The Women of the Womens Movement of the 1960s - Essay Example

Running Head: DEFINING EVENT The influences of the women’s movement of the 1960s on my decision to become a lawyer The influences of the women’s movement of the 1960s on my decision to become a lawyer In 1968 on September 7th at the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, one of the strongest urban myths about the women’s movement was born. Since that time, the public discourse about the nature of women within the public sphere has slowly shifted to allow for the concept that women have the capacity to perform well within both the domestic space and the public space through education and career opportunities. The concept of ‘bra-burning’ that was born during that event inspired women to shed their constraints and embark on journeys defined by their talents and inclinations rather than their gender. Without this event, it is likely that the inspired transformations that occurred after that moment in time through the efforts of the women’s movement would have come at a much slower pace, preventing me from believing that as a woman I was perfectly capable of using my mind to become a lawyer. One of the most powerful images that has been constructed through urban myth about the women’s movement of the 1960s is the concept of bra burning. Throughout my life, this joyous, violent action has spoken to me about liberation. The freedom of releasing the female sexual representation into the public sector was indicative of the freedom of releasing the female position from the cloister of the domestic space. The irony of this, of course, is that no actual bra burning ever took place. The event that brought about the myth is based upon actions that were planned for the 1968 Miss America Pageant where feminist group members planned an event whereby various cosmetic and clothing items were to be put into a garbage can and burned, but the group could not get the permit for the burning (Caplen, 2010, p. 185). Therefore, at this event the concept was born without the actual event of the accusation that was associated with it. While there was no actual burning during that protest, the media, who had largely ignored the feminist movement up to this point, took the opportunity to represent the members of the protest as unappealing and against the established forms of beauty, using the term ‘bra-burners’ as an incendiary title against the women’s movement and the burning of bras. This was intended to associate feminists with draft dodgers who were burning their draft cards (Caplen, 2010, p. 185). The intent was to associate the concept of the women’s movement with an un-American and unpatriotic concept, the loss of the feminine position in the social structure of the United States a threat against a cultural way of life. As negative as this was intended, the oppositional message was one of freedom, the release from cultural constraints being one of the important characteristics of the decade. At the time, it was used against the women in the feminist movement, but as the titillating term became a cultural myth, young women, such as myself, have seen it as a term of liberation. Despite the mythic nature of the concept bra burning, the idea that it contains has an important cultural implication. Freedom and full representation within the public sphere is the core of women’s movement, the need to be given as much opportunity as men is crucial to the ability to live up to the female potential. Without this, the nature of the female experience within modern life would not be defined outside of the home. The struggle to survive without the recourses of an equal opportunity for education and career would leave women even more vulnerable to the perils of economic despair. While the domestic sphere is not to be dismissed as unimportant, the intellectual life that is offered in the space of the public sphere provides another dimension to life not afforded to women who are forced to remain solely within the home. The choice to take care of a family and home is a very different concept to the obligation to only take care of a family and home. In the modern world, it has become a matter of choice, even though social pressures are relevant to making that choice. The nature of the women’s movement, inspired as a discourse within the media through the event at the 1968 Miss America Pageant, was to bring forward into the public discourse a knowledge that there was no legitimate reason for women and men to have disparities in the opportunities in the public sphere. Education and career opportunities before this time had been given unfairly towards the advantages of men, even when men were less intelligent or under qualified. There was a measurable cultural belief that men deserved first consideration where work and education were concerned, with women having to work harder and cross more obstacles to attain the same success. This is not changed as much as it might be desired as currently less than half of all Fortune 500 companies have women in their top executive roles, with only 7.2% having two women and 2.6 having three (Mendenhall, 2008, p. 43). Educational opportunities that have become equally available to both men and women are due to events that occurred in the 1960s. Although Title 15 did not come into law until 1972, it was the movement activities of the 1960s that led to a piece of law that required educational institutions to treat men and women as equal. Before this was put into law, “It was perfectly legal to discriminate in any educational program against girls or women” (Blumenthal, 2005, p. 24). Blumenthal (2005) went on to describe the attitude of both superintendents of schools and congress when she states “Girls, they believed, simply didn’t need the same education or opportunities as boys, and they shouldn’t take spots that might otherwise go to boys” (p. 28). While the highest impact was seen in the equalization of opportunities in sports, the nature of programs within the educational system was changed so that both males and females could have equal opportunities towards finding places within those programs. Where there were once courses that were restricted to only boys that provided an advantage towards getting into college, those programs could now only be available if they were open to both males and females. Women have flourished as opportunities have opened up within the educational system and have fought for their position in the public sphere. One might look at the example of Amherst college who was originally restricted to an all male population, but in the 2010 graduating class, women represented 51% of the graduating class (Marthers, 2010, p. 139). Without the women’s movement of the 1960s, the nature of women’s education would be very different. In bringing forward the obvious disparities between the opportunities that were available to males over females, the movement opened doors and busted through barriers that previously erected high barriers between a woman and an education. In seeing the violence that is still put upon women, the sexual harassment that still exists, and the disparities in the fulfillment of ambitions by women because of male dominance in certain fields, and additionally recognizing that women still experience wage disparities, my life has been put on a course to help remedy these problems. As a lawyer who focuses on women’s studies, I hope to be able to continue forward the progress that was started by the women’s movement, and to help culture to be repositioned to accept the value of women without the need for men to feel threatened. One of the most relevant current day problems is that of gender induced violence against women. The current statistics state that approximately three women are murdered by their domestic partner every day, About 20% of all women will experience some form of domestic violence in their lifetime, and where 30% of all murder is done by an intimate partner in the case of women, only 2 percent of all male murders are done by an intimate partner (McCue, 2008, p. 30). I am not unfamiliar with sexist attitudes and impositions in my life. Some of the men that I have been surrounded with, which I choose not to name nor give an identity, have, behind closed doors, often made statements that indicated that women are naturally inferior to men. Furthermore, there is often a lamentation about the loss of the American ideal, that ‘Ozzie and Harriat’, ‘Donna Reed’, or ‘Father Knows Best’ innocence of the classic and perfect suburban housewife who submits to the will of her husband and to his permissions. The female form encapsulated by her rigid clothing style, her domestic position, and her dependency on her husband as he brings home a good salary so that she can maintain his home, is as much a myth as is the concept of the bra-burner. Women have been subjected to oppression, their lives run by a male dominated society that took their health, wealth, and welfare into consideration only through whim and permission. Women should never have to ask permission to be safe, to earn enough to live comfortably, or to have a respected position within society. If not for the engaging concept of ‘bra-burning’ and the event of that night that inspired the media attention might not have been as effective. The necessity of a seminal event was central to gaining momentum for the cause of women’s rights. The imagery that the myth provided, even if often negative, provided a framework from which to inspire change. If legislators had not felt the pressure from the public through media attention, change would have come more slowly. History is often turned on a single event. The women of the women’s movement of the 1960s formed a strong front from which all women since that time have benefited. The work is not done, and as a lawyer I intend to continue the pursuit of equality. The events at this protest inspired the promotion of discussion, thus changing the world so that I might seek out my own path with far fewer gender related obstacles. References Blumenthal, Karen. (2005). Let me play: The story of Title XV: The law that changed the future of girls in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, Caplen, Robert. (2010). Shaken & stirred: The feminism of James Bond. S.l.: Xlibris Corp. Hollows, Joanne. (1999). Feminism, femininity, and popular culture. New York: Manchester University Press. Marthers, Paul P. (2010)."Eighth sister no more": The origins and evolution of Connecticut College. New York: P. Lang. McCue, Margi Laird. (2008). Domestic violence: A reference handbook. Santa Barbera, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Mendenhall, Mark. E. (2008). Global leadership: Research, practice, and development. New York: Taylor and Francis, Inc, 2008. Read More