The Discrimination of Woman in the Workplace During the 1950s and 1960s, increasing numbers of married women entered the labor force, but in 1963 the average working woman earned only 63% of what a man made. That year The Feminine Mystique, a critique of middle-class patterns was published. The author encouraged readers to seek new roles and responsibilities, to seek their own personal and professional identities rather than have them defined by the outside, male-dominated society.During debate on the 1964 Civil Rights bill, an amendment was proposed to outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender as well as race. First the amendment, then the bill itself, passed, giving women a legal tool to secure their rights. In 1966, 28 professional women established the National Organization for Women (NOW). Sexual discrimination is prevalent in the United States today, and is evident in the business world. Most businesses have always been dominated by men, and have simply been tradition in America that men run Corporate America and not women. Not until the late twentieth century, have women even been a part of big business. One important question that needs to be asked is, what is equal? Equality between sexes and race has been stressed and made law in the late nineteenth century, but even though laws have been made to protect woman from this discrimination, it still occurs frequently. Equal is being treated the same way and having the same opportunities no matter who one is. Big business has not given women the chance to be equal with men. One does not normally see a woman as the owner, or even the manager of a major corporation, these jobs consistently go to men. Tradition hurts womens employment opportunities because most of the people that are in the position to hire are men who were hired by other men. Men have an upper hand, because they have been traditionally the ones that run and control business. It is very difficult to bre...
