PSC 101 Women and Politics

Summary

In a compelling discussion about women and politics throughout history, the focus is on how women navigated socio-political terrain, particularly in the 18th century when they lacked direct representation. From Abigail Adams' thought-provoking letters to John Adams to the evolution shaped by social movements like suffrage and civil rights, the conversation highlights women's struggles for political and economic power. The narrative maps women's achievements across time, drawing on historical milestones, legal hurdles, and socio-political activism that continue to shape the journey towards equality.

Highlights

• Abigail Adams stirred thoughts on women’s rights with her 1776 letter to John Adams. 📝
• Key social movements fused to empower women in the political sphere. 🔥
• Women’s representation in politics saw a pivotal boost post-19th Amendment ratification in 1920. 🗳️
• Women’s fight for economic power is equally significant, facing legal barriers like Bradwell v. Illinois. ⚖️
• The narrative takes a holistic view beyond just top-level roles, focusing on socioeconomic challenges faced by single mothers. 🌍

Key Takeaways

• Abigail Adams was a pioneer of women's empowerment with iconic letters advocating for their representation. 💌
• Women gained power through key movements: Abolition, Temperance, Suffrage, and Civil Rights. ✊
• Social movements played a crucial, continuous role in pushing for systemic changes. 🌊
• Political representation of women has improved significantly, with more women in US politics today than ever. 🏛️
• Economic and social power have seen progress with an increasing number of female CEOs and university presidents. 💼

Overview

Women have walked a long path in political engagement, from Abigail Adams in the 18th century to today's thriving social movements. Adams famously penned provocative letters to her husband, pushing for women's rights, and laid an early foundation for the broader fight against gender inequity. 📜

The real ignition for women’s power was a confluence of social movements over centuries. Abolition, temperance, and suffrage paved paths, while civil rights bridged gaps to strengthen women’s roles in societal frameworks. Social movements were not just fleeting protests but waves of lasting influence, sculpting women's place in politics and society. 🌊

Achieving parity goes beyond political seats but extends into socio-economic realms where women continue to break barriers as CEOs, educators, and more, though challenges remain. Notably, economic disparity lingers significantly for single mothers, reflecting an urgent need to address broader inequality issues, ensuring all women can thrive. 💪

Chapters

• 00:00 - 03:30: Introduction and Historical Context The chapter titled 'Introduction and Historical Context' discusses the role of women in 18th-century politics, highlighting their absence at major political events such as the Continental Congress in 1776 and the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It references a notable letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams, urging him to consider women's rights while he was serving as a representative of Massachusetts.
• 03:30 - 10:00: Abigail Adams' Letters and Women's Early Advocacy Abigail Adams expresses a desire for more frequent communication from her husband in her letters.
• 10:00 - 21:40: Social Movements and Women's Political Power The chapter discusses the role of social movements in enhancing women's political power. It references a historical quote where women demand not to be submissive to male authority and threaten rebellion if they are not granted representation. This reflects the ongoing struggle for gender equality and the efforts to empower women politically by ensuring they have a voice and representation in laws affecting them.
• 21:40 - 27:00: Abolitionist Movement and Women's Role The chapter titled 'Abolitionist Movement and Women's Role' discusses the intrinsic nature of men as tyrannical, a notion considered undeniable. However, the chapter suggests that happiness comes when men choose to relinquish the oppressive title of 'Master' in favor of being a 'friend.' This proposal of equality is met with skepticism, illustrated by John Adams' incredulous response to an 'extraordinary code of laws.' He dismisses the notion with laughter, underscoring the prevailing attitude towards women's push for equality. Furthermore, the chapter alludes to a broader context of revolution, noting that their struggle has weakened the control of governments globally, hinting at a parallel between the abolitionist movement and other transformative efforts.
• 27:00 - 33:56: Suffrage Movement and Progressive Changes The chapter discusses the growing discontent among various groups, including apprentices, students, Native Americans, and slaves, due to abusive or oppressive conditions. It highlights a particular tribe that became increasingly dissatisfied, pointing towards a broader movement for change. The text suggests this growing unrest as indicative of a more significant societal shift, with mentions of tyranny and sarcasm directed at oppressive individuals, hinting at the author’s critical perspective on male dominance and the quest for suffrage and progressive reforms.
• 33:56 - 43:30: Political Power and Women in Government In this chapter, the author discusses the dynamics of political power and gender, suggesting that while men hold the title of 'masters' in government, the reality is quite different. They acknowledge that their masculine systems are largely theoretical and that, in practice, they do not exercise their power to its full extent. Instead, they tread carefully, implying that women exert a significant, albeit unofficial, influence. The author warns against repealing these systems, as it would subject men entirely to the perceived despotism of the 'P code'.
• 43:30 - 53:00: Economic Power and Women in Leadership The chapter delves into the dichotomy between the proclamation of peace and emancipation for all nations by figures like General Washington and the continued subjugation of women within familial settings. The narrative highlights a critique towards the retention of absolute power over wives, contrasting the universal call for freedom with the lack of equivalent liberty for women.
• 53:00 - 60:00: Challenges for Ordinary Women The chapter titled 'Challenges for Ordinary Women' discusses the dynamics of power, highlighting how power, much like fragile objects, is susceptible to breaking. It reflects on the potential for individuals, particularly women, to overturn established authority and gain freedom, hinting at the possibility of subduing 'masters' without resorting to violence. The narrative suggests a reevaluation of traditional power structures and implies that despite legal constraints, women have the ability to challenge and shift these dynamics. While the outlined threat may appear unfounded, the chapter presumably delves into historical or theoretical ways in which women have wielded political and economic power.

PSC 101 Women and Politics Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi this is women and politics the 18th century women were not present at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1776 nor at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 in March 1776 Abigail Adams wrote a celebrated letter to her husband John who was serving as the Massachusetts representative to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia
• 00:30 - 01:00 him she wrote I wish you would ever write me a letter half as long as I write you so she starts out by saying you not communicating enough I hear that you have declared an independency by the way her word usage and her style of spelling it's just a reflection of the 18th century style it's not my misspellings and not my word usage so I hear that you have declared an independency and by the way in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be
• 01:00 - 01:30 necessary for you to make I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands remember all men would be tyrants if they could if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to ferment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves Bound By any laws in which we have no voice or representation she continues that your
• 01:30 - 02:00 sex are naturally tyrannical is a truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of friend wow John Adams replies as to your extraordinary code of laws I cannot help but laugh we have been told that our struggle has loosened the bonds of governments everywhere that children and
• 02:00 - 02:30 apprentices were disobedient that schools and colleges were grown turbulent that Indians slided their Guardians and slaves grew insolent of their masters but cha was the first intimation that another tribe more numerous and powerful than all the rest were growing discontented he continues this is rather too course a compliment meaning that men are tyrannical I guess that's his sardonic turn of phrase but you're so Saucy I
• 02:30 - 03:00 won't blot it out so he calls his wife Saucy depend upon it we know better than to repeal our masculine systems although they're in full force you know they're a little more than Theory we dare not exert our power in its full latitude we are obliged to go fair and softly and in practice you know we are the subjects we have only the name of Masters and rather than give up this which would completely subject us to the Des ISM of the P code
• 03:00 - 03:30 I hope General Washington and all our brave Heroes would fight well she would not leave this alone so she responds to his response I cannot say that I think you're very generous to the ladies for whilst you are proclaiming peace and Good Will to men emancipating All Nations you insist upon retaining an absolute power over wives but you must remember that AR
• 03:30 - 04:00 power is like most other things which are very hard very liable to be broken and not withstanding all your wise laws and maxims we have it in our power not only to free ourselves but to subdue our masters and without violence throw both your natural and legal Authority at our feet this seems like a empty threat but okay so how did women actually get political IND economic power this
• 04:00 - 04:30 exchange that I read to you between Abigail and John Adams it's just indicative of the fact that women had virtually no power so she was reduced to writing these provocative letters but that doesn't really change things so what has changed things I think it's the Confluence of social movements that led uh women to acquire power so by Confluence I mean the coming together the mer the merger
• 04:30 - 05:00 of several movements at the same time so first we have to Define what a social movement is a social movement is a type of group action that is focused on specific political or social issues and social movement aims to bring about or to resist change in society through Collective action and campaigns the objective or objectives of a social movement is uh like I said to bring about or to resist change but in the context of women and politics I think it was more about bringing change
• 05:00 - 05:30 about rather than resisting it a social movement is sustained over a long period of time years or decades so unlike most other forms of political participation that we already looked at in other lectures a social movement is not intermittent so if you talk about strikes marches protests voting all of those activities all of those forms of political participation are intermittent in nature
• 05:30 - 06:00 social movements are not they're like a very long rolling wave that keeps just going and going and going and so the nature is continuous and prolonged and this is what builds the pressure up on the political system to eventually affect change social movements have uh varying degrees of leadership structure the structure can be formal or informal centralized or decentralized social movements also use a wide array of tactics for example they
• 06:00 - 06:30 can employ more intermittent formed of political participation for their purposes like protest strikes and lobbying so all of these can be used as just toolkit as tools in the toolkits of a social movement social movements rely on a broader public so they aim at Mass participation and this participation goes well beyond a small group of core activists were just members of a
• 06:30 - 07:00 particular occupation like journalists and judges over the past two centuries women in the United States gained a lot of power as the result of a Confluence of four social movements the Abolitionist Movement the temperance movement the suffrage movement and the Civil Rights Movement so what are the approximate timelines just to understand it better uh we have to put it in a historical context and that includes
• 07:00 - 07:30 trying to put some dates on uh each movement and even though the dates are approximate uh it's useful to still have some dates so the Abolitionist Movement is the earliest one chronologically in this serious of uh four movements it can be traced back to the late 18th century but it gained significant momentum early in the 19th century so a practical end point is the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the passage of the 16th of the
• 07:30 - 08:00 I'm sorry of the 13th Amendment the end of slavery so roughly we're talking about for 1800 from 1800 to 1865 for the Abolitionist Movement for the temperance movement we can say that it started gaining Traction in the early 19th century the movement's major legislative success the prohibition uh started in 1919 and and it ended in failure in
• 08:00 - 08:30 1933 with the repeal of the 18th Amendment so the movement lasted um the movement lasted from I would say 1820 to 1933 next is the suffrage movement so in the United States the women's suffrage movement began to organize at a national level in the mid 19th century was the Sona Falls convention in 1848 that's all often cited as really
• 08:30 - 09:00 the starting point the movement concluded with the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 which granted women the right to vote so the timeline is approximately 1848 to 1920 the Civil Rights Movement uh so the modern Civil Rights Movement is generally considered to have started in the mid 20th century uh through its uh though its roots do go back further a common time frame is from 1954 Brown versus Board of
• 09:00 - 09:30 Education Supreme Court decision and uh through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 up to the assassination of barttin Luther King Jr in 1968 so roughly we are talking about from 1954 to 1968
• 09:30 - 10:00 all right so the Abolitionist Movement is next um women are quite act women were quite active in the Abolitionist Movement uh because women felt Affinity with slaves uh because of their social position married women uh often had no legal rights aside of those that they had as being married to their husband so because of this they felt politically
• 10:00 - 10:30 and economically powerless white women were quite active in the Abolitionist Movement and they came out of the domestic sphere to work against the enslavement of others while African-American women spoke from their experience printing their story to audiences to elicit sympathy and action uh let's talk about Harriet Tubman for a few minutes because I've discovered a lot of students don't know who she was she was born in slavery in Maryland around 182 2 Harriet dubman
• 10:30 - 11:00 escaped to freedom in Philadelphia in 1849 on theground Railroad conductor is her most famous role after securing her own Freedom dman made numerous trips back to Southern States risking her life to lead scores of enslaved people including her own family members to freedom in the North she became known as Moses for her leadership and courage she was also very active in the Abolitionist Movement overall she worked tireless ly for the abolition of slavery
• 11:00 - 11:30 she was a speaker and fundraiser for the Abolitionist causes and worked with other prominent abolitionists like Frederick Douglas and John Brown during the Civil War tabman served as the Union Army a cook nurse and even a spy she was the first woman to lead an armed Expedition under the command of cardinal Montgomery in the war guiding the uh comai River uh which liberated more than 700 slaves in South Carolina
• 11:30 - 12:00 [Music] Elizabeth Katy Stanton and LR M uh who were two American activists in the Abolitionist Movement found themselves on the outs with the rest of the movement because man thought that the presence of women in the movement might discredit the movement itself so when they uh were attending the anti-slavery Congress in London even though they were official delegates they were not allowed to speak and so this really provoked them to seek
• 12:00 - 12:30 a an additional way to affect social change a way that was specifically feminist let's put it this way and applying the analysis of human Freedom developed in the Abolitionist Movement Stanton andus began uh the public career of modern feminists so the Declaration of Sentiments uh in 1848 built itself on the Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of sentiment
• 12:30 - 13:00 specifically states that all men and women are created equal next is the uh temperance movement so the temperance movement was dedicated to Modern and sometimes to to moderation rather than sometimes to complete abstinence from alcohol the earliest organizations uh of the movement formed in New York in 1808 and in Massachusetts in
• 13:00 - 13:30 1813 churches were active in the uh Movement by 1833 there were 3,000 local Societies in the US some activists worked outside the movement like the famous kri a nation who lived from 1846 till 1911 she would sometimes break into saloons and Destroy them with with her Hatchet the movement uh had uh International scope and it was characterized by organized cooporation
• 13:30 - 14:00 of women so women claimed a lot of women who were in this movement claimed that the use of alcohol really hurt women and children more than people who drank the most men so men drank the most but it was their wives and their kids who suffered from the aggression released by alcohol so alcohol was bad not just for one's Health it was really undermining morality because it was provoking violence it it served as a catalyst for
• 14:00 - 14:30 violence against women and kids next is the suffrage movement so the United States obviously was not the first country to guarantee women the right to vote Nationwide that was New Zealand in 1893 however even long before then in the United States an organized movement on behalf of woman suffrage uh which was led by both men and women already emerged and that was uh around
• 14:30 - 15:00 1848 so first territories and states to Grant the earliest meaning the earliest territories in states to grant women the right to vote were western territories in states starting with Wyoming in 1869 so the thing was that for western territories and states you had um a lot of free uh a lot of empty spaces not free land but a lot of empty spaces and a lot of of land which could be bought almost
• 15:00 - 15:30 for free and a lot of uh single males from crowded Eastern cities as well as from Europe would come to the United States and would would move west and they were seen as a socioeconomic threat as a distinct socioeconomic class by those who were already established in those areas and they the men were hoping that given women the right to vote would balance out the presence of uh these new
• 15:30 - 16:00 migrants to to Wyoming to Utah Colorado Etc because the thinking process was that women would vote the way their husbands would vote so politically men and women would create an alliance a socioeconomic alliance against these poor newly arrived single men of dubious background so if you look at the chronology of which territories and
• 16:00 - 16:30 states were the first we saw that Wyoming was first in 1869 then Utah in 1870 Colorado 1893 Idaho 1896 Washington 1910 and California 1911 so we see it's all Western States and territories so before before the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920 we already have uh more than a dozen states having granted women
• 16:30 - 17:00 the right to vote what about the situation with New Jersey some people claim well it really was New Jersey that was the first one to give women the right to vote and not western territories well here's what happened New Jersey is a unique situation historically its constitution of 1776 extended the right to vote to all inhabitants of the state who owned a certain amount amount of property including unmarried women and free
• 17:00 - 17:30 people of color so yes that was very unusual for the time anywhere anywhere in the world as most voting rights were restricted to white male land ERS however we have to keep in mind the situation changed in 1807 when New Jersey passed a law that explicitly restricted the right to vote for white man to white white male citizens thereby revoking the voting rights of women and nonwhite men so the distinction here is that New Jersey's initial inclusion of
• 17:30 - 18:00 women in Voting Rights was not framed as a deliberate effort to advance women's suffrage rather it was accidental they overlooked it and it was uh a byproduct of property-based voting rights rather than concern for women's rights in contrast what you have happening in western territories uh is the genuine movement for women's rights and uh specifically for the right to vote and it gains a
• 18:00 - 18:30 significant momentum starting like I said repeatedly with my Wyoming Utah in that Colorado so while New Jersey did initially allow women to vote it turned out to be a very temporary event and not a part of women's suffrage movement that characterized the efforts of western territories and States we have to say a few words I think about Susan B Anthony everyone heard this name not everyone knows what she did what she's famous for so Su B Anthony was a Relentless advocate for
• 18:30 - 19:00 women's rights especially the right to vote she co-founded along with Elizabeth Katy Stanton the National Women's Suffrage Association the organization focused on achieving women's suffrage at the national level Anthony was instrumental in organizing strategizing and participating in suffrage activities including rallies petitions and lectures Across the Nation her constant campaigning contributed significantly to ra raising public awareness and support
• 19:00 - 19:30 for women's voting rights in a famous act of civil disobedience in 1872 Anthony was arrested for voting in the presidential election challenging the laws that prohibited women from voting her trial and subsequent fine which she refused to pay got a lot of national attention and further highlighted the cause of women's suffrage in addition to her work for women's suffrage Anthony also advocated for other social reforms including the
• 19:30 - 20:00 abolition of slavery women's property rights and equal pay for equal work finally in uh August of 1920 the 19th amendment is ratified section one reads the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or Abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex and section two says Congress Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
• 20:00 - 20:30 appropriate legislation so let's talk about different kinds of Power political economic we'll start with political power uh in 2008 we saw uh that a woman almost became uh the first woman to be nominated by a major party for president uh and that was Hillary Clinton in the end she was stopped by Barack Obama uh there was an interesting incident while she was campaigning uh at one of the
• 20:30 - 21:00 meetings one of the rallies there were two guys who stood up carrying a a sign and uh they started chanting iron my shirt and Hillary Clinton responded ah the remnants of sexism alive and well and then some sources say that these guys just did it uh just as a gag just just for laughs and they were not real misogynist but whatever the case that did highlight the idea that some people as recently as 2008 we not really ready
• 21:00 - 21:30 for a woman president um then we had the first woman vice president that of course is kamla Harris uh the uh two major parties uh did nominate woman for vice president before Republicans did so with Sarah Palin in 2008 of course she did not become vice president because John McCain lost to Barack Obama and we had Democrats uh doing that even earlier in 1984 for Walter mandale and geraldin
• 21:30 - 22:00 Ferraro and of course because Walter mandale lost geraldin Ferraro never became vice president so camela Harris had the fortune to become the first woman vice president after Joe Biden ascended to presidency so if you look uh beyond that in 2023 there were 125 women serving in the House of Representatives that's about 29% of the total in 2023 there were also 25 women
• 22:00 - 22:30 serving in the US Senate which is of course 25% of the total if you look at State Governors as of 2023 there were only 49 women who have served as a state Governor in all of us history okay in 2023 a record of 12 women were serving as governor so 12 out of 50 states that's a total of 24% it's basically the same percentage almost the same as the
• 22:30 - 23:00 percentage of women serving in the US Senate the first woman was governor Nelly Ross uh who lived from 1876 to 1977 she was she won a special election for governor of Wyoming to succeed her deceased husband and she took office on January 5th 1925 so that's um about 99 years ago Miriam Ferguson who lived between 1875 and
• 23:00 - 23:30 1965 won a regular election and became governor of Texas taken office January 20 of 1925 and uh Miriam Ferguson also became the first woman to be elected governor to two non-consecutive terms economic and social power so having the right to vote and the right to run for office all of that is good and well but if it's not backed up by economic
• 23:30 - 24:00 and social power uh then it's it's kind of hollow because yeah you can vote but in the end what do you gain if it doesn't translate into some economic gains in in gains of social status right so let's look at how women uh struggled to gain entrance into prestigious and well-paying occupations the case of Bradwell versus Illinois is one illustrtion of just that Myra Bradwell tried to assert her right
• 24:00 - 24:30 to be a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois uh by virtue of her status as a US citizen so she started with a lawyer as was frequently the case back then and she passed her exam but she was refused admission to the bar in other words uh the state refused to give her a lawyer's license even though she was qualified and that was frequently the practice at the time that you didn't have have to go to law school although law schools obviously already existed by
• 24:30 - 25:00 then but uh many if not most people who became lawyers just studied with a lawyer and then would take their their exam and then would be granted a license upon passing it but she wasn't because she was a woman and the Illinois state supreme court said no not going to give you a license um the court said you do not have under the 14th Amendment privileges and immunities clause you have no right to practice a
• 25:00 - 25:30 profession so the privileges and immunities clause of the 14th Amendment states no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the Privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States so this was re uh this was very narrowly defined in the slaughterous cases in 1873 basically these are the rights that you have as a US citizen only and not as a citizen of a state it's like the right to travel the navigable Waters of the
• 25:30 - 26:00 United States the right to travel between the states but the court said this does not include the right to practice a lawful profession but the the Supreme Court we are still at at the state supreme court level and the state supreme court said The Strife of the bar would surely destroy femininity meaning that law being adversarial rigorous and stressful was not suitable for women as a profession [Music]
• 26:00 - 26:30 okay so Myra Bradwell appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States and not surprisingly the Supreme Court of the United States uh ruled against ter so while the court agreed that all citizens enjoy certain privileges and immunities which individual states cannot take it away it did not agree that the right to practice law in a state's court is one of those privileges and immunities like I said Privileges and immunities haven't been defined very
• 26:30 - 27:00 narrowly so uh this was uh an op the opinion of the Court delivered by Justice uh Miller Justice uh Bradley in his concurrence went even further and he cited the importance of maintaining the respective spheres of man and woman with women performing the duties of motherhood and wife in accordance with the law of the Creator very interesting uh justice
• 27:00 - 27:30 Bradley himself came from a like huge family very poor family of farmers very humble background but because of his efforts he ascended really to the heights of political power nevertheless his own experiences did not make him uh more sympathetic towards the U you know the the attempts of women to to better themselves and to ascend to a higher social standing through their intellectual effort so this you might you might think that this would be someone who would be sympathetic but he
• 27:30 - 28:00 still was uh in a sense a a prisoner of of his own time the social norms of his time women in higher ed so as of spring of 2023 roughly 58% of college students were women so while higher ed has its problems as I mentioned uh in the video on higher education because it's too expensive it Mis allocates skills and
• 28:00 - 28:30 majors and training it creates too many uh majors in in occupations for which there is no sufficient demand and too little in uh occupations for which there is uh very strong demand so despite all of these very real problems that higher education has um it does serve as a crucial Avenue toward economic and political power I know that people always bring up you know uh Bill Gates
• 28:30 - 29:00 and Michael Dell College dropouts who went on to become billionaires these cases are very real but they're also very few compared to the population as a whole so higher education Still Remains important as an Avenue for success and more women attend colleges and universities than men this has been true for a long time now and if this continues we will see a an even
• 29:00 - 29:30 greater shift of power uh away from men and toward women women is full-time faculty about 45% were full-time facult of all full-time faculty were women as of 2019 so this figure represents a significant increase over a period of several years women's college and university presidents as I mentioned before in in
• 29:30 - 30:00 the lecture on high Ed college and university presidents tend to be very well remunerated not to mention very powerful at least as far as running their own institutions is concerned so women hold approximately 33 uh% of all college and university presidencies uh for uh for instance there are still disparities in terms of the Prestige of these institutions if you look at community
• 30:00 - 30:30 colleges women make up 43% of all presidents compared to only 29% at uh doctoral institutions doctoral institutions are the ones that uh Grant doctoral degrees like phds women is CEOs so when I was born uh there were no female EOS of the Fortune 500 companies ever in American history
• 30:30 - 31:00 the first one ever was Katherine Graham who became CEO of the Washington Post company in 1972 so the first one was 72 by 2023 10.6% of all Fortune 500 companies are led by women a total of 53 out of 500 so you may say well that's not a lot that certainly is much more of an imbalance
• 31:00 - 31:30 than you get in uh presidents in higher education and yeah you would be right but still I mean if you look at the last 50 years that that that's slow but still steady and significant uh change women as billionaires Everyone likes to know about billionaires because uh it's so extreme it's sort of the upper class of the upper class it's not even top 1% it's a tiny fraction of
• 31:30 - 32:00 1% uh but it it is indicative of some of the economic power that women have as of 2023 there are 60 women who are part of the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans that's 15% of the total combined these women have wealth of $621 billion in a global context there are 337 women billionaires that's as of
• 32:00 - 32:30 2023 specifically in the United States around 13% of all billionaires were female as of 2022 out of a total of 735 as of 2023 in the world uh there were 2,668 billionaires among them 337 are women now I do feel that we have to come
• 32:30 - 33:00 back to earth as we reach the end of this uh video because we've been talking about positions of high visibility Prestige and in most cases of high earnings most women do not aspire to become chief executive officers of the Forbes Fortune list nor do they they expire nor do they Inspire to become uh
• 33:00 - 33:30 College University presidents or to become billionaires and even if they did statistically speaking these positions are not open to the vast vast majority of people out there so when uh when feminists when Advocates of progress or uh equality or as they call today equity which really means means Justice and I think that that's somewhat of a misuse of the
• 33:30 - 34:00 concept Equity uh because Justice doesn't necessarily mean equality but put put simply when Advocates of equality today um focus on these facts billionaires CEOs University presidents they really miss the bigger and more important picture and that bigger and more important picture is the lives of ordinary women not to mention men as well but that that's a separate thing
• 34:00 - 34:30 that's a separate video of how the lives of men have changed was the uh Ascension of women toward more power and more money but if you look at ordinary women especially women who are in the bottom 25 30% the millions and millions and millions of women who greatly outnumber greatly outnumber the CEOs and the the billionaires and University residents there is no really focus on
• 34:30 - 35:00 them when you try to go for the top and focus on the top what's happening at the top positions what about the balance the equality at the very top well what about the justice for those who are in the lower 25 30% women who are single mothers experience particular uh hardship economic hardship and particular challenging life so their socioeconomic
• 35:00 - 35:30 status is often overlooked in this race which is stimulated by the media to create equality at the very top 25% of families are headed by a single parent in in America today and about 80% of these single families are headed by single mothers and about 20% by single fathers um [Music] about 21% of all children live with
• 35:30 - 36:00 single mothers and if you look at how well single mothers Fair economically it's not very well so poverty rate for households that are headed by a single mother is 30% for a single father 177% for families that are headed by cohabiting couples 16% but families that are headed by a
• 36:00 - 36:30 married couple only 8% so the disparity could not be more Stark single mothers have a poverty rate household poverty rate which is almost four times greater than the household poverty rate of married [Music] couples so this is a brief overview of um the struggle of women for in through history for power and socioeconomic status and
• 36:30 - 37:00 some of the basic facts of how they're doing uh with regard to both of these today thanks