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The Resource In pursuit of equity : women, men, and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America, Alice Kessler-Harris

In pursuit of equity : women, men, and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America, Alice Kessler-Harris

Creator
Summary
"In In Pursuit of Equity, Kessler-Harris pierces the skin of arguments and legislation to grasp the preconceptions that have shaped the experience of women: a "gendered imagination" that has defined what men and women alike think of as fair and desirable. In this brilliant account that traces social policy from the New Deal to the 1970s, she shows how a deeply embedded set of beliefs has distorted seemingly neutral social legislation to further limit the freedom and equality of women. Government rules generally sought to protect women from exploitation, even from employment itself; but at the same time, they attached the most important benefits to wage work. To be a real citizen, one must earn - and most policymakers (even female ones) assumed from the beginning that women were not, and should not be, breadwinners. Kessler-Harris traces the impact of this gender bias in the New Deal programs of Social Security, unemployment insurance, and fair labor standards, in Federal income tax policy, and the new discussion of women's rights that emerged after World War II. "For generations," she writes, " American women lacked not merely the practice, but frequently the idea of individual economic freedom." Only in the 1960s and '70s did old assumptions begin to break down - yet the process is far from complete." "Even today, with women closer to full economic citizenship than ever before, Kessler-Harris's insights offer a keen new understanding of the issues that dominate the headlines, from the marriage penalty in the tax code to the glass ceiling in corporate America."--Jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xi, 374 pages
Contents
  • A Sieve with Holes
  • A Foundling Dumped upon the Doorstep
  • Questions of Equity
  • Matters of Right
  • The Hardest Problem of the Whole Thing
  • They Feel That They Have Lost Citizenship
  • It Would Be a Great Comfort to Him
  • A Principle of Law but Not of Justice
  • Apportioning the Income Tax
  • More Than Money Is Involved
  • The Responsibilities of Life
  • To Confer a Special Benefit on the Marital Relationship
  • What Discriminates?
  • How're You Going to Feel?
  • The President's Commission on the Status of Women
  • Calling into Question the Entire Doctrine of Sex
  • Equal Pay for Equal Work
  • What's Fair?
  • Constructing an Equal Opportunity Framework
  • Standing with Lot's Wife
  • Divided Women
  • The Mere Fact of Sex
  • At First Glance, the Idea May Seem Silly
  • History Is Moving in This Direction
  • A Practical Independence
  • A Man-Run Company
  • Marriage: A Defining Condition
  • Maintaining Self-Respect
  • Self-Help Is the Best Help
  • Have We Lost Courage?
Isbn
9780195038354
Link
Instance
Label
In pursuit of equity : women, men, and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America
Title
In pursuit of equity
Title remainder
women, men, and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America
Statement of responsibility
Alice Kessler-Harris
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"In In Pursuit of Equity, Kessler-Harris pierces the skin of arguments and legislation to grasp the preconceptions that have shaped the experience of women: a "gendered imagination" that has defined what men and women alike think of as fair and desirable. In this brilliant account that traces social policy from the New Deal to the 1970s, she shows how a deeply embedded set of beliefs has distorted seemingly neutral social legislation to further limit the freedom and equality of women. Government rules generally sought to protect women from exploitation, even from employment itself; but at the same time, they attached the most important benefits to wage work. To be a real citizen, one must earn - and most policymakers (even female ones) assumed from the beginning that women were not, and should not be, breadwinners. Kessler-Harris traces the impact of this gender bias in the New Deal programs of Social Security, unemployment insurance, and fair labor standards, in Federal income tax policy, and the new discussion of women's rights that emerged after World War II. "For generations," she writes, " American women lacked not merely the practice, but frequently the idea of individual economic freedom." Only in the 1960s and '70s did old assumptions begin to break down - yet the process is far from complete." "Even today, with women closer to full economic citizenship than ever before, Kessler-Harris's insights offer a keen new understanding of the issues that dominate the headlines, from the marriage penalty in the tax code to the glass ceiling in corporate America."--Jacket
Awards note
Bancroft Prize, 2002
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Kessler-Harris, Alice
Dewey number
305.42/0973/0904
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
HQ1236.5.U6
LC item number
K475 2001
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • New Deal (1933-1939)
  • Women's rights
  • Women
  • Women
  • New Deal, 1933-1939
  • United States
  • Femmes
  • Femmes
  • Femmes
  • New Deal
  • États-Unis
  • Social policy
  • Women
  • Women
  • Women's rights
  • United States
  • Wirtschaftliche Betätigung
  • Arbeitswelt
  • Gleichberechtigung
  • USA
  • United States
  • Sociale politiek
  • Sekseverschillen
  • Economische ongelijkheid
  • New Deal
Label
In pursuit of equity : women, men, and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America, Alice Kessler-Harris
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • A Sieve with Holes
  • A Foundling Dumped upon the Doorstep
  • Questions of Equity
  • Matters of Right
  • The Hardest Problem of the Whole Thing
  • They Feel That They Have Lost Citizenship
  • It Would Be a Great Comfort to Him
  • A Principle of Law but Not of Justice
  • Apportioning the Income Tax
  • More Than Money Is Involved
  • The Responsibilities of Life
  • To Confer a Special Benefit on the Marital Relationship
  • What Discriminates?
  • How're You Going to Feel?
  • The President's Commission on the Status of Women
  • Calling into Question the Entire Doctrine of Sex
  • Equal Pay for Equal Work
  • What's Fair?
  • Constructing an Equal Opportunity Framework
  • Standing with Lot's Wife
  • Divided Women
  • The Mere Fact of Sex
  • At First Glance, the Idea May Seem Silly
  • History Is Moving in This Direction
  • A Practical Independence
  • A Man-Run Company
  • Marriage: A Defining Condition
  • Maintaining Self-Respect
  • Self-Help Is the Best Help
  • Have We Lost Courage?
Control code
ocm46991250
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xi, 374 pages
Isbn
9780195038354
Lccn
2001034611
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o46991250
  • (OCoLC)46991250
Label
In pursuit of equity : women, men, and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America, Alice Kessler-Harris
Link
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • A Sieve with Holes
  • A Foundling Dumped upon the Doorstep
  • Questions of Equity
  • Matters of Right
  • The Hardest Problem of the Whole Thing
  • They Feel That They Have Lost Citizenship
  • It Would Be a Great Comfort to Him
  • A Principle of Law but Not of Justice
  • Apportioning the Income Tax
  • More Than Money Is Involved
  • The Responsibilities of Life
  • To Confer a Special Benefit on the Marital Relationship
  • What Discriminates?
  • How're You Going to Feel?
  • The President's Commission on the Status of Women
  • Calling into Question the Entire Doctrine of Sex
  • Equal Pay for Equal Work
  • What's Fair?
  • Constructing an Equal Opportunity Framework
  • Standing with Lot's Wife
  • Divided Women
  • The Mere Fact of Sex
  • At First Glance, the Idea May Seem Silly
  • History Is Moving in This Direction
  • A Practical Independence
  • A Man-Run Company
  • Marriage: A Defining Condition
  • Maintaining Self-Respect
  • Self-Help Is the Best Help
  • Have We Lost Courage?
Control code
ocm46991250
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xi, 374 pages
Isbn
9780195038354
Lccn
2001034611
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o46991250
  • (OCoLC)46991250

Subject

Genre

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