domestic happiness and the circumscribed authority that supposedly inhered in piety, purity and submissiveness” (Roberts 2002: 150). Hewitt points out “it was precisely those women with the greatest access to education, economic resources, and public authority who were most constrained by the cult’s precepts, yet it was also these women who most often embraced them” (2002: 157). The concept of the True Woman was founded on four core principles – those of piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. The hierarchy of these four core values was further delineated by Welter in their order of social importance. “Young men looking for a mate were cautioned to search first for piety, for if that were there, all else would follow” (Welter 1966: 152). Because religion didn’t take women away from her proper place within the home like so many other societies or movements did, piety was considered a safe avenue for a woman to pursue. “She would be another, better Eve, working in cooperation with the Redeemer, bringing the world back from its revolt and sin. The world would be reclaimed for God through her suffering” (Welter 1966: 152). Next to piety, purity was necessary in order to access the power inherent in the cult. “Without [purity] she was, in fact, no woman at all, but a member of some lower order … To contemplate the loss of purity brought tears; to be guilty of such a crime … brought madness or death” (Welter 1966: 154). However, this power was expected to be relinquished upon the wedding night as the woman traded in her purity, setting up a paradox that proved difficult to explain away. “Woman must preserve her virtue until marriage and marriage was necessary for her happiness. Yet, marriage was, literally, an end to innocence. She was told not to question this dilemma, but simply to accept it” (Welter 1966: 158). Therefore, submission became a defining aspect of the feminine, also placing her squarely by her own fireside first as daughter and sister, later as wife and mother, bringing in the fourth dimension of domesticity. “If she chose to listen to other voices than those of her proper mentors, sought other rooms than those of her home, she lost both her happiness and her power” (Welter 1966: 173). However, Welter also points out that the very definition of True Womanhood established the base for its own failure. This is because it defined Woman in such an idealized state that it was difficult to argue why her ideas should be confined to the home rather than the greater world outside. Evidence in the written documents indicate that the universal acceptance of this idea of womanhood was not necessarily as widely embraced as nineteenth-century American society might have wished. “Welter noted the virulence with which proponents of the new femininity denounced Fourierism, socialism, agrarian radicalism, abolitionism, dress reform, and other forms of ‘fanaticism’ in sermons, magazines, and advice literature intended for the middle class, suggesting the difficulties they faced in imposing their standards even among the most likely candidates for True Womanhood” (Hewitt 2002: 157-58). While there were plenty of women who ‘bought in’ to the idea of True Womanhood’, Roberts explained “some worked diligently to disseminate and enforce these ideals among their sisters. Others used their piety and purity to gain access to public influence and authority. A few directly challenged the cult, for which they were excommunicated from polite society and relegated to the ‘lower orders’ occupied by ‘fallen women,’ female laborers, immigrants and slaves” (2002: 152). Both Welter and Hewitt point out that the ideals held dear by the cult were further challenged by outside influences such as westward migration, industrialization, urbanization, evangelicalism, war and the abolition of slavery. Both within and without the cult, women were beginning to rebel against its constraining aspects from early on, whether they realized what they were doing or not. Roberts (2002) illustrates how journalism and the theater worked as a valve through which women were able to explore their more ‘subversive’ thoughts as well as to reach other similar minded women. “Both journalism and theater … gave women access to worlds where they were not subject to the limits imposed on the self by True Womanhood” (Roberts 2002 p. 153). For those women who felt the cult was correct in that the True Woman held a special bond with the Supreme Being that enabled her to adhere more closely to the tenets of the traditional belief system, it was a natural extension to feel that it was these individuals who should be heard within the greater community as a force to protect the very home in which she was given dominion. For others, accepting the yoke of the True Woman was a hindrance to their expressing what they felt were equally valid thoughts and ideas, wishing to be able to pursue their limits to the same degree as men without the unnatural restrictions imposed on them by those men. The Women’s Liberation Movement grew out of these issues. Feminist ideology encompasses many diverse ideas, all evolving over the past four decades. During the 1960’s, women began developing theories to help express the oppression they endured and the modern-day feminist movement was born. Through the 1970’s, defiant segments that embraced this growing ideology began coordinating and mobilizing their efforts to challenge the status quo patriarchy, succeeding in the passage of Title IX legislation in 1972 that prevented schools and other organizations receiving government dollars from discriminating against potential students or participants on the basis of gender. Together with Title VII, women were now able to gain the education they needed to obtain the jobs that paid well and thus gain a more equal status in the social sphere, at least in theory. However, in the 1980’s, feminists began to disagree on specific concerns related to feminist thought. What had been one general theory began branching out into several theories focusing on varied issues involving feminism. “Today, there are as many definitions of feminism as there are feminists. Each definition of feminism depends on a number of factors including one’s own beliefs, history and culture” (Kramarae et al, 1985: 2). Feminism has basically broken into two factions, Radical and Liberal, each of which are separated into yet further subfactions. Simply stated, radical feminism is philosophy centered on women. It aspires to “tear down the legitimised and institutionalized domination of men over women and replace it with systems of mutuality, cooperation, and sharing” (Storkey, 1985: 4). Radical feminism, through protests and other high-profile activities, have accomplished much towards their goal of furthering the rights of women. Liberal feminism is the type most identified with the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The focal point of their viewpoint is that all people, including men, are entitled to equal rights and considerations. Liberal feminists believe the oppression of women begins the way both genders are socialized. “Liberal feminists believe that women have the same mental capacity as their male counterparts and should be given the same opportunities in political, economic and social spheres. Women should have the right to choose, not have their life chosen for them because of their sex. Essentially, women must be like men” (Kramarae et al, 1985). Liberal feminists have been instrumental in producing and supporting laws which eradicate social barriers women have historically endured. These laws have sought equal rights and opportunities for women in the workplace, educational system and through social and health programs. By legislating equality for all, the traditional patriarchal ideologies are challenged and broken down while liberating women at the same time. The goal of realizing equal rights and opportunities are shared by both radical and liberal feminists; however, the methods are dissimilar. Radical feminists advocate social changes while liberal feminists look more to individual rights. While opportunities for women in business and life in general have improved considerably and steadily over the years thanks to the combined efforts of feminists of all kinds, it remains apparent that the door to the summit of business is not readily open to them. A 1993 survey indicated that 37 percent of women who left their jobs “were tired of battling the glass ceiling” (Feldman, 1997: 82). The eradication of discrimination of wages is vital to achieving legitimate gender equality. No permanent progress in the economic status of women can be expected on condition that the market rewards their time at a lower wage than that of men. While people in upper management progressively recognize the value of work force diversity, particularly at the management levels, glass ceiling barriers continue to disallow women the chance to compete for and secure supervisory level titles. Low pay is not just an issue for women but for their children whose quality of life depends solely on these wages. The discrimination of women in the workforce is in the direct interest of capitalism. By giving women the worst work, with no job security and low wages, an organization creates an economical workforce, which they can replace at-will. Corporations keep their labor costs low and their profits high by hiring women as casual or part-time workers. By keeping women’s wages low, they divide the working class and keep all wages low as women workers can be used to threaten the job security of male workers. Women are often dependent on men because they, on average, are paid lower wages, a potentially dangerous circumstance to those women that find themselves in an abusive relationship or supporting children on their own. While women have come a long way since the True Woman cult of the 1950s, there remain numerous issues to be addressed if true equality is to be achieved between the genders. Works Cited Feldman, Gayle. “Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women Have Had a Long Hard Struggle to Reach Their Current Status in the Industry.” Publishers Weekly. Vol. 244, N. 31, 1997. Hewitt, Nancy. “Taking the True Woman Hostage.” Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 14, N. 1. 2002, pp. 156-62. Kramarae, Cheris and Treichler, Paula A., with assistance from Ann Russo. A Feminist Dictionary. London, Boston: Pandora Press, 1985. Roberts, Mary Louise. “True Woman Revisited.” Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 14, N. 1. Spring 2002, pp. 150-55. Storkey, Elaine. What’s Right with Feminism. Grand Rapids, MI: SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge), 1985. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Title VII.” Civil Rights Act. (1964). November 18, 2007 Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly. Vol. 18, N. 2, P. 1. 1966, pp. 151-74. Read More