Discussion Responses

I’m trying to study for my History course and I need some help to understand this question.

Please respond to each students post.

Logan DB:

What do the primary sources reveal about the experiences that led many women to change their views about their status in American life? Did the cultural, political, and economic trends in the 60’s and 70’s have a major impact?

The primary sources reveal that some women at this point in time were fed up with just staying at home and caring for their family, and wanted to be able to have the same work opportunities as men. The experiences that brought this about include the monotony of life, and the wondering if this was all that life held. Some times there would be times where women would be thrown under the bus in simple ways, such as being assumed that they would be in the simpler roles rather than the more complex ones, which caused some to start chafing at the unfair treatment. The cultural and political trends during this time certainly had to do something with this by showing women what they were missing. While some women were fine with their place, others wanted the freedom that came with holding down a job and starting a career. The culture of the time helped this movement by the peace and monotony that some women were experiencing, which caused some to band together to do something about it.

How did the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement (Vietnam War) affect women? Did women have a substantial role in these groups?

The civil rights movement and anti-war movement showed some women that change was possible. Because of this and the sometimes biased roles that were given to women, it helped in starting and continuing the equal rights movement by showing what could be done and what they believed should be done.

What goals were articulated and which goals were achieved?

The goals that were shown by the equal rights movement were equal pay in the workplace, equal job opportunity. They wanted to have equality by law that actually was enforced.

These goals are not completely realized, but there are many parts of the country where they are getting better and parts of the country where they are quite good, but on the opposite side there are places where women are much less common than men for specific jobs.

Do these issues about gender and women’s role persist today? Give examples and details.

These issues do persist; although in a much smaller fashion than in those days, it is still a problem. There are some areas where women are not paid as much as men, and in much of the STEM field, there are way more men than women.

Are women treated different, paid different in the American workforce? Does American business, Hollywood have a complicit attitude (define) toward sexual harassment in the work place?

Women are certainly treated differently, even if in infinitesimally small ways. According to statistics, there is a wage gap between women and men. Some Americans do treat women as sexual objects, and sometimes those people are the people in power, which makes the attitude towards women a complicated problem, as you never know if the statistics are tipped because of those individuals, or if it is a problem that is at large. One thing I do remember being in the news a year or more ago was a backlash against powerful people who used their power in order to force women to give sexual favors, which is a horrible reality that exists.

Do you see any similarities in terms of vision, attitude, and/or tact between Nixon and President Trump?

One thing that I see as a similarity from our resources between Nixon and Trump is their sexist views. They both either outwardly or secretly did not think that women were equal to men. They both want/wanted to be great, and both have lied in order to help their own goals.

Media events – the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg, release of classified information and Wiki leaks, release of classified emails by Julian Assange. Are these events similar? How do liberals and conservatives react then and now?

These events are similar in how they are both about releasing information that the government wants to have hidden. As with most releases of secret information, there are certainly mixed reactions to it. In both cases, there were people who thought that this sort of thing shouldn’t happen, while others decided that the government should be held accountable for such complaints as these.

Gonzales DB:

1-The primary sources reveal that women wanted equal opportunities as men, as well as the fact that they were annoyed/tired of just staying at home all the time with children. As for experience, they were often degraded, given easier tasks than men which they obviously deemed to be unfair. The cultural and political trends in this era had a major impact based on the fact that they showcased a lot of the problems with women’s roles in society, encouraging movements for equal opportunity.

2-The civil rights movement and anti-war movement (Vietnam War) showed women that a change in their role in society, making them believe that they could be/do more than what they’ve been doing. This prompted them to fight for more opportunities.

3-The main goal was equal rights, and equal opportunities for women in the workplace, and this was really heavily pushed during the equal rights movement, yet not every state acknowledged it. It was being recognized by a lot more areas though, ultimately successful in the long run.

4- Issues about gender and women’s rules do persist today but it isn’t even close to the extremity of how it was back in the day. There still exist jobs/places where men dominate the workplace both in the amount of positions, and in the amount they get compared to women, however it is way less common in today’s time.

5- Women are treated differently. Women are often sexualized both in and outside of the workplace, get paid way less than men, and in some instances, are used for sexual favors, hence why most jobs today require sexual assault lessons in their training as a mandatory part for employee training.

6- Both Nixon and Trump lie, are very deceiving, and manipulative people who sexualize women, and are just very sexist people in general. They degrade women publicly and secretly. So yes, I do see similarities in them.

7- They are similar in that both release information to the public that was supposed to remain secretive. People reacted differently of course but many wanted the government to face consequences for their actions.