How Much Have Things Changed?
Tonight, I ran across old newsreels on Youtube about the roles of women. Have things really changed all that much despite the women’s liberation movement?
The first video covers the work of a housewife. Modern women are still responsible for these activities and a full-time job. That’s some liberation there. Yeah, those are great choices.
The second video is about women in the workplace…in the 1950s. The 1950s?!? But all women were dutifully waiting for their husbands to come home for martinis and casseroles in the 1950s. The woman interviewed here has opinions that sound almost like Betty Friedan except that this is a good 10-15 years before The Feminine Mystique was published. During this time Friedan was devoting her energy towards the Socialist Party of America not the terrible plight of bored, rich housewives.
Tags: Betty Friedan, housewife, newsreels, women's history
January 27th, 2010 at 8:35 am
In 1950, women’s labor force participation rate was 34%. Today, it’s around 60%. In the 70’s alone, their share of management positions in the workforce almost doubled, and, in the 60’s, their share of banking and financial positions increased more than three-fold and their share of lawyer positions increased more than six-fold. Prior to the economic collapse, about one-third of American families had women as their primary breadwinners.
Question: How much have things changed?
Answer: A lot.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:42 am
N.S., my point was not about statistics. I’m aware of that. I’ve frequently written about the Shriver Report. My point was that the messaging was the same. Feminists assert that women were enslaved by the patriarchy prior to the Friedan awakening. That video was filmed long before The Feminist Mystique was written.
“Women’s issues” were taken up by radical socialists in order to further their platforms for diminished personal liberties and further nationalization of private industry (i.e. nationalization of childcare) and attacks on capitalism as a conspiracy against women. Women would have entered the workforce even without a movement to “liberate” them. Had that happened, women may have had even more choices, like the ability to want to stay at home and be a housewife without having to justify it.