CCF ONLINE SYMPOSIUM:

FEMINISM AND FAMILIES TODAY: WHAT’S THE NEW MYSTIQUE?

On the 50^th Anniversary of The Feminine Mystique, Council on Contemporary Families Scholars identify what’s changed—and what hasn’t

CONTENTS:

• Mystifying “The Feminine Mystique”: Four myths about Betty Friedan and feminism / Stephanie Coontz
• The Youth and Beauty Mystique: Its Costs for Women and Men / Paula England
• Sexual Mystiques: Do we still like it old school? / Virginia Rutter
• The UNFEMININE Mystique: Stereotypes about African-American Women / Shirley Hill
• Lesbian Mystiques / Judith A. Howard
• Latinas' Mystique / Lorena Garcia
• The Rise of the Motherhood Mystique / Cameron Macdonald

Download the PDF of the symposium here

Philip Cohen Reponds to International Women's Day Discourse

For more than 30 years, people concerned about the global inequality between men and women have been circulating the claim that women receive only one-tenth of world income and own only 1 percent of the world's property. This claim was repeated on CNN and other outlets for International Women's Day.

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Responses to "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

In an online symposium organized by the Council on Contemporary Families for Women's History Month, David A. Cotter, Joan M. Hermsen and Reeve Vanneman present their discussion paper "Is the Gender Revolution Over?" and CCF fellows from around the United States offer responses are linked to below. Press release can be found here.

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Rejoinder to Responses to "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

Our Response to the Gender Revolution Commentaries

David A. Cotter,
Professor and Chair of Sociology, Union College, Schenectady NY

Joan M. Hermsen
Associate Professor of Sociology & Chair of Women's & Gender Studies
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

Reeve Vanneman
Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Response to "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

In Sex and Romance, Not So Much Gender Revolution

Paula England

Professor of Sociology, New York University

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Response to "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

Gender Evolution among Employed Men

Ellen Galinsky

President, Families and Work Institute

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Response to "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

Divergent Revolutions for Blacks, Latinos, and Whites

Janelle Jones

Labor Market Researcher, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Response to "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

No Stall in the Sexual Revolution

Brian Powell

James H. Rudy Professor of Sociology, Indiana University

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Council on Contemporary Families Gender Revolution Symposium:

Keynote: "Is the Gender Revolution Over?" by

David A. Cotter, 
Professor and Chair of Sociology, Union College, Schenectady NY

Joan M. Hermsen
Associate Professor of Sociology & Chair of Women's & Gender Studies
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

Reeve Vanneman
Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

From 1968 through the 1980s, the former Phillip Morris company promoted a new brand of cigarettes to women under the slogan: "You've come a long way baby." For once, an ad agency was not exaggerating. Between the early 1960s and the end of the 1980s, sex-segregated want ads were outlawed, equal pay laws were passed, courts prohibited older practices of establishing admissions and hiring quotas and assigning promotions on the basis of sex, laws giving husbands authority over their wives were repealed, women gained access to educational fields, sports, and jobs formerly closed to them, and traditional prejudices against women dramatically lessened.

But what has happened since the end of the 1980s?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Stephanie Coontz
coontzs@msn.com
360-352-8117

"YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY." OR HAVE YOU?

In Time for International Women's Day on March 8, Researchers at the Council on Contemporary Families Debate: "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

MIAMI, March 6, 2012--In 1973 - less than 40 years ago -- the Supreme Court ruled that sex-segregated employment ads were illegal. The next two decades saw massive, rapid action in eradicating old laws and prejudices. But now three researchers argue that progress toward gender equality has slowed or even stalled since the early 1990s. In an online symposium organized by the Council on Contemporary Families in time for International Women's Day, David A. Cotter, Joan M. Hermsen and Reeve Vanneman present their discussion paper "Is the Gender Revolution Over?"

A CCF MEDIA ADVISORY

Celebrating Women's Health Week: 30 Minutes a Day to Better Health

National Women's Health Week (May 8-14, 2011)  is a week-long observance spearheaded  by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health. The theme for 2011 is "It's Your Time." National Women's Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority, and encourages them to take steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases.

Although women in the U.S. enjoy longer life spans than men, by as many as seven years on average, women also report higher levels of aches and pains, headaches, disability, depression, and multiple other chronic health conditions. This is partly due to the fact that women live longer, and with older age comes the physical and cognitive declines.

Yet another reason why women's physical and mental health is often worse than men is that  busy women put their own mental and physical health needs second to the needs of their children, partners, friends, and aging parents. An hour spent cleaning the bathroom, shuttling the kids to soccer practice, or putting in long hours at the office means an hour not spent exercising, sleeping, or even having sex - all activities that promote women's physical and mental health, and longevity.

WORKING MOTHERS, STAY-AT-HOME MOTHERS, AND DEPRESSION RISK

A Briefing Paper Prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families

By Margaret L. Usdansky (Syracuse University), Rachel A. Gordon (University of Illinois at Chicago), Xue Wang and Anna Gluzman

May 6, 2011

Mothers of young children face difficult decisions when it comes to employment. Some feminists warn that staying home leads to social isolation, increasing the risk of maternal depression. But many neo-traditionalists counter that employment increases women's stress levels, leading to depression because of lost time with children or worries about child care. The question of whether working or staying home causes depression matters not just for the sake of mothers' happiness, but for the well-being of children, since maternal depression is a risk factor for children. So it is important to know the findings of a new study: When it comes to mothers' risk of depression, both these one-size-fits-all arguments miss the mark.

The impact of working for pay or staying home on women's risk of depression depends on mothers' preferences and on their job quality, our study finds. Mothers who stay home because they prefer not to work outside the home have a relatively low risk of depression. But stay-at-home mothers who would rather be working for pay do face higher risks of depression. In fact, these women had the same risk of depression as mothers in our sample who wanted to stay home but had to go work in low-quality jobs.

Employment isn't always "good" or "bad" for women's morale. Much depends on the quality of the job, and this can even trump women's preference. Mothers employed in low-quality jobs face a heightened risk of depression even when they do want to work for pay. But interestingly, mothers employed in high-quality jobs face a low risk of depression even if they do NOT want to work for pay.

May 10, 2007

By David Cotter, Department of Sociology, Union College; cotterd@union.edu; and Paula England, Department of Sociology, Stanford University; pengland@stanford.edu; 650.723.4912 or 650.815.9308; and Joan Hermsen, Department of Sociology, University of Missouri; HermsenJ@missouri.edu

March 28, 2006

By Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for American Progress; hboushey@cepr.net; 202.293.5380 x116

Contrary to conventional wisdom, highly educated mothers are MORE likely to be in the labor force than women with less education or less demanding careers.

April 25-26, 2008
Prepared for the 11th Annual Conference of the Council on Contemporary Families

By Oriel Sullivan, Professor of Sociology, Ben Gurion University; sullivan@bgu.ac.il; 972.8647.2056; and Scott Coltrane, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Riverside; scott.coltrane@ucr.edu; 951.827.2443

For thirty years, researchers studying the changes in family dynamics since the rise of the  women's movement have concluded that, despite gains in the world of education, work, and politics, women face a "stalled revolution" at home. According to many studies, men's family work has barely budged in response to women's increased employment. The typical punch line of many news stories has been that even though women are working longer hours on the job and cutting back their own housework, men are not picking up the slack.

Our research suggests that these studies were based on unrealistic hopes for instant transformation. They underestimated the amount of change going on behind the scenes and the growing willingness of men to adapt to their wives' new behaviors and values. In fact, more couples are sharing family tasks than ever before, and the movement toward sharing has been especially significant full-time dual-earner couples.

September 4, 2007

By Sanjiv Gupta, Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; sanjivgupta1@gmail.com; 413.577.1773

What reduces women's housework burden? A new study shows that on average it doesn't have much to do with her husband's help or his earnings, but how much money SHE earns. The more she earns, the less housework she does.