by Brenda Bowers

Created on: August 27, 2008

To explain what the women's movement means to me today I must take you back to how it was for me before and in the early days of the movement. The few times I have told younger women about my experiences at their age the response has usually been, "Are you kidding me?" And no, I am not kidding at all. I lived the early half of my life as a second class citizen in a country that was supposed to offer equality to all. Was I angry? You better believe. I was angry enough to do all I could to change things for my daughter. And things have changed a great deal as you shall see. There are still some improvements that can be made but as the saying goes, "You've come a long way Baby!"

I truly believe I have also changed things for the better for my son. His is a society where women and men are equal partners in a relationship thus freeing him from the burden of sole responsibility, and allowing him the freedom to be human loving, gentle and even able to cry when he feels the need instead of projecting the the macho image expected of men when women were less than men.

I was born in 1941 into a lower middle class family. Working people. The class most Americans belong to; neither well off nor poor. We in this group generally manage to have all of our needs provided and some of our wants. Women of this class during the 1940's thru the early 1960's were housewives and mothers. Those who worked were limited to clerks and secretaries. Those of us who wanted a career were limited to nurse, beautician or school teacher. This is not to say there were no woman doctors or lawyers or scientist. There certainly were, but these women didn't come from the lower middle class as a rule. A middle class woman in any of the "higher" professions simply would find getting a position after her schooling difficult. As a lawyer she would probably find herself hired as a law clerk for instance. Even in the women's field of teaching there were only male principals. She probably would have neither the money nor the contacts needed to either be hired into an office in her field or to set up her own office.

Socially women of this class were seen by others, and they mostly saw themselves, as extensions of their husband. It wasn't quite a question of being chattel, but more of an expected deference to the male as head of the family. When men spoke the women shut up and listened. (The courtesy wasn't often returned.) Men could even beat their wives. And although not approved of by most of society, it

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