A WOMAN’S PLACE
From the time Eliza Doolittle sang her famous refrain, “Just you wait, Henry Higgins.” until the very last line in the film, when he says, “Fetch my slippers, Eliza.” Eliza struggles to be recognized as a human being instead of the talking puppet that he perceives her to be. This lovely musical with so many singable songs was set in Victorian England. Have times changed very much since that time?
This summer many writers are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first woman’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY. It is interesting to examine the timeline of landmark achievements of woman’s rights. The next year after the conference, l849, women doctors were allowed to practice in the United States. In l870, married British women who were employed were allowed to spend their own earnings. In 1881, French female factory workers were allowed to open bank accounts with out the consent of their husbands. In l893, New Zealand was the first nation to give the vote to women, followed by Finland in l906 and the Soviet Union in 1917. In 1919 Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution extending the vote to women. It was ratified the next year. In l928 Great Britain gave the vote to women.
The dictionary definition of feminism is simple enough: “belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” Yet the word carries a world of baggage from FemiNazis to belief that it means equal opportunity for all. The fact that the word prompts such widely varying views is an indication of the change and upheaval that has occurred in our lifetime.
According to Danielle Crittenden, writing this year in the Woman’s Quarterly, “We are the freest generation of women in history. We have basically broken down every legal and economic barrier.” Now the feminist movement is fractured into many voices. Some criticize the movement in the 60’s for going too far and creating an “us against them” mentality.
We now have Women’s Studies programs in most of the large universities. Many also have Men’s Studies. In spite of the media’s polarizing emphasis on conflict and scandal, a dialogue has developed around role issues like child care and equal pay for equal work According to Michael Kemmel, author of “Manhood in America”, “Women still have to cut a deal in a workplace that’s not family friendly. We see those things culturally as women’s issues, but they’re not. They’re parents’ issues. When men identify themselves as parents, they’ll start to say, ‘I want on-site child care. I want flex time’”
Single women in Victorian times were objects of pity. If they didn’t “catch” a husband, they were destined to spend their time in their father’s care. They might be a “helping hand” in one of their sisters’ households, or they might enter a convent. Few of them lived alone or had gainful employment. Things have changed greatly in recent years.
In l970, l6 percent of adult women were never married. By l996, 23 percent were never married. For every 3 married women, there are 2 single women, including those who have never married, and those who are widowed or divorced. Since l970 the number of women living alone has doubled (to l4.6 million), the number of men living alone has tripled (to l0.3 million). These statistics come from Marcella Clement’s new book, “The Improvised Woman: Single Women Reinventing Single Life”.
Women’s ability to work for pay outside the home was greatly increased when women worked in factories on the Home Front in World War II. This change has led to confusion about roles in both men and women. Many researchers in men’s studies are persuaded that women’s advances have been good for men. By challenging the stereotypes for women, feminists opened the door for men to question the same types of restrictions in their lives. In addition men have had the full responsibility for supporting the family.
The hottest topic centers around whether women should work when they have young children. Many mothers have to work; we are requiring welfare mothers to work. In my opinion, it is fundamentally a personal decision for each family whether both parents work or one stays at home, or whether one works part time, or works from home for pay. Working mothers can still face questions from supervisors over their ability to combine work and motherhood. Indeed, responsibilities do have to be balanced everyday .
Many families make a decision to cut back, to do with less so that the mother can stay home with their children. In our family, I stayed at home with our four children until the youngest was in school. We practiced economies, large and small. We had a large garden, and canned and froze a lot of vegetables and fruits. I made slipcovers and cushion covers. Our cars lasted ten years. There were and are ten year old clothes in our closets. The habits of this time are so strong that we still pinch pennies in small ways.
In the next generation in our family, both the husbands and wives work full time. Their children are well into grade school and some have graduated from high school. Most of them have used day care at some point in their working careers.
In Tiffin, we are blessed with a variety of resources for child care if women choose to work outside their homes. The YMCA and St. Francis run The YMCA Childcare Center on the St. Francis grounds. They open at 5:45 AM and close at 6:00 PM. They take infants as young as six weeks. The Tiffin-Seneca Child Care Center, located in Trinity United Church of Christ, opens at 6:30 AM and closes at 6:00 PM. It has recently started taking infants. Their costs are on a sliding scale. The Country Day School located at 235 N. Sandusky Street takes children as young as 30 months if they are toilet trained. They are open from 6:30 to 5:30 PM. They also have after school care for school age children.
-- Mary