Betty Friedan Working Mothers

1724 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women's role after world war ii

To work or to not? Working mothers are the women who make time to get out of the house and work to support the family. On the other hand, women who stay home choose to invest a lot of their time with their children and household chores (1). If it were not for Betty Friedan, many women today would not have the opportunities in the workforce as they do now. Betty grew up with the notion of equal pay for women were a joke. The discrimination against women in schools and the workforce was blatant. Women with children would have a hard time getting maternity leave or even a flexible work schedule. Betty stated, "The idea of women who could succeed in business was rarely voiced and frequently ridiculed." (2) Ms. Betty Friedan herself touched off …show more content…

What is harmful is a lack of investment in decent, affordable childcare and good jobs that can keep a family afloat (6). Discrimination toward women was a big factor in the earlier ages. In the 1950s, women were known for cooking, cleaning, carpooling, and little less (8). There was discrimination against working women in employment and education. Because these women were last hired, they were always first fired (7). When women would work, their pay would be less than the men's of the same occupation. Today, discrimination still exists, but is no longer socially or legally acceptable. Surging numbers of women in workplaces owe their opportunities to Friedan and other females who challenged women's rights (8). "A Working mom is only bad for kids in a society that doesn't support families at all," Boushey said. "In a world with limited access to high-quality affordable childcare, in a world where most people work in jobs that don't provide them the kind of flexibility they need to be good parents, in a world where you have rising income inequality, the challenges of mothers working can become insurmountable for families, but the alternative is not having an income." (6) To conclude, there are many reasons why a mother chooses to stay home or work, but this choice does not make one child different from the other. Every person is different whether you have an at-home or working mother. Furthermore, a child and/or an adult is different by the atmosphere they grew up

Show More
Related

  • The Second Shift

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    Even Though women have revolutionized themselves in relation to the world many other aspects of society have not. This phenomenon, originally coined by Arielle Hochschild in her book The Second Shift, is known as the stalled revolution. In essence while female culture has shifted male culture has not. This has created an unequal, unfair and oppressive atmosphere for women across the nation. The title of Hochschild's book tells it all. The second shift refers to the second shift of work women are and have been burdened with at home. Although they have made enormous leaps within the economy and workforce their gender roles at home and within society remain the same. Male culture and their ideas of female gender roles have not progressed. As a result needs of females have not been met. Working mothers today work more than any other demographic, a rough estimate of this comes out to be a whole extra month of work consisting of twenty four hour work days.

    Read More

  • Write An Essay On Maria Perez

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    (651) She disagrees because a working mother is not a threat. She said it teaches her kids to understand that women could also work outside of home.

    Read More

  • Surviving on Minimum Wage: An Insight into Low-income Labor

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women now hold their place in the workforce and we have our eight hour day. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of the people who strongly believed that women needed opportunities for labor, and women have gotten those rights. On the contrary, women still get paid less than men. According to CNN Money, “men still make more than women in most professions -- considerably more in some occupations than others, according to a new study by the job search site Glassdoor”. Although we like to comfort ourselves with the idea that we have gotten our rightfully earned rights, we had not been given bathroom breaks until 1998. Furthermore, employees are still afraid to have a voice in the workforce. Employers establish rules that basically let laborers know that they are inferior. In Ehrenreich 's case, she witnessed being told that her bag was subject to being looked through at any time, and she saw how degrading drug tests were. Ehrenreich argues that“the drug tests, the constant surveillance, being ‘reamed out’ by managers- are part of what keeps wages low”(Ehrenreich 211) which is agreeable seeing as the low wage workers decline to fight for better conditions due to fear. Additionally, Barbara figures out that minimum jobs do not equal minimum labor, which has always been the case. I agree with that fact due to

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Work Analysis

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    One would have to be a fool to believe that men and women have always been or even are equal. Only in the past century have women been allowed to vote and 50 years since women of color could vote. Even today, women and men are held to different standards. Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was a feminist that was not only an author, but also, the first president of an organization known as the National Organization for Women. She is well-known for her work "The Feminine Manifesto", and she is the author of the article "The Importance of Work". Betty Friedan was a feminist during the height of the women's rights movement, so it is not surprising in the least that her article hit on women's rights. "The Importance

    Read More

  • The 1940's: Women In The Workforce

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 1940’s were a turning point for women in the workforce. Women were perceived to be the weaker sex by society and faced social prejudices in efforts to become part of the workforce. The common belief was that women were intellectually inferior to men, incapable of making decisions regarding their household, and should not work outside of the home. Their job was to maintain the home, raise the children, and be supportive wives of the working husband.

    Read More

  • Women's Suffrage Movement Essay

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women’s rights are constantly a topic of media discussion today, but the movement back in the 1800s was much less conspicuous than the movement of today, making it more successful. The main problem with women’s rights today is the lack of child care for working mothers. Women in the past were expected to stay at home and take care of the children while the man went out and earned the money for the house. Nobody batted an eye when men were never home to see their children, but when women began joining the workforce, it was suddenly unacceptable for them to not be home with the kids all the time, making them bad mothers.

    Read More

  • Why Women Still Can T Have It All By Anne-Marie Slaughter

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today, women are not typically seen in higher levels of position in the work force than men. In Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, she uses her own experience to convey why it is not possible for a woman to work in a higher position, due to women being more emotional than men. People still believe it’s a women’s place to stay at home to cook, clean and take care of the children, while the men go to work to pay the bills. And it’s considered odd if the man is a stay at home father and the woman is working 24/7 and is never home. Even though it is rewarding to be able to always be there to see your child’s milestones in their life. It is always nice to get away from that life for even a moment. I don’t mean going out with the girls or guys, while you hire a babysitter, but helping your husband or wife pay the bills, so you have two rather than one income coming in at the end of the month. In Richard Dorment’s article, “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All” he states that both men and women can’t have it all. I agree with both Slaughter and Dorment, but not entirely. I believe if you want to be a good

    Read More

  • Discrimination In Dorothy Allison's Gun Crazy

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the workplace environment it is a known fact that women are passed over for higher positions that would allow them to earn higher wages. Author of “Workplace Gender Discrimination and the Implicit Association Test" Jo- Ann Kadola stated, “Women earn 18 % less per hour than men working the same job, with the same title, with the same credentials even when a woman has a higher education.” (Kadola23) This is known as the gender gap, it happens in all occupations whether in management, directors or any high level position. Overall men and women never earn the same pay for the same job. This is known to be a worldwide fact. On every job women are always asked to prove or provide credentials for a job that men are able to obtain without proof. Kadola also stated, “Women have to show skills more often, they are required to take or be more responsible than men.” (Kadola24) Men are generally respected more. Their opinions hold more value. Men tend to have more freedom in making decisions. When it comes to merit raises they will receive a higher percentage based on the fact that they are men. When women enter the workplace it is a perceived notion that she will get married and start a family. Therefore a working mother is looked down upon based on the fact she is no staying home caring

    Read More

  • A Historical Perspective: The Wage Gap

    1598 Words  | 4 Pages

    For several decades, most American women occupied a supportive, home oriented role within society, outside of the workplace. However, as the mid-twentieth century approached a gender role paradigm occurred. The sequence of the departure of men for war, the need to fill employment for a growing economy, a handful of critical legal cases, the Black Civil Rights movement seen and heard around the nation, all greatly influenced and demanded social change for human and women’s rights. This momentous period began a social movement known as feminism and introduced a coin phrase known in and outside of the workplace as the “wage-gap.”

    Read More

  • The Equal Pay Act

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are nearly as many women as there are men working, yet, as it was discovered in 2011, on average, a woman will only earn seventy-seven cents for every dollar that a man earns. Women owned businesses make up for over a quarter of all national businesses and earn more than one point two trillion dollars (“Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future” 6). Since many women are now becoming are the primary sources of income in the household, making less that a man does not only negatively affect families, but also the overall economy suffers as well. These women, among many others, are the ones who end up purchasing the supplies that go toward improving communities and stimulating the economy. There is no reason that the general public should stand for this. Women should be treated equally to men in today’s American society based on their biological compositions, psychological profiles and contributions to history.

    Read More

  • Evolution of Traditional Values: A Perspective on Gender Equality

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    It’s not like women couldn’t work before, they could, but they didn’t have too much social freedom like getting divorced or not having children. Their voice wasn’t as important as men. Most of the time, men had to decide everything in the family and had control over the family. Coontz believes that today women have more control over their own lives and they can choose however they want to live their lives. Kuttner also agrees that “most Americans, after all, believe women should not be consigned to the nursery and the kitchen” (122).

    Read More

  • Feminist Argumentative Essay

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Men make almost half a million more in 40 years of working than a woman – if they saved it up, it’s enough to feed their family for 37 additional years, some workplaces – including in Kansas City – require women to wear heels, which cause long term health problems, there is not an equivalent for men. (It’s easy to say “So then don’t work there,” but not everyone has the luxury to choose.), and mothers are less likely to be hired than fathers. Mothers are seen as a risk – she might take days off for the kids – while fathers are seen to be hard-working family men, but the list goes on and on. As shown most problems are work related and or job

    Read More

  • The Fight for Women's Rights

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past, many people believed that women’s exclusive responsibilities were to serve their husband, to be great mothers and to be the perfect wives. Those people considered women to be more appropriate for homemaking rather than to be involved in business or politics. This meant that women were not allowed to have a job, to own property or to enjoy the same major rights as men. The world is changing and so is the role of women in society. In today’s society, women have rights that they never had before and higher opportunities to succeed.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality at a Workplace

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...d women’s biological purpose has provided men a source of comparative advantage in work. It is, therefore, natural for most companies to think that women cannot be as capable as men in terms of assuming strenuous or challenging positions because women, by default, become less participative and more vulnerable when they start to have family and children. Apparently, this situation has led to various gender discriminations in the labor market.

    Read More

  • Benefits of Being a Working Mother

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Working mothers try their best to balance between families and work. Mothers who work outside are happier, have a better level of health and energy, as compared to stay at home mothers. Working mothers are dynamic multi-taskers and great managers. The most important reason that mothers should work is money. Whether a mother is single or married, in order to survive in a fluctuating economy the family needs money. Mothers can never see their family depriving of basic needs. Another reason could be if a mother is earning more than a father then it's wise to continue the job. Also when both mother and father work, two incomes are coming into the house. Because of that family can enjoy the luxuries, go on vacations and fulfill children demands. A working mother is financially independent. If a husband dies or divorces her, she will have no...

    Read More

More about Betty Friedan Working Mothers

Open Document