Womens Civil Rights Obstacles American History 1945 1965

Getting paid as equal to men, getting a fair representation in the workforce, and being subjected to sexual violence are issues that women have been facing since old times. This paper hypothesizes that the gendered role that a woman is expected to fulfill, regardless of her age, race, or marital status, and she struggles to change the mentality of a male-dominated society, no matter how hard she tries or no matter how high the education or modernism has endeavored to change people.

The first obstacle that old American women faced was labor segregation and racial discrimination in everyday routine. For example, the period between 1945 and 1965 was full of contradictions for society’s women’s role as the generalization was only about the domestic role that women ought to play (DuBois and Dumenil 2016 534). Women working outside homes were not accepted wholeheartedly when deep anxiety was prevalent on the grounds of racial discrimination as well. Moreover, Betty Friedan narrated in her book published in 1963 that the post-war era imposed an uncertain domestic containment of the women for their only role that deemed to be looking after their homes, husbands, and children (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 541). The restricted model of the women was due to substantial differences in class, race, and ethnic background in the foundations of which a large portion of women was not allowed to enter the workforce. In the supplemental reading from Betty Friedan, it is reinstated that women who were deemed appropriate for the house roles and who were educated enough to be deemed as the appropriate choices for being housewives and mothers to their husbands’ children were suffering from depression, anxiety, suicidal attempts, undergoing psychotherapies, and taking sleeping pills, etc. (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 543). These educated, possibly working women were constricted to their homes, causing physical and mental health problems.

The second obstacle was specifically for ‘color,’ which means Black or African American women based on racial discrimination. This was also the era in which strong opposition of Black or African American women was seen and barred from entering the workforce. White women successfully took the ‘respectable’ employment position in the workforce, while Black women were either stopped from applying for suitable posts or were forced to face harassing employers (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 546). Moreover, the ‘marriage bar’ was also imposed to prevent women from entering their desired careers.

The third obstacle that was tough to be dealt with was fear of women’s sexual promiscuity. After the war, the statistics in one of the publications revealed that 50% were involved in premarital intercourse, 90% attributed to ‘petting,’ and 28% had homosexuality propensities (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 539). This infused a taboo against the female gender, for which the males were always seen raising eyebrows. A virgin has deemed a treasure for the men in marriages, while the same criteria do not exist. They were free from the chains of being a virgin or being involved in extramarital relationships, while the gendered role was only set for the women. Prioritization of female virginity remained an issue that females of normal families have to deal with daily, especially when they reached suitable marriage age.

How women responded to or overcame the obstacles was only with other women’s constant struggles and support. The reason for saying so is that, first, agencies made to empower women, such as the Women’s Bureau, were in close ties with the women prominent women strugglers at that time. Taking the example of Betty Friedan, who pinpointed the main issues, the housewives or the educated and possible working ladies who opted to get married and stay at home were brought into the limelight with her writings. Moreover, certain agencies like National Manpower Council (NMC), a private firm was in close relation with the government to sort out the issue of women’s employment (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 546). The conferences for women in the 1950’s era and the Commission Education of Women (CEW) strived to highlight women’s education and workforce issues.

Secondly, after having somehow entered the workforce in the postwar era, the unions struggled to address the concerns such as poor pay, discriminatory policies against women, and racial discrimination between Black and White females (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 549). As employment remained one of the top obstacles for women, females wanted to overcome this hurdle. Women’s Bill of Rights was a noticeable step towards this venture, as mentioned in the supplemental reading (DuBois and Dumenil 2016, 610). Liberal feminism and women liberation was the new terms emerging in that era as a response to equal employment opportunities, or even if not ‘equal,’ some benefits of this gender-based Bill of Rights. should be granted