Having It All · Episode 3 of 10 · 22 min
Into the Building: They Let Her In and Changed Nothing Else
Women's labor force participation rose from 34 percent in 1950 to a peak of about 60 percent in 1999, and Boomer women led the wave. They entered law schools, medical schools and offices built around men, earned roughly 59 cents per male dollar, and worked before sexual harassment even had a name. Anita Hill's 1991 testimony became the cohort's public reckoning.
Who's who
- Rosabeth Moss KanterSociologist who diagnosed the plight of 'tokens' in male workplaces
- Lin FarleyCoined the term 'sexual harassment' in 1975
- Carmita WoodCornell lab administrator whose case sparked the naming of harassment
- Catharine MacKinnon+1 more episodeLegal scholar who argued harassment is sex discrimination
- Mechelle VinsonBank teller whose lawsuit produced the 1986 Supreme Court ruling
- Anita HillLaw professor whose 1991 Senate testimony shook the nation
- Sandra Day O'Connor+5 more episodesOffered only secretary work after Stanford Law; later first woman on the Supreme Court
- Eleanor Holmes NortonEEOC chair who issued the 1980 harassment guidelines
Where it happens
- Ithaca, New YorkSite of the first Speak-Out on Sexual Harassment, 1975
- Stanford Law School, CaliforniaWhere O'Connor graduated near the top of her class
Timeline
- 1950Women's labor force participation stands at 33.9 percent
- May 1975First Speak-Out on Sexual Harassment held in Ithaca
- 1980EEOC issues guidelines defining sexual harassment as illegal
- June 1986Supreme Court rules 9-0 in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
- October 1991Anita Hill testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee
- 1999Women's participation peaks at about 60 percent
Still debated
The exact peak of participation (60.0 percent in 1999 versus 59.9 in 2000) varies by data series, and some mid-century medical and law school percentages are approximate.
← PreviousThe Opening: The Laws That Changed, and the ERA That DiedNext →The Second Shift: Why the Revolution Stalled at Home
Connected episodes in other series
The Lemon Test: The Rule That Governed Church and State for 50 YearsA Wall of Separation · Episode 6Also features Sandra Day O'Connor
The Supreme Court on Trial: Is It Really a Neutral Umpire?The Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 1Also features Sandra Day O'Connor
How Title IX Became the Law on Campus Sexual AssaultTitle IX · Episode 9Also features Catharine MacKinnon
The Great EscapeWho Taught the Teachers · Episode 8Also features Sandra Day O'Connor