U N I T 2

Gender problems women’s liberation

The Women's Liberation Movement began in 1960s. It was started by women who were concerned about their identity, their role in society, and their work, and about the view of women that many people held.

Women's liberation, or Women's Lib, is the name of a broad-based but informal popular movement. It embraces widely vary­ing organizations, people, and ideas. Some are moderate; some are radical. All are concerned with changing the role of women in contemporary society.

This movement is not a political party. It is more like a forum or platform from which feminists (supporters of women's rights) speak out on women's issues. In books, articles, lectures, feminists attack the timeless inequities built into a male-dominated social system, and suggest possible remedies.

Such inequities are easy to find, according to these women. One of the most objectionable is the unequal distribution of power throughout the system, especially at the top. Take the US government, for example. Although there have been a few women in Congress, there has never been a woman president; not even a serious contender. A woman was nominated for the vice-presidency in 1984, but did not win the election. Not until President Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court did a woman serve on the nation's highest judicial body. Before that time, all nine justices had always been men.

“What do the women want?” asked one confused male. We've set them up as wives and mothers, treated them with great respect, even put them on a pedestal. Isn't that enough? Not anymore, it isn't! Many women reject the straitjacket role of childbearing and homemaking, jobs which women did not choose for themselves but which had been imposed on them by a male-dominated society. Not that the role of wife and mother is no longer honorable. It is, and numerous women still find homemaking a satisfying career. But in recent years, many thoughtful women have sought to expand this role. They want absolute equality with men - in marriage, in the workplace, in politics. Shouldn't women receive the same pay as men for the same work, have the same educational opportunities, and be able to rise in any occupation as far as they can? It is no exaggeration to call current changes a social revolution - not only for women but for men too. And there's much more to come.

Many women want full equality with men in every aspect of life. In marriage, they want husbands and wives to share all the work and responsibilities of a home and a family. In work, they want women and men to have the same jobs and the same chance to succeed. They want women to be paid just as much as men for the same work. Other women agree with some of the ideas of women's liberation. They want the same pay if they hold the same job as a man. At home, however, they do not expect their husbands to share in the cleaning, cooking and other household jobs.

The key word is equality. In every male-female relationship, must the woman always play the secondary role?

The Women's Liberation movement set out to change this. Through the movement, a program of goals and objectives was set forth. Not all women agree on all points, of course; but there is consensus on most of the following. The family must not take precedence over other things women might do. Women must not be tied to the house. Everyone must be free to experiment with new family styles that permit individuals to develop in their own ways.

All housekeeping chores, such as cooking cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, laundry), food shopping, diaper changing and child rearing must be divided equally. Household expenses are also shared. Women may keep their maiden names after marriage, to maintain personal identity.

Having children must be a free choice for both men and women. Women must have the right to end a pregnancy for any reason Women who choose not to have children should not lose status.

The work of raising children must be shared equally by the mother and father. It should not be, considered a full-time job for either one. Maternity leave must be given not only to mothers but also to fathers, so that they, too, can stay home from work if the need arises.

Jobs must be available to both sexes on the basis of individual ability, without the presumption that one sex is more capable than the other. This means that women will enter many lines of work traditionally open only to men.

The Women's Liberation movement has not yet achieved all its goals, some of which are controversial even among women. But the movement has already had considerable impact in many areas of male-female relations. To advance their program, women welcome the cooperation and understanding of men. For the men who are obstinate, unhelpful and "sexist", women have invented an unpleasant name—male chauvinist pig. And no one wants to be called that!

For years, women hoped that a new social order would gradually evolve, especially after they won the right to vote. Even getting this right wasn't easy. It required an amendment to the US Constitution, which wasn't passed until 1920. But change has been painfully slow, obstructed, the women say, by men who are unwilling to share their power, and by the women themselves, who lacked organization and a program of goals. In the 1960s and 1970s women determined to change all this. "Revolution, not evolution" was the new slogan.

It is important to remember that the Women's Liberation Movement is concerned not with concrete issues only, but also with attitudes and beliefs. One example of this concern is the issue of women's identity. Some women do not think they are capable of doing anything important. The Women’s Liberation Movement helps these women to improve their views of themselves.

A second issue of the Women's Liberation Movement is the question of women's roles. Should a woman work outside the home, should she work if she is married and has children? If a woman decides to take a job outside the home there are many important questions which are raised. Are some jobs closed to her because she is a woman? Will she be paid as much as her fellow workers-men?

Many people agree with the ideals and goals of women's liberation. They feel that women ought to be considered equal to men in every way. They feel that a woman shall be able to decide to stay at home and raise a family, or to stay at home and not raise a family, or to go out and work, or to have a job outside the home and a family as well.

Other people are opposed to women's liberation.

The Women's Liberation Movement is trying to give women a chance to show what they can do.