US chapter 3&4

• The New Deal and WW2 had mixed impacts on women, with some groups hit harder than others and some groups doing better than others.
• Immigrants were forced to learn English in the army.
• Forced families out of ghettos and into different areas.
• The Great Depression hit women harder than men in some ways and vice versa in other ways.
• Married women had to manage household on less money and would not be able to find additional work themselves as 80% of Americans believed wives and mothers should stay at home.
• Female unemployment rates were lower than male unemployment rates because- as “women's jobs” were more secure.
• Women's wages remained on average half that of men.
• The 1933 Economy Act- forbade members of the same family from working for the Federal Government.
• NRA codes allowed unequal wages.
• Some agencies such as the CCC did not employ women.
• Frances Perkins was the first female Cabinet, secretary of labour in 1933 - 45.
• Eleanor Roosevelt was very active as First Lady, ensuring female activists had access to President and that women received New Deal funds.
• Eleanor Roosevelt often held press conferences with only female reporters.
• Eleanor Roosevelt was often attacked by journalists, especially for speaking out against racism.
• WW2 had a dramatic impact on women's lives, with millions doing voluntary work and 19 million employed women about 36% of the workforce.
• By 1944, majority of women workers were married.
• Women felt more empowered at managing without husband.
• Women viewed as temporary workers during the war.
• Women in manufacturing were paid 60% less for same job.
• Frances Perkins stated that she believed legal equality… between the sexes is not possible because men and women are not identical in physical structure of social function.
• Majority of men and women still disapproved of working wives.
• Wartime propaganda emphasised how women would return to traditional roles after the war.
• By 1950 banks employed more women than men.
• From 1948 to 1958, 11 million out of 13 million new homes built were suburban houses.
• By 1960, 33% of Americans were suburbanites.
• Suburban women had bigger houses and so more space for labour saving devices like washing machines and dishwashers.
• NOW membership rose from 1,000 in 1967 to 40,000 in 1974.
• In the early 1960s, the overall labour force participation rate for women was around 38%, compared to over 80% for men.
• Betty Friedan, a psychologist and journalist published book called the 'feminine mystique' about constraints on suburban life and problems of white, educated, married women.
• The equal rights act was passed in 1972 but 15 states still refused to ratify it in 1982.
• The book got women thinking of their rights.
• Second strand to the women's liberation movement, members under 30 white and college educated.
• The USA didn't sign up to the 1979 united nations policy of introducing non-discrimination against women in all aspects of life.
• The ideal woman was receptivity and passiveness, with a focus on cooking, cleaning, looking after children, PTA, carpooling, and charity work.
• Abortion was federally legalised in 1973 by the supreme court ruling.
• The right to have equal pay, opportunity, to decide about their own bodies.
• The movement didn't represent all women and only represented middle class white women.
• Radical groups drew the most media attention and men could belittle the smaller radical groups easier than bigger ones such as NOW.
• NOW wanted better enforcement of the equal pay act and civil rights act.
• A national coalition of American nuns participated in a strike for women's rights in 1970.