What issues involving straight women have been resolved since the Essay

What issues involving straight women have been resolved since the 1920s in the United States, and which have not - Essay Example Yet, business enterprises did not easily accept the notion that women deserve equal remuneration as that of their male colleagues. While the magnitude of the disparity had eased up during the subsequent decades of the century, the issue is not satisfactorily resolved. The disparity is not just confined to the realm of business. Even in interpersonal relations, starting from courtship, men prefer women who earn lesser than they do. Toward the end of the twentieth century, where a small but significant number of Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officers are women, there is no apparent change in the mentality of men. Hence, while the law affords equal economic opportunities for men and women, deep-rooted prejudices and cultural norms have thwarted further progress for women. The status of women as second class work-force is at no time better expressed during economic crisis. In the history of the United States since the 1920s, in each episode of economic recession, more women lose jobs when compared to men. While the reasons given by employers are ‘rationalization’, ‘right-sizing’ or ‘redundancy’, it is obvious that gender is a significant factor in the equation. These tendencies are best exemplified by the film Nor th Country starring Charlize Theron as a working class single mother. But, all is not doom and gloom for women. Laws pertaining to marriage, divorce and child custody have been amended time and again in favor of women. This is a crucial victory for American women and serves to symbolize the break down of the conventionally patriarchic justice system. The percentage of the ex-husband’s wealth that the ex-wife is legally entitled to has increased multiple times in the last fifty years or so. The 1960’s civil rights movement, which originated from agitations by the Black American community, has had a spill over effect on other areas of