Humanities 2319
American Minorities: Political Culture in A Global Environment
Lecture 5: The Polity (con't):
The Fairer Sex TOP
Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard
throughout the whole universe; discover your rights.
The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded
by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies.---Olympe
de Gouges, 1791
The 1866 elections allowed the Republicans a resounding victory, so much so that any veto could be overridden by their respective 2/3 majority control of both Houses in Congress. Further, Republicans controlled a sufficient number of state legislatures which would ensure the ratification of those "Reconstruction" amendments, the 14th being the most distasteful for the South because it was viewed as a means of eroding the authority of states to make law suitable for their respective residents. Of course, while the 15th Amendment conferred equality of suffrage for the former African slaves and free black men, the Southern states created one obstacle after another which would make voting a virtual impossibility. Congress, so exasperated with the South, chose to introduce legislation that would extend the vote in the District of Columbia to Negro men who had resided in the District for one year. This bill would likely have been passed as read, however, Republican Senator Cowan of Pennsylvania, who was reviled by his party as a 'watchdog of slavery' because he preferred a more generous approach to Reconstruction than did the majority of his party members moved to strike the word 'male' from the bill. Here began the first Congressional debate on women's suffrage.1 The debate lasted three days.
From 1776 until 1803, women were entitled to vote in New Jersey. In the New Jersey Constitution (Article IV) extended suffrage to all residents possessing a net worth of fifty pounds (50₤) irrespective of race or gender. This right was stripped in 1807. Suffragists had labored prior to the Civil War culminating in the Seneca Falls Convention in New York in 1848 and the Declaration of Sentiments which was signed by 100 men and women, and demanded the right to vote for women. Although suffragists struggled for equality of sex, their efforts were subsumed by their equal dedication to abolitionism.
Much of the work was initially done at state levels but little success was achieved. By 1866, suffragists presented petitions with 10,000 signatures to Congress calling for a constitutional amendment extending the franchise to women, Congress begins intermittently proposing the same beginning the next year. Over the next forty-five years, referenda on women's suffrage are held in all the states. In 1872, the first woman runs for President! Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in this election, though not for Woodhull. Over the next four years Anthony and other suffragists would speak throughout the country and on the celebration of our nation's first century of freedom in Philadelphia, raised quite the stir when they presented the Declaration of the Rights of Women to Vice-President Ferry.
In 1878, Senator Sargent (CA) introduced the women's suffrage amendment, and although defeated, the wording remained unchanged until its passage in 1919 and ratified in 1920 as the 19th Amendment.
.....you can vote, so now what? LIBERATE US!
Woman was created to be man's helpmeet, but her unique
role is in conception . . . since for other purposes men
would be better assisted by other men."--Thomas Aquinas
Voting provided women the opportunity to consent to their governance, but since 1920, what has changed about their station in American political culture? Many states by this point had laws allowing women to vote for state and local offices, however, women were still unable to vote in national elections for Congress and the President. Ironically, the first woman was elected to Congress, Jeanette Rankin (MN) in 1917---three years before women achieved the right to vote in national elections, but in terms of equality in policy where have we gone?
Women could vote, but arguably, it was assumed their husbands and fathers would inform that vote. As you read in the speech by Lucy Stone, women were employed in the workforce---for those with educations, the majority became teachers or nurses or pink-collar careers. Women were still relegated to the hearth and home--to be wife and mother.
...man is defined as a human being and woman is
defined as a female. Whenever she tries to behave
as a human being she is accused of trying to emulate
the male...Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
The women's movement, largely one began as an attempt to change social constructs of women from that of child-bearer to human. As de Beauvoir notes, "marriage is the destiny traditionally offered to women by society....economic evolution in a woman's situation is in process....upsetting the institution of marriage." The institution of marriage is, arguably, the bulwark of most societies. It is a fundamental representation of the union of the dichotomies of man and woman. Without becoming overly-theoretical in this lecture, in large measure, understand that for women to achieve any measure of equality, society's singular view of her as a vessel for its future progeny would have to change; change to accept her as human. This was the mission of Margaret Sanger.
Margaret Sanger, a nurse, disturbed by the inability of most women to obtain accurate information and effective birth control which she believed was critical if women were to achieve any measure of independence. Federal (The Comstock Act) and similar state laws forbade the dissemination of information that was considered 'obscene' and Margaret Sanger would eventually be charged and arrested for violating this law by opening a clinic that would provide birth control in 1919. The Comstock Law would not, however, be struck down by the Supreme Court until 1965, but this would only apply to married couples! The Court ruled that the sanctity of the marriage contract provided a couple the right to determine when and if they would procreate when the Court said
......We do not sit as a
super-legislature to determine the
wisdom, need, and propriety of
laws that touch economic
problems, business affairs, or
social conditions. This law,
however, operates directly on
an intimate relation of
husband and wife and their
physician's role in one aspect
of that relation....Would we
allow the police to search
the sacred precincts of marital
bedrooms for telltale
signs of the use of
contraceptives? The very idea is
repulsive to the notions of
privacy surrounding the
marriage relationship. We deal
with a right of privacy
older than the Bill of Rights -
older than our political
parties, older than our school
system. Marriage is a
coming together for better or
for worse, hopefully
enduring, and intimate to the
degree of being sacred.
---William
O. Douglass for the majority in Griswold v CT
This reasoning would not extend to Single women until 1972! On the heels of this decision came Roe v Wade, which would singly divide the nation between those who viewed the decision as one reflecting an autonomous choice over a biological process versus a form of "murder." Since this controversial decision, many efforts have been made to overturn the Roe, or at a minimum, at least place limitations on when, who and how a woman can make this decision. Beyond the issue of reproductive freedom however, there was another issue. "The problem that had no name," according to Betty Friedan, that was lurking in society; particularly among the women in the growing 'middle class'.
Abortion and reproductive rights continue to remain a central issue within our political culture and candidates are subjected to litmus tests on the matter in every election.
.... games people play
As children, toys are provided us for our entertainment. Stereotypically, girls are given dolls and tea sets and to boys, cars and guns. This, of course, is a bit of an overgeneralization, but it does set up a reinforcing element within our culture, socializing us into constructs of acceptable behavior. In schools, girls are expected to perform poorly in math and science and boys, in English and social studies. I am not sure where this assumption is rooted and I am again, generalizing, but even decades after I completed my primary school education, I still hear the tell-tale signs of these expectations from my own students. In 1972, Congress enacted and Nixon signed Title IX of The Educational Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. ß 1681 et seq.) Title IX, as it is more commonly known, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal funding. Universities, primarily, ostensibly, to appear in compliance, began offering meager scholarships to women athletes. Clearly, many young men might not have otherwise been able to afford to attend the prestigious institutions that they did--why then would the same opportunities not be available to promising young female athletes? In response to Title IX admonitions, universities did begin offering scholarship, but these were hardly the 'full rides' offered their male football/baseball/basketball counterparts and thirty years later, women's sports programs at universities are becoming very popular and while attendance at their venues hardly rival their male counterparts, there is strong and consistent support that exists. Achieving equity in educational opportunities afforded through athletic scholarship, had increased participation 437% by 2006 and although women comprise about 57% of university population, they only receive 43% of all the athletic opportunities.
.... show me the money
Women now graduate from college in higher percentages than do men, the question is for their educational attainment, what have women earned? The Industrial Revolution, between 1830-1860, women's participation in the labor force became a key factor in growth, particularly for such sectors as textile mills. Young women in rural communities were recruited to work in them and they became a means by which farming families could ease their economic burdens as well as provided an opportunity for young women to save for their own future and achieve a measure of independence. Unfortunately, there were critics of this practice who charged that employment in the mills would corrupt these young women and make them unsuitable for marriage, and to a degree they may have been correct---independent women working in the mills often became involved in social and labor reform movements.
Of course, those women who were from wealthier families had opportunities beyond those of young women from rural areas. Mary Wollenstonecraft articulated quite succinctly the importance of education for women (you do not have to read this but you should skim through it), but the hardships of rural life left little leisure time for young women to go about the task of educating themselves much beyond learning to read and do simple arithmetic. Educated women, in spite of being so, fared no better in seeking employment in 'non-traditional' fields. For example, Myra Bradwell, was one of this country's first women attorneys but was refused entrance to the bar until 1885. Education for women in the upper classes could be provided by 'finishing schools' where they could learn how to be better housewives and mothers. Little serious discussion of opportunities for employment occurred. By the 1960s, this began to change. The women's movement was approaching a full-blown revolution.
In 1963,
the Equal Pay Act
became law and required employers to pay women and men, doing equal
work, the same wages. This was followed the next year by the
Civil Rights
Act of 1964, in additional to ensuring all barriers to
the ballot for African-Americans were removed, it also prohibited
discrimination in hiring by any company with 25 or more employees.
Of course, as you can imagine, small, family businesses were not
affected by this law and subtle forms of discrimination, similar to
those faced by African-Americans seeking employment during this same
time period, left many opportunities out of reach. Finally,
the Equal Rights Act, originally proposed in 1923 passed both Houses
of Congress in 1972, then faced the ratification path through the
states. After failing to receive the requisite ratification
votes by the deadline in 1979, Congress voted to extend the deadline
until 1982. The legislation fell three states short by the
deadline. Congress did reintroduce the ERA in 1982 and it has
been reintroduced every year since then, but has never received a
sufficient number of votes in Congress to move again into
ratification.
How far have we come:
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According to the US Census Bureau, as of November 1, 2006, there were 152 million women in America, compared to 148 million men---this is largely due to longevity of women increasing. 2
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According the American Community Survey Data for 2005, the median household income in the US was $46,242. For men, the median income was $41,965 and for women, $32,168, with women earning .767 cents for every dollar earned by men.3
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According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005 among people 25 and older 29% of males and 27% of women held at least a Bachelor's degree. Among those who are younger (aged 25-29), the trends reverse; 32% of women held at least Bachelor's degrees compared to 25% of males.4
....take us to your leaders
As mentioned earlier, Jeanette Rankin became the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives in 1917, but it would be another fifty years before another woman would join the ranks of men in the House. Shirley Chisholm of New York not only became the second woman to hold office in the House, she was the first African-American woman ever elected to it. In the Senate, it took much longer. The first woman to join that body was appointed Hattie Caraway of Arkansas to complete the unexpired term of her husband who died of a stroke in 1932. The first woman elected was Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, serving 4 terms from 1949-73. Since that time, 244 women have served in Congress, and presently, there are 90 women---almost 17%, an increase of only 6% since 1992--"the year of the woman" when more women ran and won public office than any other time in history.
Women have occupied all major offices in the federal government with the exception of President. While not the first female candidate, in the 2008, Hillary Clinton has mounted the strongest campaign for the Presidency by a woman in the history of presidential contests and represents the first real opportunity the nation will have to elect a woman to the White House.
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Women
in Political Power, 1987/2000 Share of
Seats in National Parliament |
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Source: UNIFEM, Progress of the World's Women Report, 2000 |
This concludes lecture 5
-------------------------
From:
Declaration of the Rights of Women.
Olympe de Gouges, a butcher's daughter, proved to be one of the most
outspoken and articulate women revolutionaries. In 1791 she wrote
Declaration of the Rights of Women, directly challenging the
inferiority presumed of women by the Declaration of the Rights
of Man. Her attempts to push this idea lead to her being charged
with treason during the rule of the National Convention. She was
quickly arrested, tried, and on November 3, 1793, executed by the
guillotine.
1.