Full Description
The book examines gender roles, gender inequity, and the impacts of both unintentional and purposeful efforts to undermine women's equal treatment in the United States, documenting what women have faced in the past and still face in America today.
Although women's rights is a worldwide issue, this book examines how in the United States, an alleged "war on women" is still occurring. Are there only forces opposing women's equality that aim to subvert women's advancement, or are defensive strategies employed as well? What has been the offensive response from women and supportive groups of women? Is there actually substantial evidence of a "war on women," or is the idea primarily political rhetoric? Are the actions and behaviors contributing to gender inequality intentional or unintentional?
In this unique collection, experts from multiple disciplines analyze the U.S. women's rights movement, developments, progress, and obstacles. The chapters extend the analogy of this fight for equal rights with a war to document how women's struggle for gender equality is simultaneously a health issue, a political issue, and a wider issue of social justice—a formidable challenge in which women's lives are sometimes literally at stake and at risk. The book's contributors and editors take the unique angle of eyeing the fight for equality on the same level as a war, analyzing this "war" on historical/social/cultural levels (the "battlefield"); identifying policy, political, and legal issues ("major battles"); and explaining how to best fight on personal or individual levels ("skirmishes").
The coverage includes current federal and state initiatives that have fueled concern that women's rights are under continued assault. All of the nearly 162 million women in the United States—and their family members, regardless of sex—are affected by the issues addressed in this book.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I The Battlefields
chapter 1 Traditional Gender Roles: Social and Cultural Influences on Oppression and Resistance
Alisha Ali and Nirit Gordon
chapter 2 The Dehumanization of Girls and Women through Legislation and Human Resource Policies: A View of Bullying in Schools, Reproductive Justice, and Work-Life Incompatibility
Michele A. Paludi
chapter 3 Modern Gender Roles and Stereotypes: The Cultural Funneling of Individuals toward Gendered Choices
Amy L. Hillard
chapter 4 "Playing the Woman Card?": The Gendered Politics of the War on Women
Heather E. Bullock
Part II The Battles
chapter 5 Law and Order: Women's Legal Rights—Legal, Legislative, and Enforcement Realities
Seth A. Berry
chapter 6 Technologies of Sexism and the Perpetuation of Job Segregation: A Social Status Threat-Stress Model
Margaret S. Stockdale and Grace McCullough
chapter 7 Subtle Barriers and Bias in STEM: How Stereotypes Constrain Women's STEM Participation and Career Progress
Jessica L. Cundiff
chapter 8 Does the Government Own My Body? The Reproductive Health of Women
Lynda M. Sagrestano and Ruthbeth Finerman
Part III Skirmishes
chapter 9 Shards of the Glass Ceiling and Glass Cliff: How Individual Discrimination Still Exists in the Face of Legal Sanction
Brittany B. Fremion, Kimberly E. O'Brien, and Ashley Ford
chapter 10 Gender and Sexualized Aggression in the Workplace
Valerie J. Morganson and Stephanie E.V. Brown
chapter 11 When You Can't Escape the Battlefield: Sexual Violence at Home and at Work
Alexandra I. Zelin and Nicole L. Johnson
chapter 12 Gender Inequality in Work-Life Balance: Barriers and Solutions for Women's Navigation of the Work-Family Interface
Jade S. Jenkins, Meghan I. H. Lindeman, and Larissa K. Barber
Final Thoughts
Index
About the Editors and Contributors
About the Series Editor and Advisory Board
About the Series
