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Категория: Английский язык
Many people — both male and female — find it difficult to conceive women as a subordinate and oppressed group. Yet, when one looks at the political structure of the United States, one has to look hard to find many women. In the 100th Congress, which took
office in January 1987, there were only 24 women. They accounted for 22 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives and 2 of the 100 members of the Senate. This merely continued a historical pattern; through the year 1987, only 123 women had ever served in the United States Congress, as compared with well over 11,400 men.
Other statistics reveal a similar picture. In 1987, only 3 of the nation's 50 states had female governors. In October 1981, Judge Sandra Day O'Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals was sworn in as the nation's first female Supreme Court justice. But no woman has ever served as president of the United Slates, vice president, speaker of the House of Representatives, or Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
This lack of women in decision-making positions is evidence of women's powerlessness in American society. Five basic properties, which define a minority or subordinate group can be identified. If we apply this model to the situation of American women, we find that a numerical majority group fits our definition of a subordinate minority: Women obviously share physical and cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the dominant group (men). Two Women experience unequal treatment. In the year 1986, the average income for males was $25,894; for females, the average income was $16,843. Though they are not segregated from men, women are the victims of prejudice and discrimination in the labor force, in the legal system, and in other areas of society.
The most common analogy used for purposes of analysis is that of the positions of women and blacks. Many scholars have drawn attention to striking parallels between the two groups, among them the following:
♦Both are limited by ascribed characteristics (blacks' skin color and women's gender).
♦Both were denied suffrage when the Constitution of the United States was first drafted in 1787.
♦Both have historically been treated as property within the American legal system (black slaves as the property of their masters, women as the property of their husbands).
♦Women and blacks, despite intense struggles for equal rights, remain significantly underrepresented in the American political system.
♦Both groups are subject to negative and prejudicial stereotypes. Both are generally given menial jobs with low pay and few prospects for advancement.
