Ellie Cook AP World History 4 Mod 6

4/25/17, A block Ms. Barnett

NOTES:
Jessica Bennett:
Works at Newsweek
Even though she received many honors and was very qualified
experienced many obstacles because of her gender
Loss out to promotions to equally or less qualified men - she
was their longer
Was at Newsweek on an internship, kept getting extended
Had to fight to get published while guys did not struggle as
much
She did not see these inequalities as a gender issue - gender
was not something that usually held her back - didnt see why she needed to
be one and didnt want to be labeled as a stereotypical feminist - similar to
women during the suffragette period (refer to documentary, talk to mom
about her grandmother)
Jesse Ellison:
Also worked at Newsweek and saw similar issues - guy who
replaced her got a higher salary
Was treated as if she were a mother in the workplace
Again had to fight to get published
New Boss = less opportunity
Asked her editor/mentor for advice - he said she needed to use
her sexuality to [her advantage] (pg. xiii) - she was shocked bc she trusted
him and said he really fought for her - changed her perspective on things
and wondered if other ppl in the office thought the same thing
Again had great credentials but struggled to move ahead
Instead of thinking that it was a gender issue she thought she
was not good enough and became insecure
Was not used to this kind of treatment
(pg. Xv for possible quotes) - not like before women made up
almost half of newsweek but there was still a problem and at least 2 women
were in top jobs
Reached out to other women and found they were not alone
Women at Newsweek sued in the 70s bc of sex discrimination
 No reference online
Later found In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution - found that
this was an ongoing thing that had not been solved
Went to US Supreme Court
Still little reference and not clear
Possible: do research from other places today and other fields (compare
and contrast)
Lynn Povich
Author of this book and one of the women who sued
Newsweek
Jessica and Jesse reached out to her and wanted to write an
article about how much Newsweek had changed since the lawsuit
She and many of her colleagues were pre-feminists
The problem that had no name - the Feminine Mystique
(pg. xix) - needing something more than staying at home
1950s women earned about 59-64 cents to every dollar men
earned in the same job (pg. xx) - until Equal Pay Act in June 1963 (look on
this page for more statistics)
In the 1960s only men were writers, women were fact
checkers and worked at the mail desk - despite whether or not they had
similar credentials
(xxi for possible quotes)
Started organizing in secret - first time they did anything
political or feminist
The Good Girls Revolt Book
First full account of the Newsweek case
This was the first time women in the media sued for sex
discrimination
There is a tv series based on this book - look it up
Good Girls
(xxii for possible quotes)

March 16, 1970 Newsweek had a issue published about the

Womens Revolt
 46 six female employees at Newsweek filed a complaint that
same time to the Equal Opportunity Commission based on sex discrimination
Lawsuit became known around the world
New York Daily News published a story saying the women
who filed the complaint were young and pretty
Newsweek writers - 51 men, 1 female
Even women with good credentials were stuck in research jobs
Top woman at the magazine is Olga Barbi who was the head
of the researchers and worked at Newsweek for 40 yrs
Newsweek said the Womens Liberation movement should
have a cover story but the problem was they didnt have a woman to write
the piece - rather hypocritical that they are writing about this yet
discriminate against their female employees
Lynn Povich was the only female writer
Newsweek needed a women to write a cover story about the
Womens movement - went outside the staff even though there was a
qualified writer at Newsweek
Women at Newsweek met in private to make a plan of action
Some conflict and arguing among the women also mixed
feelings
Other people in the media were speaking out to womens
publications that were edited by men - but were more radical then the ppl at
newsweek (pg. 7-9)
Women at Newsweek just wanted to transform the system not
overthrow it
Many legal victories during the 60s
Newsweek case caused change and made ppl understand what
was going on - also led to other ppl in the media to speak up
Tried reaching out to Katherine Graham, but she was
conflicted - similar to women at newsweek who were confused - in between
two generations and new change
No role models for women
Raised to be attractive and smart - but not too smart
 From good girls to mad women - look at pg. 11 for more
quotes
Lack of recognition and fear of speaking up - this caused a
problem of progression
What was praised among men was discouraged and frowned
upon for women
What was this Womens Revolut encouraged by?
Other movements during this time - civil rights,
music revolution, birth control, post-war oppurtunities, etc
Women were doing well everywhere except at the top
Scared of what would happen to their careers, but no turning
back
Went against what they grew up learning
Similar protest to what they were experincing but not as radical
Possible Quotes:
Pg. 11
Pg. 12
Talks about how women were treated in the workplace
Look at The Hot Book
Inside office dating
One of the women inside the office was stalked by a co-worker
More women researchers and reporters
Hired outside of the office if they had to get women writers
A lot of talk about why women shouldnt be writers in
Newsweek - subordinate, not enough skills - even though they often had the
same credentials
Katherine Graham - as a fellow woman in journalism they thought she
would support them but she didnt
Judy Gingold was the one who started the movement inside
Secretly recruited members - had to make sure that management would not
know
Had difficulty gaining black women to support them because they didnt feel
like their own racial needs were being answered
 Hired Elenor as their lawyer - thought it was a easy case because there was
very overt and clear sexism within the magazine
Had a who set up about how they were supposed to recruit their members
Click moment - when they realized the inequalities against them
Many women had the same feeling but thought this was normal - were
surprised when they found that other women were experiencing the same sexism
Fay thought that they should go to the editors but everyone else refused
Oz found out what the women were planning and tried to stop it - not
successful
Had the complaint go out the same day the Newsweek published their
Women in Revolt issue
Decided to have an agreement the day the nineteenth amendment was
passed
Gave the editors specific rules about how to hire women writers, promotions,
ect.
Had a specific board of women to make sure their demands were going
through and were effective
Ring Leaders - a lot of talk about the women who participated and their
backgrounds - many of them went to college, some still did even though they
werent expected to
Elenaor their lawyer - told them that they needed to soften up
After the agreement
Still very little change
Some ppl promoted to writter - very hard to get work
published - multiple edits, given to someone else to write instead (a male), or
just cut completly
They came up with a test trial/interview to figure out what
women they would hire
Not effective, only 1:4 people got hired out of
this
Hired 3 women to write since the lawsuit but about 14 male
writers
Had writers but few people in other high positions
Very little change from what they had before
 Some women were offered jobs but declined them
Self doubt
Didnt want it
Were going to leave newsweek
Or thought it wasnt their position to be in that
job
The womens board they issued were upset with these new
reforms outomes
Took it to the editors
Said they used the reforms but women just
werent good writers
Board came up with more reforms
Editors rejected them all
But Editors apologized for inequalites - still no
change
Upset with the way things were going
Needed a new lawyer for new reforms - Eleanor was pregnant
New Lawyer very different from Eleanor
Not as tough
Thought it was a hard case
Very different strategies