It’s always been considered a Man’s World, even though in most families those in the know realize who really runs the show – especially in the homes of ethnic Americans.
And yet, times change and in recent years, that change seems real and significant.
But is it real or is it simply a matter of a gender change without significant differences?
On August 18, 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, all American women won the right to vote. The amendment declared for the first time, that they, like men, deserved all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
It took women almost one hundred years to make that fact a reality.
It was not an easy victory. It took organization, belief, a stubborn fierceness seen in endless marches, rallies, conferences, published statements, an official refusal to listen to those who would silence or even arrest them, broken windows and public disruption to finally get Congress to pass a resolution, turn it into an amendment and then wait until a majority of States voted to ratify the amendment.
Once started they did not stop. And won.
By the time of that ratification, women were very much in the workforce of a nation moving rapidly from an agrarian status to an industrial one. Thanks to the Fords, Edisons, Harrimans, Carnegies and other “Robber Barons” leading the way, America needed women in the workforce as never before. Secretaries, administrators and in a growing retail market as salespeople and cashiers. Women had already become America’s teachers and nurses.
During World War 11, women made a huge step into the industrialization of America. As the country fought a dual war in Europe and Asia, everyone worked. Including Rosie the Riveter. Women could and did step into that role on the industrial assembly line as enthusiastically as men of all ages and even colors.
But one thing remained status quo: working women who were Mothers remained in that role no matter the demands of their work. There was never any doubt that the responsibilities of Motherhood would remain uppermost. Caring for and educating their children were at the top of the list.
America’s public school system attempted to educate all children on a mass basis. Beginning in one room school houses where everyone learned the same thing at the same time no matter how old they were – to the development of a grade system which separated children by age – one reality existed: the teacher knew that there was a Mother at home who would see that assigned home work was undertaken and she did so with a faithfulness that made the system work.
Little was ever said about that relationship. Parent Teacher Associations – present in every school – revealed that the parent-teacher connection grew stronger and more vital as the curriculum grew to meet the needs of a citizenship living in a more sophisticated society.
As the war ended, America made a college education free to all those who had served. With college attendance expanding to a whole new economic generation, and the existence of two paychecks in the family, we saw home ownership at a rate we had never seen before. Change was everywhere and so were possibilities for growth and acceptance of women in the workplace at an entirely new level.
And then just a dozen or so years after America had been able to produce the world’s first middle class, medical science developed the contraceptive pill and with it, in the words of one of its developers – a whole new society.
Women bound by society’s idea of who and what they were especially regarding contraception, now had a way to take that idea into a completely new direction.
Women were free to choose whether or when to have children – a choice they could make by themselves with no interference from anyone close or from society itself.
And they did.
By the end of the 20th Century almost 60% of America’s Moms were working. But that was only the beginning.
Women began to enroll in professional schools to study medicine, law, business, engineering, dentistry.
Within a decade of the 21st Century there were more women in professional schools then men. In the years since, their numbers of have grown enormously.
But with these powerful and progressive changes and the freedom and independence of will driving them, came other changes as well.
They can be summarized in the voice of the female Superintendent of Schools in the largest school district on Long Island who just recently, said
“I wish parents would parent again”.
THE LOST GENERATION: BROOKLYN, NY
That statement summarizes the new society we live in.
Women have become Mothers without the time or the ultimate desire to parent their children. In thousands of families, women rely on their parents and Dad’s parents sharing the time to raise their children.
And the result?
You can find it best in Brooklyn, NY.
The average age of the residents of Brooklyn, still the fourth largest “city” in America, is 32.5 years old. No other borough in the city comes close to that age.
But the majority of the City Council of New York and the State Legislature of New York both do.
And the ‘result’ shows in a very simple, yet very profound and public way.
These young people want to make life better for themselves but when they face opposition, they become belligerent, cause chaos, literally harass those who have other views; behavior found in spoiled children.
And when they hold public office, they stubbornly refuse to accept that their decisions often lead to trouble and make no sense at all.
As the city and State struggle with “bail reform” much despised by those who understand that letting criminal behavior out of jail in a misguided effort to end racism besides being absurd doesn’t stop criminality – it might even encourage it.
Meaning well – but sadly misguided – they do not yet understand that racism in America has become a caste system forever engrained in the American experience. “Meaning well” has never been enough even if it is ‘nice’.
The problem is that we expect the desire to “do good and make things better” to come from succeeding generations as it has in the past. But what we are getting are little more than good intentions with nothing behind them to make them work.
There are many examples, not quite as impactful but indicative of well- meaning inexperience stubbornly supported.
Journey with us to the home of the young – the oldest section of New York City itself – Williamsburgh and Greenpoint, Brooklyn…where the Dutch landed and began building what would become New York City.
Driving through the area we see the oldest small houses still existing…with metal steps up from the street. And we see new houses with modern facades right next to them, major modern apartment buildings, boutique hotels and incoming businesses from Madison Avenue as well as beautifully appointed high-end restaurants.
And so, the young come as singles or as couples sometimes pushing a baby carriage, but mostly walking a dog.
And they run for political office and they win.
And they serve on what is considered the single most active Community Board in the city and they dominate the actions, decisions and votes.
And if you oppose them, they act as children do when Mom or Dad say no…they yell, they initiate chaos, they gang up on the usually older membership dismissing their thoughts and opinions and are known to appear outside the homes of the opposition simply trying to intimidate them into silence.
It is no surprise that an increasing number of older residents – the children of former European immigrants -Serbs, Polish, Russians – are choosing to sell their homes and are moving to Florida.
This is not the classic change expected and found in New York for years. This is a push – a behavioral attitude which makes sense when Grandparents raise spoiled children.
WOMEN EMPOWERED
As women dominate attendance in Medical, Law, Dental and Business schools and as young men drop out of college at a stunning rate – almost 20% – and as a college education no longer is necessary to acquire good jobs, something is happening to the very purpose and influence of men.
It is best seen in the many times top CEO’s are brought back out of retirement to run companies struggling under new less talented leadership.
Once upon a time in the 20th Century if a man reached 50 without being in direct line for the top corporate job, that was it for his career.
Once upon a time, men of that age ran for President.
Now look.
No one in the Democratic Party will challenge a sitting President of that party.
As we all know, people tend to follow the perception of something rather than seek the fact or truth of it.
In the Republican Party, we saw the caliber of men challenging the former President.
And so, we remember Hillary and see Haley. What we do not see are nurturing women.
Not in politics. Not in corporate business and interestingly not in the helping professions.
What we see are women acting like men because that is the model and the model is what works.
And if that remains America’s truth, we have lost forever the special qualities that women possess simply because of the nature of things.
And that loss will continue our slide into the inevitable historical irrelevance that all the once great powers have landed.
We believe that a Woman’s World driven by the nurturing powers women possess can give us a chance to be far more than that. But will it? Does it even exist anymore?