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Historical Context of Feminist Sociology

While the Equal Pay Act focused solely on equal pay for equal work regardless of sex, the Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed in a fight against discrimination of any kind in the workplace. A major form of discrimination many women face in the workplace is sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a form of illegal discrimination based on an abuse of power which can range from “inappropriate jokes” to “outright sexual assault” and more (Conley 312).1 While sexual harassment is not a form of discrimination uniquely faced by women, when it occurs in the workplace it often involves the subordination of women by a male superior or coworker.2 The Equal Pay Act and Title VII were some of the first ways that the United States began to shift its mentality about women’s rights, and how women should be treated in the workplace, and in society.

Starting in the early 1990s, several instances of sexual harassment and abuse became well known and started a push for women to open about their own encounters with harassment. The allegations by Anita Young that Justice Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her was one of these instances. After Thomas was confirmed as a justice on the Supreme Court regardless of these allegations, more women began to speak out. In surveys taken after the hearings, it was reported that “between 40 and 65 percent of women claim to have experienced sexual harassment on the job”(Sapiro).14

(2) Sapiro, V. (2018, November 23). Sexual Harassment: Performances of Gender, Sexuality, and Power: Perspectives on Politics. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/sexual-harassment-performances-of-gender-sexuality-and-power/DE92180CFBBBA29FAF9B6D77D4B9B074/core-reader.

(1) Conley, D. (2019). You may ask yourself: an introduction to thinking like a sociologist (5th ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.