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The 80s in America were a really important time for women's rights! Women made significant progress in various areas, including reproductive rights, workplace equality, and political representation. It was a time of empowerment and progress for women across the country.

There were major strides towards workplace equality for women in America. More women entered the workforce, breaking barriers and challenging gender norms. Legislation like the Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act helped protect women's rights and promote fairness in the workplace. It was a pivotal time for gender equality in the professional sphere!

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Here are a few notable achievements for women in the 80s:

1. Reproductive Rights:

2. Sports:

3. Media and Entertainment:

4. Fashion and Pop Culture:

These are just a few examples of the notable achievements for women in the 80s. It was a transformative decade that paved the way for progress and empowered women in various aspects of society.

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-1981 Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman nominated to the Supreme Court.

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-1984 Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice presidential candidate for a major party.

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-1985 EMILYs List was founded by Ellen Malcolm to help fund campaigns for Democratic women who supported abortion rights. "EMILY" was originally an acronym for the phrase "Early money is like yeast; it makes the dough rise".

-The operating theory was that female candidates could close the fundraising gap that they often faced, if they were able to show that they had substantial that financial backing. Since it was funded 35 years ago, it has helped 1,300 women get elected to federal, state and local offices.

-During the 1986 election cycle, the organization endorsed and gave funding to Barbara Mikulski, who was running for U.S. Senate. She went on to win the election that year and each re-election until her retirement at the end of 2016.

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First wave feminism (began 1848- when the first organised women's rights movement took place) focused mainly on suffrage and overturning legal obstacles (eg. voting rights and property rights)

Second wave feminism (1980s) broadened the debate to include a wider range of issues such as sexuality, family, reproductive rights and the workplace.

The second wave began critiquing patriarchal institutions and brought attention to issues of domestic violence and marital rape. During this period rape crisis shelters and women's shelters opened and changes in custody and divorce laws were made.

Third wave (1990s) - intersectionality (how different kinds of oppression ie. gender and race intertwine)

Fourth wave (2012) - focussing on sexual harassment, body shaming and rape culture.

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women’s rights is ‘rights that promote a position of legal and social equality of women with men.’

People fought for women’s equal rights to allow women to be have an education, to be able to vote, have an equal pay check to men and be allowed to buy their own house.

Rights is something you should be entitled to and not have taken away from you. It isn’t seen as a privilege as this is something that has to be earned.

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In the 1980s, there were significant advancements in women's rights. Awareness was raised about sexual harassment as an issue in the workplace and in general life, and also about the discrimination related to pregnancy. Women fought for equal opportunities in the workplace, reproductive rights, and greater representation in politics.
Throughout the 80s it was a time of empowerment and advocacy for gender equality. Women's voices were amplified, and their contributions to society were recognised and valued.

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What are equal rights?

Equal rights are defined as someone's legal right to be treated equally, whatever your age, sex, race.

In the 1900's women had to fight to have equal rights and the right to live free from violence and discrimination. They also fought to enable themselves to enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health, to be educated, to own property, to vote and to earn an equal wage. Although things have developed in the last 40 years there is still a divide between men and women.

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An example of women being treated as less than equal is sexism which is against the idea of equal rights.

What is Sexism?

Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender, especially against women and girls. The term sexism emerged from the “second-wave” feminism of the 1960s through '80s. Sexism is something women in the 80's were trying to change as part of the wave of feminism.

Sexism in the 80's

Examples were often seen in media, especially in newspapers, articles and magazines. In 1985 a group of women protested against art they deemed ‘pornographic’ and ‘objectifying’, which was being shown at the Tomi Ungerer exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall.

Another example of sexism was found in magazine adverts, including one saying ‘it is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind – why not her make-up’. We found many outdated adverts encouraging women to lose weight and look pretty. In the 1980s there was a division between the way some women were portrayed in the media and the way women wanted to be portrayed.

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Modern day Sexism

Sexism is still present today however we have seen significant change since the 1980's. The equal rights act (1970) has caused significant change and pay rates are now seen to be equal pay for work of equal value. However, this does not mean women are always paid equally...

Examples of modern day Sexism in the Workplace

The practice of unofficially excluding women who have children from career opportunities

In meetings, ignoring women, appropriating their contributions or silencing them

Favouring a man rather than a woman for a managerial position by presuming her lack of authority

Gratuitous comments about physical appearance or dress (which undermine women as professionals)

Derogatory comments to men taking on caring roles

“Mansplaining”

Examples of modern day Sexism in the Media

A sexualised depiction of women in the media.

An all-male TV show

Media reporting on violence against women which blames the victim

Journalists, most often women, receiving comments on social media based on their appearance instead of the issues they discuss

Internet applications sending some job adverts to men only because algorithms are built in a discriminatory way

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Some Modern Day Statistics

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Even though both genders are on the cover they have chosen for the man to be carrying the woman- showing the men still being that bit more in power over women.

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Family and home office magazine October 1987.

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Women being shown working in magazines.

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SOCIAL ATTITUDE SURVEYS

by 1984, 43% of people supported the gendered separation of roles. The man being the “Breadwinner” and the woman being the “Carer” as this was a social tradition. In 1013 it was stated that 13% of people still believe in gendered separation.

In 1987, 36% of the public thought woman should prioritise their “caring” role over having a job. This dropped to 26% by 2012, which is considerably a small change.

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Gloria Steinem

American journalist and activist

Mother of feminism leading the second wave feminism.

Malala Yousafzai

Education activist

Youngest Nobel Prize laureate

Margaret Thatcher

Britains First female Prime Minister

Marie Stopes

Sex educator

Established Britain’s first birth control clinic one 1921

Florence Nightingale

Founder of modern day nursing

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Woman’s rights activist

Second female justice of the US Supreme Court

Margaret Brent

The first woman who demanded the right to vote

Sally Ride

The first American woman to fly to space

Third woman overall

Helen Keller

First deaf-blind woman to write a book

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Before the 1980’s majority of women would stay at home to look after their children and homes, while the men would go out and work. There was a big shift with this that happened in the 80’s as women had more job opportunities. Women were seen to begin to work jobs that were predominantly known as the jobs for men, an example being working in an office.

**The rights that were developed did not help all women as in the 80’s there was a difference in women’s freedom depending on your race.

Wages in 1989- white women working full time made weekly wage $334 compared to black women making $301 and Latina women making $269 (Maria in 9-5). It was hard for all women, but it was even harder for a non-white woman.

Women became more powerful and wanted to work and make their own wage.

Families were getting smaller as women wanted more time to work.

Even though women’s rights did have a huge positive development, they were still seen as below and second class to men.

The 80’s was a time where it could be seen that a woman could be capable of being more successful than a man depending on their skills and job, which the men had a hard time dealing with.

Magazines and advertisement began to show women working with men.

Some women were able to have positions that were above men, but still a distinctive amount of women who had low pay jobs.

Men took advantage of the women in the workplace.

Education:

More women than men were earning bachelors degrees and women’s pay was gaining ground (according to national centre for educational statistics).

Women made up half graduates from masters programs.

Women were provided the same education as men.

Due to women becoming more educated their salaries began to increase in relation to mens salaries.

**Equal credit opportunity act in 1974 allowed women to get a credit card separate from their husbands. This continued to develop and in 80’s allowed women to have more career opportunities and financial freedom.

Similarities :

Equality legalisations were made so that women could return to work after their maternity leave. This is still an option for women nowadays.

Men were on high salaries than women even for working the same job. This is still seen in some industries to this day.

Differences:

Women were declined from traditional manufacturing industries. This is when part time employment became more known and the women got involved in, including jobs like cleaning, hairdressing and office work. This is because it fitted more into their schedules that was expected of a women in the 80’s to work for some time and then come home and take care of the children and complete household duties. Present day women don’t have that expectation anymore and have freedom to work the jobs and hours that suit them.

Even though women had the right to work they did not always have the right to the hours they could work, wages, holiday and breaks.

**Second wave feminism- 45% of women were in the labour work force but men were still seen as head of the household and brought most of the income.

Women fought for injustices such as, rape, reproductive rights, domestic violence and workplace harassment.

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Women’s rights are human rights that all women have. But in practice, these rights are often not protected to the same extent as the rights of men.

80s - Equal pay act was passed
Present - Women are earning about 84 cents for every dollar earned by men (2021 stat) compared to the 57 cents women would get in the 80s for every dollar a man earned.
Showing that the wage gap between men and women has been noticeably slow to narrow over the years.

For UK statistics the share of women in parliament in the
80s - 10-20% of the seats
Present 40-50% of the seats

Days of paid leave for childbirth and early childcare for the mother (UK)
80s - 0 days (until 1986 it was 120 days)
Present - 273 days (2022)

Some of the rights women have today that were not the case pre 80s:

Equal Credit - Women were allowed their own credit card separate from their husbands, allowing financial freedom.

From 1989, women were allowed to work in an industrial job in the same was as men (mining, construction, energy, water, transportation and agriculture industries)

Equal retirement age with full pension benefits for both men and women wasn’t agreed until 1995.

From 1981, women were able to travel outside their home in the same way as men.

Events that advanced women’s rights:

1981 - Advances in political power
Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman nominated to the Supreme Court

1984 - Geraldine Ferraro was the first fake vice presidential candidate for a major party

1985 - EMILY’s List was founded. Aiming to help fund campaigns for Democratic women who supported abortion rights
- Since it started, EMILY’s List has helped nearly 1,300 women get elected to federal, state and local offices.