In Pursuit of Equity

In her book, In Pursuit of Equity, Kessler-Harris points out that men have always considered work as a measure of their manhood, and that at the turn of the century, many felt this sphere of their life being threatened by entrpreneurial opportunities, and the changing workplace (Kessler-Harris 22). This has led to gender bias against women in the workplace and in social policy in the United States which still exists today. Kessler-Harris believes it is driven by men's overriding belief that work is their ideological milieu and the home and family duties are that of women. Men organized collectively to defend their right to work, their conception of the male role in society, while the woman's role was at home taking care of the family. The only women who worked were slaves: free women did not work outside the home. In the early part of the 20th century, there were working class women who worked until they got married, and some who had to work afterwards to help support the family, but none had ambitions of careers in the way men had. Middle and upper class women ceded any thought of a career to women who had to work, and carried out the role of the dutiful housewife and mother (24).

Ida Tarbell, the most successful female journalist of her time, noted in a five-part series of women's job possibilities in industry that there were so few women in executive positions that it was inferred they were not suitable for supervisory positions (Kessler-Harris 54). An ad in 19

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are tied to earnings, women who work in the home receive less benefits than their work is worth. Also, women who work earn less than men, so they are entitled to less benefits even when they do work outside the home. More than three million domestic workers and three and a half million agricultural workers were not eligible for Social Security benefits at all (Kessler-Harris 142). The majority of these workers were women. The program also made no provisions for coverage of motherless children and aged husbands, aged widowers, and widowed fathers of small children without resources were also left uncovered (141). Following World War II, many women who had entered the workforce to take the place of men fighting overseas, were suddenly pushed back out again and into domestic jobs or others not covered by Social Security. They became a force for change, arguing that they had contributed to the system while in the workforce, but now would not be eligible for benefits because they had not paid into the system for the required 10 quarters (Kessler-Harris 152-153). They also pointed out that not paying benefits for such jobs would discourage women from taking them, and demanded equal benefits for married and unmarried women w

Category: Psychology - I