Second Wave Feminism

Equal Pay for Equal Work

The second wave of feminism, was from roughly the 1960s to the 1990s, it provided pay equality and helped break the glass ceiling for some women. But only for SOME women because all men and all women do not break thru the glass ceiling, it exists for all.

“Glass ceiling” means an invisible upper limit in corporations and other organizations, above which it is difficult or impossible for women or People of colour to rise in the ranks. This is an example of the silliness of a racial or gender analysis. The “Glass ceiling” as a metaphor for the hard-to-see informal barriers that keep women from getting promotions, pay raises, and further opportunities applies to about 98% of men as well. It is “glass” because it’s not usually a visible barrier, its a ceiling because business is hierarchical. Not everyone gets to the top. Man, women, black, white, old, young, gay, strait or other.

Reproductive Rights

In second wave feminism reproductive rights were expanded as female sexuality was more and more under female control.

The goals of second wave feminism were largely met: more women in positions of leadership in higher education, business and politics; abortion rights; access to the pill that increased woman’s control over their bodies; more expression and acceptance of female sexuality; general public awareness of the concept of feminism. This wave is characterized by the woman’s liberation movement, the formation of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and shifting toward a focus on woman’s political and personal experiences.”i

Over the past five decades, women have taken public life by storm. When it comes to education, employment, and pay, women are not just doing better than ever before—they are often doing better than men too. For over a quarter of a century, girls have outperformed boys at school. Over 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees are awarded to women. More women than men continue to graduate school and more doctorates are awarded to women. And their successes don’t stop when they leave education behind. Since the 1970s, there has been a marked increase in the number of women in employment and many are taking managerial and professional positions. Women now comprise just over half of those employed in management, professional, and related occupations.”ii

More Rights for Men as well

In the late 90’s being a stay at home dad would get the attention of a national news magazine, macleans magazine and articles in the local newspaper the ottawa citizen. The subject of the stories was the second man in Canada to receive paternity benefits for the same reasons as a mother or adoptive parent.

Schachter v. Canada

Shalom Shactner

Once again feminism was about equality. Both Men and Women grew and benefited and its adoption was widespread and accepted.

Stephen Wiesenfeld and his son Jason were the first beneficiars of a US supreme court decision granting widowers with dependent children the same Social Security Benfets as women presently received in those circumstances

From Britianica Book of the Year 1974 Stephen Wiesenfeld and his son Jason were the first beneficiars of a US supreme court decision granting widowers with dependent children the same Social Security Benfets as women presently recieved in those circumstances

Feminism part of a wage suppression strategy

Second Wave feminism did not occur in isolation but rather in an environment of mass immigration of “visible minorities” During this time the population of visible minorities went from 2% to 22% of the Canadian population todayiii.

Visible minority refers to … “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour”. The visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese.”iv

With the increase in immigration of visible minorities two classes of immigrants to Canada emerged each with their own purpose. While not official designation the “class” designation represents the practical outcome of government policies.

Class A Immigrants: PhD, Masters, engineer, immigrants, we mined the third world for the best and brightest. A modern form of colonization or rape of the homeland. These immigrants did very well, have comparable wages and integrate quickly.

Class B immigrants: unskilled immigrant, these poor souls kept wages low for unskilled Canadians with a flood of unskilled workers who cannot compete, afford housing, afford education and are trapped in low wage jobs, their presence having a downward pressure on the cost of labour for business. As a class they have a hard time integrating and make 16% less than average wages.v

Business profits from this system, getting skilled, intelligent workers without paying for their education and keeping the cost of labour for unskilled tasks low. The byproduct of this from a feminist point of view is the large number of BIPOC individuals now who are a permanent lower class who will forever blame the issue of their impoverishment on race, when race has nothing to do with it. These unfortunate pawns are fodder for the rise of Third Wave Feminism

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pFnojXxQrK4/XGGvRzd8brI/AAAAAAAADl0/6cxRuh8837MSkTdQqJxiYujO_8-N6_NeACEwYBhgL/s1600/Standard_deviation_diagram.png
The benefits now are to the roughly 68%, the working men and women who have expanded access to childcare benefits.
First Wave 99.7% of the population benefited
Second Wave 68% of the population benefits
Third wave focuses on the 4.2% and largely loosses the interest of working people.

References

i The goals of Second Wave Feminism https://janetpanic.com/what-was-the-goal-of-second-wave-feminism/

iiWomen taking the world by storm https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/fourth-wave-feminismwhy-no-one-escapes/

iiiWhat percentage of Canada is a visible minority? December 13, 2021 Willie Cole Canada

  • 22.3%. Over seven million Canadians identified as a member of a visible minority group in the 2016 Census, accounting for 22.3% of the total population

ivDefinition of visible minority https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3Var.pl?Function=DEC&Id=45152

vImmigrants make 16% less https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/new-figures-show-just-how-big-canadas-immigrant-wage-gap-is/