Why women still feel persecuted.

• Author: Shapiro, Judith R.
• Position: American Thought

FOR SEVERAL DECADES now, we have been witnessing tremendous energy and momentum towards the betterment of women's lives. Sexual stereotypes that long served as accepted wisdom have been debated, deconstructed, and dismantled. In the 30-plus years since I finished my graduate studies and embarked on a career--not a particularly long period of time, as historians generally measure it--there have been women astronauts, four-star generals, newspaper editors, corporate CEOs, and Supreme Court justices, as well as a female Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and Attorney General.

When I graduated from college in the 1960s, the nurturing professions, teaching and nursing, were the main fields of choice for the majority of women who worked outside the home. Females were so rare among tenured faculty and leaders of colleges and universities that it was news when I was hired in 1970 as the first female junior faculty member in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago.

The range of careers available to women steadily has expanded, however, and today they are found in professions and positions that would have been unthinkable a generation ago--at the front fines of battlefields and among the strategists of both major parties' presidential campaigns. With greater options in education, many women have satisfying careers and higher pay.

Females remain, however, a long way from equality in the workplace. Men still cover the rent with their own paychecks far more easily than women can. Nor has there been any significant expansion in the ranks of women as political office holders. In fact, the U.S. record on this score is abysmal. According to the International Parliamentary Union, which provides data on the proportion of women in national legislative bodies, America ranks 58th in women's political leadership worldwide, tied with Andorra. The Czech Republic, Sierra Leone, Latvia, and Portugal are among the countries ahead of the U.S.

Many Americans want to believe that equality for women no longer is an issue. They tend to ignore major evidence to the contrary--even the overwhelming percentage of men in Congress or the fact that, while it is a record to date, only eight women currently serve as governors. (The number stands at 26 female governors through the nation's entire history). It is interesting to note that political leaders and observers, male and female alike, continually assert that a woman will be president in their lifetime. Perhaps these people have great expectations about how long they will live, because the fact is that 20 years have passed since Geraldine Ferraro became the first--and still only--woman on the national presidential ticket. Since...