Woman benchmark 5

Question 1

Reasons for progress in gaining civil rights for women in the USA 1865-1992? - Female activism

Answer 1

• Seneca Falls Convention 1848 - start of the campaign for female suffrage and the issue was taken up in years later by female activists like Susan B Anthony and Lucy Stone
• Temperance activists like Frances Willard who founded the Women’s Christian Temperance Union 1879, also campaigned on issues like female suffrage and working conditions
• Friedan - Feminine Mystique 1963 - immediate bestseller and launched 1960s feminist movement - also founded the National Association for Women in 1966 which campaigned for the ERA and right to choose abortion

Question 2

Reasons for progress in gaining civil rights for women in the USA 1865-1992? - not female activism

Answer 2

• Phyllis Schlafly campaign against the ERA contributed to its failure to be ratified
• The Progressive Era focused on a wide range of social reforms, many of which, like reforms of political corruption and banking systems - traditionally male dominated fields and most campaigners were men
• Woman divided by class - most suffragists middle class whilst working class women more concerned with bread and butter issues - and race - the NWSA and AWSA split in 1869 on whether to support the 15th amendment which gave the vote to black men but not to women

Question 3

Reasons for progress in gaining civil rights for women in the USA 1865-1992? - economic factors

Answer 3

ECONOMIC expansion - Gilded Age 1970-1900, the 2 world wars and the booms which followed them, coincided with the most important improvements in US women’s rights. Also increased women’s access to educated (especially uni level after WW2) jobs and consumer goods, including domestic appliances which gave more freedom from chores

• Anti-feminist backlash which started in 1970s with the reaction against Roe v Wade and the ERA coincided with a shift to the right in economic policy, against state intervention as witnessed during the New Deal and Great Society

Question 4

Reasons for progress in gaining civil rights for women in the USA 1865-1992? - not economic factors

Answer 4

• Changes did little to benefit the working class and usually ethnic minority women, most of whom remained trapped in unskilled, low paid or part time jobs with little or no trade union protection. The separate spheres idea never fully applied to the bc of econ necessity compelled to work outside the house
• Did not significantly increase the educational opportunities open to women until after WW2 arguably not really until 1960s - Fem mystique expressed frustration of intelligent women
• 2 world wars expanded women’s opportunities much more quickly than general economic growth

Question 5

Reasons for progress in gaining civil rights for women in the USA 1865-1992? - social and political factors

Answer 5

Legislative and judicial progress depended on male politicians (presidents like Kennedy and Johnson in the 1960s who passed Equal Pay and CRA) and the SC which legalised contraception in 1965 and abortion in 1973. Women could not vote nationally until Congress had legislated for this in 1919 and enough states had ratified it in 1920

• Social attitudes changed - amongst men and women as in the 1920s and 1960s when attitudes towards women’ fashion, sex and public behaviour changed radically
• Improvements in medical science like the invention of the contraceptive pill have always had a massive impact on women’s freedom

Question 6

How far do you agree that divisions within the woman’s movement were the most important factor hindering the attainment of gender equality in the USA 1865-1992? - Internal divisions

Answer 6

• 1869 split between (National Woman Suffrage Association) NWSA AND AWSA (American Woman Suffrage Association) on whether to support 15th amendment to US giving black men vote even if it didn’t give women the vote (NWSA opposed - female suffrage through amendment to constitution whilst AWSA thought state by state campaigns
• Racial divisions - black women excluded from NAWSA had to form their own group. Many women joined revived KKK in 1920s and opposed post war civil rights movement bc neglected women issues
• Roe v Wade 1973 exposed divisions over abortion an activists, especially Phyllis Schafley, opposing Equal Rights Amendment which contributed to failure to ratify it as a constitutional amendment .

Question 7

How far do you agree that divisions within the woman’s movement were the most important factor hindering the attainment of gender equality in the USA 1865-1992? - not internal divisions

Answer 7

Not permanent - NWSA and AWSA merged to form the NAWSA National American Women Suffrage Association 1890

Question 8

How far do you agree that divisions within the woman’s movement were the most important factor hindering the attainment of gender equality in the USA 1865-1992? - economic opposition

Answer 8

• Male opposition to women’s rights had a greater effect in limiting progress towards gender equality then divisions in women’s movement. Both employers and trade unions resisted equal pay for women despite need for female labour during the 2 world wars
• Equal pay for women not conceded until 1963: in 1930s on average a female teacher earned 20% less than a male, southern bell telephone company barred them from skilled positions even after CRA 1964 and air stewardesses were forced to retire at the age of 35 or if they got married
• New Deal prioritised jobs for men on grounds that they were the main breadwinners - didn’t prioritise lower class women. Only 7% of jobs created by Civil Works \Administration went to women and female dominated jobs like retail excluded

Question 9

How far do you agree that divisions within the woman’s movement were the most important factor hindering the attainment of gender equality in the USA 1865-1992? - political opposition

Answer 9

• Congress passed Comstock laws banning circulation of information of birth control 1873, until WW1 Congress and most states resisted giving women the vote
• Most states passed laws banning abortion in the late 19th century
• Republican dominance in both 1920s and 80s led to cuts in welfare provision which mainly affected women and a refusal to provide maternity leave and affordable childcare as was customary in Europe

Question 10

Why did woman make more progress in the USA 1941-92 than 1865-1941 - employment

Answer 10

WW2 gave women more opportunities to join armed forces, work in war industries and earn higher wages - more independence and challenged traditional views of a women’s role.

BUT
- Temporary

• Arguably the improved employment opportunities for women, especially in middle class professions like law, medicine, the civil service and politics were a result of long term econ changes before
• BAME woman did not benefit, lack of educational qualifications, low skilled, low paid, non-unionised jobs

Question 11

Why did woman make more progress in the USA 1941-92 than 1865-1941 - education

Answer 11

• Expansion of education, especially at uni level, gave women qualifications to aspire to middle class careers and the intellectual assurance to challenge male supremacy
• Post war period cultural attitudes gradually changed among bothb men and women from seperate spheres idea to acceptance of equal opportunities

BUT Servicemen Readjustment Act 1944 gave preference to ex servicemen over women in terms of access to higher education after the war.

Question 12

Why did woman make more progress in the USA 1941-92 than 1865-1941 - marriage and childbirth

Answer 12

Women gained increased educational and job opportunities and more freedom generally as a result of the increased availability of divorce and birth control 9especially the introduction of he contraceptive pill 1960s) and the Roe v Wade judgement on abortion

BUT these trends predated 1941 (Margaret Sanger had been advocating birth control since 1911)

Question 13

Why did woman make more progress in the USA 1941-92 than 1865-1941 - legislation

Answer 13

The federal government was generally sympathetic to women’s rights after 1941, especially since the 1960s with the passage of the Equal Pay and CRAs

BUT this also happened before 1941, with Congress voting for female suffrage in 1919 and New Deal legislation which helped women in the 1930s - Works Progress Administration created jobs for unemployed women

Question 14

Why did woman make more progress in the USA 1941-92 than 1865-1941 - female activism

Answer 14

The women’s movement made more impact after 1941, especially in the 1960s with Freidan, NOW and the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment which made far more impact from the 1960s onwards than after WW1

Question 15

Assess the view that developments in the 1960s had more impact on gender equality in the USA than developments that occurred in any other period 1865-1992? - Employment and education

Answer 15

• The Equal Pay and Civil Rights Acts 1963-4 gave woman access to equal pay and banned gender discrimination in employment and education
• JFK New Frontier and LBJ Great Society increased women’s access to welfare, including minimum wages, maximum working hours and trade union rights
• By 1992 more women more mployed than men and women owned 7M businesses

Question 16

Assess the view that developments in the 1960s had more impact on gender equality in the USA than developments that occurred in any other period 1865-1992? - not employment and education

Answer 16

• Even by 1992 women still earned on average 1/3 less than men because of the discrimination (the glass ceiling) the fact that did well less well paid jobs like cleaning, waitressing, nursing and the fact that they took career breaks and to have children and/or worked part time because of family responsibilities
• By 1900 half of high school graduates were women, giving them access to office work. Female uni graduates could work in teaching or social work
• Technological developments like typwriter before WW11930s more freedom and opportunities
• New Deal 1936 460K women employed WPA alone

Question 17

Assess the view that developments in the 1960s had more impact on gender equality in the USA than developments that occurred in any other period 1865-1992? - political participation

Answer 17

• Emergence of New Wave Feminism generated by Feminine Mystique 1936 led to female participation in politics, with the number of congresswomen quadrupling 1970-92
• By 1992 - 7 female state governers and 19 of the USA’sbiggest 100 cities had female mayors

Question 18

Assess the view that developments in the 1960s had more impact on gender equality in the USA than developments that occurred in any other period 1865-1992? - not political participation

Answer 18

• Even by 1992 only 6% of congresswomen were women, far less than in European countries, any progress from the 1960s onwards was from a very low base
• Radical feminist tactics like ‘bra burning’ trivialised the women’s movement and lost them support
• Political activism in the late 19th and 20th century arguably had more impact than in the 1960s, leading in 1920 to the gaining of the vote and prohibition as well as legislation improving health and safety work

Question 19

Assess the view that developments in the 1960s had more impact on gender equality in the USA than developments that occurred in any other period 1865-1992? - birth control

Answer 19

• The contraceptive pill which became available to women in 1960s gave women not only more sexual freedom but also the ability to plan their family around their career rather than vice versa
• Contraception was legalised for married women in 1965; as a result of feminist campaigning which started in 1960s, contraception was legalised for single women in 1972 and abortion in 1973

Question 20

Assess the view that developments in the 1960s had more impact on gender equality in the USA than developments that occurred in any other period 1865-1992? - not birth control

Answer 20

• White middle class women benefitted from more reliable contraception, the rate of pregnancy among single women actually increased from 1960s onwards bc so many ethnic minority or working class women were still so ignorant of contraception
• Margaret Sanger coined the phrase ‘birth control’ in 1911 and campaigned for it from then onwards, opening the first legal contraceptive clinic 1923
• The federal ban on contraception was ended in 1938

Question 21

How united were American women in support of the issue of gender equality in the period 1865-1992 - political rights

Answer 21

• Women were divided on whether they wanted equality with men EG Schafly opposed the ERA on the grounds that it would endanger women privileges like the right to separate toilets and schools, exemption from military combat and maternal preference in divorce cases
• Different groups had different priorities EG during the progressive era the NAWSA focused on the right to vote while the Women Christian Temperance Union campaigned for prohibition
• Most of these pressure groups were set up by educated middle class women whose concerns had little interest for working class women in low paid or part time work who were more concerned with practical and economic issues

Question 22

How united were American women in support of the issue of gender equality in the period 1865-1992 - not political rights

Answer 22

• NWSA and AWSA merged in 1890 to campaign together for the vote
• Suffrage groups were suffeciently united to ensure the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920 giving women the vote
• Widespread support for feminist campaigns like the ERA; every opinion poll taken 1970-82 indicated that most women supported it

Question 23

How united were American women in support of the issue of gender equality in the period 1865-1992 - birth control

Answer 23

• Feminists in the late 20th century campaigning were divided by pornography, whether to prioritise sexual freedom for women or protection from sexual exploitation by men
• Abortion issue highlighted in Roe v Wade 1973, divided secular feminists who insisted on women’s right to choose from socially conservative women both Protestant and Catholic, who regarded abortion as a sin

BUT women since 1960s supported right to use contraception

Question 24

How united were American women in support of the issue of gender equality in the period 1865-1992 - social and economic issues

Answer 24

• Failure of Prohibition became increasingly clear in the 1920s women were divided over whether to retain or repeal it EG Sabin formed the Women’s Organisation for National Prohibition Reform in 1929 to campaign for repeal
• Suffrage groups were white dom and excluded black and immigrant women - white women took little interest in black issues like lynching and many joined the KKK in the 1920s
• Religious divisions between middle class Protestant evangicals who campaigned for temperance and the urban working class women who were often Catholic immigrants with socially conservative views little interested in the right to vote

BUT united on property rights, divorce, and access to education and the professions

Question 25

The reasons for opposition to gender equality remained the same throughout the period 1865-1992? - political equality

Answer 25

• Under separate spheres idea, politics was men spheres and women should concentrate on being mothers and housewives. Argued that women were too moved by emotions and not capable of rational judgements
• Some states like Wyoming in 1869 and Utah in 1870 gave women the vote long before this but this was purely to attract female migrants and there was no general acceptance that women were entitled to equal political rights
• Feminine mystique inhibited women from political engagement and that they were less politically active then they had been during the Progressive Era - the vote, prohibition. Friedan argued this was separate spheres in ‘shiny new clothes’

Question 26

The reasons for opposition to gender equality remained the same throughout the period 1865-1992? - economic equality

Answer 26

• Growing recognition that single women had to maintain themselves but it was assumed that married women should rely on their husbands as the breadwinner. As late as 1887, 1/3 of US states had still not given married women control of their earnings, wasn’t until 1969 that married women could get credit in their own name
• New Deal designed by middle class men whose wives could afford not to work: it didn’t occur to them that working class and ethnic monority women had to work out of financial necessity
• Employees often discriminated against female employees for business reasons - stewardness at 32 until 1964 CRA

Question 27

The reasons for opposition to gender equality remained the same throughout the period 1865-1992? - birth control

Answer 27

• Comstock laws reflected idea that women should be given less sexual freedom than men 1873 - banned marketing, sale and distribution of birth control - it was ‘obscene’ - encourage women to have sex without fear of getting preggers
• Fed ban on birth control not lifted 1938 and many states continued to ban it until they were finally prevented from doing so in 1972 - reflected both dissaproval of female sexuality on religious grounds and the constitutional doctrine of ‘state’s rights’

Question 28

To what extent did the position of US women improve 1865-1992? - political rights

Answer 28

• Female activism had an increasing political impact during the Gilded Age and Progressive era, influencing the agining of the vote in 20 states in 20 states before 1920 and the passage of Prohibition and social reforms like the banning of child labour and the limitation of female working hours
• 1940 - 234 members of state legislatures were women
• 1986 - female vote gave Democrats control of Senate

Question 29

To what extent did the position of US women improve 1865-1992?- not political rights

Answer 29

• Suffrage campaign was of little interest to working class and ethnic minority women: in any case black women in the South could not vote until 1965
• Women generally less engaged in politics in 1945-60 period than earlier - growing prosperity - less to complain about, partly because they married earlier and had more children - feminine mystique
• 1970 - only 2% of congressmen were women, less than 1950s; by 1992 only 6%
• 1992 - never more than 2 female senators

Question 30

To what extent did the position of US women improve 1865-1992? - education, employment, and pay

Answer 30

1900 - 1/2 of high school graduates were female - delaying marriages so they could prolong their careers in professions like teaching and social work
During this period women gained more access to higher education

2 world wars and great migration between them enabled millions of black women to move from poorly paid domestic jobs or agricultural to better paid clerical or industrial jobs. By 1945 less than 1/2 black women worked in domestic service compared with 75% in 1941

Equal Pay Act 1963 and CRA 1964 banned discrimination

Question 31

To what extent did the position of US women improve 1865-1992? - not employment, education and pay

Answer 31

• Separate spheres idea remained socially prominent until challenged by Friedan in Feminine mystique 1963 - revived by Schafley 1970s
• Boost in female employment during both world wars was temporary: the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act 1944 prioritised men returning from armed forces, resulting in 2M unemployment in first year after war ended
• 1992 - women on average eanred 32% less than men

Question 32

To what extent did the position of US women improve 1865-1992? - reproduction rights

Answer 32

• Margaret Sanger founded the American Birth Control League 1921 despite Comstock laws, established first US legal birth control clinic 1932 - fact that white middle class women were having less children - increased awareness of birth control
• Invention of contraceptive pill 1960s - more sexual freedom and ability to plan family around career
• Gained legal right to contraception in 1972 and abortion in 1973 (Roe v Wade)

Question 33

To what extent did the position of US women improve 1865-1992? - not reproductive rights

Answer 33

• Comstock laws 1873 banned marketing, sale and distributon of contraceptives
• Several states continued to forbid contraception even after 1938 and working class women often had to resort to illegal abortion due to lack of affordable contraceptives

Question 34

The Roe v Wade judgement was the most important turning point in the development of women’s rights 1865-1992 - birth control

Answer 34

• Gave women control of their own bodies to an unprecedented degree and more freedom generally (women’s legal right to freedom and privacy was the legal base of the judgement) Feminists won were confident it wouldn’t be reversed
• Challenged traditional views about women that their first duties were as mothers and carers rather than to themselves
• Gave women right to choose whether to have children before other social responsibilities

Question 35

The Roe v Wade judgement was the most important turning point in the development of women’s rights 1865-1992 - not birth control

Answer 35

• Even in terms of birth control the availability of the contraceptive pill in 1960s and the legislation of contraception in 1972 more imporant because abortion was far more controversial - backlash against it (led by con women like Schafley) started immediately amd was gathering momentum by 1992

Question 36

The Roe v Wade judgement was the most important turning point in the development of women’s rights 1865-1992 - political participation

Answer 36

• Roe v Wade resulted in abortion becoming a major party political issue with women becoming much more likely to vote Democrat than men bc of it
• Success of Roe v wade contrasted with failure to gain the ERA around the same time

Question 37

The Roe v Wade judgement was the most important turning point in the development of women’s rights 1865-1992 - not political participation

Answer 37

• Clearly less important politically than women gaining the vote in 1920 and it was not the major reason for women becoming more active in politics with the number of congresswomen quadrupling 1970-92 (though 6% of congressmen)
• Earlier campaigns like those for voting rights and prohibition of alcohol before WW1 were also significant
• Appointment of Frances Perkin as the USA’s first female Cabinet minister 1933 was a turning point

Question 38

The Roe v Wade judgement was the most important turning point in the development of women’s rights 1865-1992 - economic rights

Answer 38

• Being able to avoid having children they couldn’t afford (which was how the case originated) improved women’s economic rights

Question 39

The Roe v Wade judgement was the most important turning point in the development of women’s rights 1865-1992 - not economic rights

Answer 39

• Clearly less important economically than earlier developments like the growth of the industrial and office employment rather than domestic service or agricultural labour during the Gilded Age,
• employment opportunities generated by 2 world wars
• unprecedented government support offered by the New Deal in 1930s
• not to mention general shift post ww2 pattern of employment rom manufacturing to services which favoured women