January 20, 1972
THE TWIG
Page Five
I
Women, Planning to Join the Labor Force After Graduation?
Be Aware of Discrimination and Your Rights to Fight It
NG-PIBG
Strikes Again
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r I
“The women’s revolution is chal
lenging the patriarchal society—not
to make a Matriarchal society, but
to bring about equality between
women and men; a diarchy. . . .
What women have to say is that
women are beautiful—but in our
terms, not in the terms of the male
poets or the religious teachings of
the past which were very male-
centered. ... As a part of this re
jection of the stereotypes of the
"eternal feminine,’ women will chal
lenge men to liberate themselves
from the ‘eternal masculine.’ The
challenge has to come from women
because they are the ones that are
oppressed. It’s always the oppressed
who challenge the oppressor to lib
eralize himself. . . . [This move
ment] is the potent weapon in over
coming paralysis and emotional
dependency and ail the other symp
toms and syndromes of the feminine
mystique. This is revolutionary be
cause it means we are coming to
gether to assert our own self-defini
tion.”
“This means that women’s libera
tion is not just one movement among
others. In coming together, women
are fighting the oldest form of aliena
tion — sexual alienation. Sexual
alienation corresponds with racial
alienation — whitey calling blacks
passive and expecting them to be
submissive and childlike. The wom
en’s revolution is also the most
potent way to attack the increasing
militarism and destruction of the
environment.”
The worthiness of these remarks
[by Mary Daly, Ph.D. and S.T.D.,
associate professor of theology at
Boston College, (stated in an inter
view presented in American Re
port)] should be endorsed by every
woman, regardless of age, race, or
background; unfortunately, too many
women are content to remain unaf
fected or simply annoyed by such
statements. Many older women dis
miss the movement as a current fad
contrived only for young women
who burn their bras in the streets
and smoke cigars. Many young la
dies believe that liberation women
regard the entire opposite sex as
“male chauvinist pigs”; around their
approving male associates, “Wom
en’s Lib” is mentioned only in jokes.
Several misinterpreted, notorious
episodes of extremism by a few
publicity-starved females have al
most succeeded in destroying inter
est in an important cultural move
ment.
How is it important? Why should
an intelligent, practical-minded fe
male bother to think seriously about
the Women’s Liberation Movement?
If a female is serving in, planning
to serve in, or is dependent on a
woman serving in the labor force,
she should be, for her own sake,
affected by the Women’s Liberation
Movement.
Forty-three per cent of all women
1 6 vears of age and over were in the
civilian labor force in 1969; of the
40.9 million women who were not
working in the labor force, 32.5
million were not working because
of home responsibilities, 3.5 million
because of school attendance, and
2.3 million because of ill health.
49% of all women 18 to 64 years
of age were workers in 1969.
Boredom, if not financial need.
Complete Artist Supplies
Student Discount
JILL FUNK STUDIO
I
104 GLENWOOD AVE. 834-1788
is driving more and more women
from the kitchen to full or part-time
jobs. An increasing supply of labor-
savings devices at home has dimin
ished the time needed for household
chores.
Generally the more education a
woman has, the more likely she is
to join the labor force. Records
show that over half of the women
with either a high school or college
education entered the labor force;
71 % of all women with five or more
years of college were workers.
Evidently, the labor force is being
greatly affected by women. Almost
as greatly, though not as evidently in
many cases, the feminist movement
is affecting the labor force.
How? Discrimination is the main
issue, and there are many kinds of
discrimination in employment. Many
women fail to realize that they are
the culprits of discrimination be
cause they have taken for granted
their position for so long. Others
realize it, but do not feel capable
of altering the situation or willing
to risk the position they do hold.
Nevertheless, sex discrimination
does exist and laws have recently
been made in an effort to control it.
Several examples of discrimination
are outlined as follows:
1. State laws placing restriction on
women with respect to hours of work
and weight lifting on the job.
2. State laws preventing women
from working in certain occupations.
3. Laws or practices operating to
exclude women from State colleges
and universities (not necessarily a
labor discrimination).
4. Discrimination in employment
by state and local governments.
5. Dual pay schedules for men
and women school teachers.
6. State laws that require married
women but not married men to go
through a formal procedure and ob
tain court approval before they may
engage in an independent business.
These are but a few of the many
labor discrimination practices, not to
mention the plethora of other social
injustices incurred upon women. Un
til recently, these policies had gone
unchecked by the law. Since 1923,
women had been proposing resolu
tions toward equal rights, only to
receive the so-called “Hayden rider”
whose qualifications were by no
means acceptable to women who
wanted equal rights under the law.
It was under the ‘rights’ and ‘bene
fits’ of this “rider” that women were
treated unequally and denied op
portunities which were available to
men.
But efforts of the true liberation-
ists, despite much resistance and
confusion, were finally successful.
It took women more than 50 years
to fain the adoption of the 19th
amendment; it took almost that long
to secure the provisions of equal
rights for women in employment.
Finally, in 1964, the Federal Civil
Rights Act was established, provid
ing greater employment opportunity
for women. This legislation stimu
lated other developments toward
promotion of job equality for
women. On June 9, 1970 an amend
ment entitled “Sex Discrimination
Guidelines,” proposed by the OFCC,
was adopted.
While women have finally gained
the approval and protection of their
rights by the law, they still face the
more unwilling and relentless forces
of tradition and prejudice. The day-
by-day struggle with antagonistic
employers will take much longer to
overcome. Opposition and com
plaints should be met with firm de
nial. To the common gripe that
“women are out ill more than male
workers; they cost the company
more” — one might reply that a
recent Public Health Service study
shows little difference in the ab
sentee rate due to illness or injury;
5.9 days a year for women com
pared with 5.2 for men.
How does all of this information
RIDGEWOOD
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833-4632
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All Meredith Students,
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Z5% Discount on all Dry Cleaning
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RIDGEWOOD SHOPPING CENTER
relate to the Meredith community
and each of its students? To begin
with, reports show that 9 out of 10
girls will work some time during
their lives, but the career opportuni
ties of too many girls are still limit
ed. 38% of last year’s graduating
class from Meredith seek employ
ment worthy of their education but
are unable to find available posi
tions.
In today’s world, not every girl
can afford the romantic view of life;
school, marriage, a family — and
life happy ever after. A more typical
lifestyle of the modern woman in
cludes school, work and/or mar
riage, having a family (sometimes
continuing to work by either choice
or necessity), and a return to work
when the youngest child is in school.
In a recent religious periodical, a
review was given on Voices of the
New Feminism, by Mary Lou
Thompson. In one portion it was
stated; “Doris L. Pullen’s ‘The Edu
cational Establishment; Wasted Wo
men’ gives evidence that eastern
women’s colleges have served their
matriculants by training them for a
separate (secondary) female destiny.
Yet, without disillusion, Pullen ap
peals to these same institutions to
lead the way in abolishing the aca
demic variant of the double stan
dard, which restricts career options
for young women to social sciences
and humanities primarily. . .”
This presents a special challenge
to those responsible for a woman’s
education and vocational training.
Whose responsibility will it be at
Meredith? The student’s. The fac
ulty’s, the administration’s — or a
combination or all together.
By Janice Sams
The North Carolina Public In
terest Research Group (NC-PIRG)
will begin petitioning at Meredith on
January 27 and 28. What for? For
consumer protection, for environ
mental control, for legal aid in sex
and race discrimination.
For the average college student
who does not wish to go out and
riot or whose exams get in the way
of constructive reform, NC-PlRG
has an answer. For a minimal re
fundable activity fund of $3.00 per
year, the student can help clean up
the Neuse River or establish a bet
ter garbage disposal unit or even
lower prices at supply stores or in
housing rents. The $3.00 fee hence
would go to pay the salaries of pro
fessional lawyers and researchers
who could do actual research on
these problems and who would be in
a legal position to do something
about them. The group itself would
be entirely student controlled, for,
if students felt that their money
would not be going in the right
places, the students could ask for a
refund and the organization could
not continue.
Hence, the Meredith organization
will be petitioning for support here
on January 27-28 after a Yday pub
licity drive which includes a Pancake
Supper in the Hut on Sunday, Jan
uary 23.
If the group can show the Mere
dith administration that the students
support the activity fee, then the
$3.00 will be incorporated into the
tuition and the professional re
searchers and lawyers can start
cleaning up the Neuse River, or
helping Southside people get jobs,
or lowering the food prices, or—.
STORE-WIDE SALE-
January 21 & 22
happiness
boutique
came non village