The following essay takes a critical look at Gillian Thomas’ “Because of Sex: One Law, Ten Cases and Fifty Years That Changed American Women’s Lives at Work”, which is an enlightening study on the gender pay inequity and discrimination, in light of Title VII under the 1964 Civil Rights Act (Thomas). Belonging to the nonfiction genre, the book scrutinizes the condition of women subjected to the world of male domination and patriarchal laws.
A senior, experienced staff attorney based in Brooklyn and working for the Women’s Rights Project sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, Gillian Thomas documents ten landmark cases in the women’s movement to establish equality in the work place (Tharenou). She was initially working as a trial attorney for the U.S Equal Opportunities Commission and eventually joined the Women’s Rights Project in the year 2015. She specializes in promoting a discrimination free environment for women, especially in male oriented fields like law enforcement (Thomas).
In the mid 1960s, two bills were passed by the Congress, which revolutionized the way women worked in the United States, and ‘sex” was added to the categories listed under Title VII, which were to be protected (Aiken, Salmon and Hanges). This granted women some rights in the work place, albeit, they were still considered to be inferior (Guy and Fenley). The book takes into account a number of women, not belonging to any specific category. They came from different backgrounds, ethnicity, race and social class. However, they had one thing in common – they all demanded equal payment and treatment in their places of work.
Using a vivid narrative, Gillian Thomas narrates the tale of ten tenacious women who refused to abide by the norms of patriarchy and questioned the accepted system of discrimination that prevailed in the work place. Thomas records the case of Ida Phillips, who was denied a job opportunity simply because she had a child in preschool and therefore apparently lacked the caliber required to work. The book also tells the story of Kim Rawlinson, who challenged existing prejudices and conventions by seeking work as a prison guard – which was essentially considered to be a man’s world. Another case narrates the story of Ann Hopkins, who was denied the offer of partnership at her accounting firm, because her male colleagues thought she was not charming enough (Thomas).
The ten cases are spread out across the United States. The location plays a key role in the book because it was in the 1960s that America saw a turn of the century movement, demanding for equal pay for both sexes (Mandel and Semyonov). The book is set against the background of a period of unrest, caused by the women’s movement; this further strengthens Thomas’ argument and also throws light on the frustration of women and attorneys across America who were forced into subjugation by their male dominated workplaces.
Understanding the legal framework and implications of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is crucial to grasping the moral hidden in Thomas’ book. The terms, “because of sex” were added to the Act by Howard Smith, who Thomas describes as “unrepentantly racist”. Having stated her theme at the very beginning, Thomas then proceeds to the way these brave, unrelenting women fought for equality in the professional sector, by breaking new ground as far as the legal system was concerned. To understand how the book relies on legal intricacies to narrate the personal experiences, two examples must be examined. In the first chapter of the book, Thomas refers to the Phillips v. Marietta case in the Supreme Court. She writes, “On a hot Florida night in September 1966, Ida Phillips sat down at her kitchen table to write a letter”, which was addressed to the President. The Martin Marietta Foundation, based in Maryland, followed a policy that women with children in preschool or younger could not be hired as they were viewed as unreliable. Ida Phillips had been refused employment on the same grounds; instead of accepting the decision of the organization, she sued them by referring to Title VII, under the Civil Rights Act, and claimed that the company’s policy reeked of discrimination (Scutt). In the second chapter, she refers to the Rawlinson v. Dothard case in the Supreme Court. Kimberly Rawlinson had applied for the position of correctional counselor, which was usually reserved for women. However, she failed to fit the requirements stated by Alabama prisons. When she moved court alleging discrimination on grounds of sex, it was revealed that these criteria did not really have an impact on the job requirements, but was merely a means of eliminating women applying for the role (Bartlett, Rhode and Grossman).
The legal system is so central to the stories of these women that such a book with a similar theme would be rendered incomplete without references to the laws underlying them. Thomas, in her book, refers to each aspect of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to understand the way it impacted women in the corporate sector. For example, “An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964” by Todd S. Purdum proposes a similar narrative, but unlike Thomas, he focuses more on the historical perspective than the legal framework that shaped the events (Purdum).
The main purpose of Thomas’ book is to highlight the wage gap encountered by women in the latter half of the 20th century, and the attempts made by women to protest against the same. Factors like gender have certainly affected the portrayal of the legal system in the novel. For instance, Thomas says that although it was Howard Smith who incorporated Title VII, he himself was a proclaimed racist and sexist. She uses these factors to show that a certain law, once implemented, could have far reaching consequences, beyond the lawmakers’ imaginations.
In this aspect, another book must be examined, to get a wholesome idea of how the law affected working women in America, namely “A Law Of Her Own – The Reasonable Woman As A Measure Of Man”, published by Donna M. Matthews and Carolina A. Forrel (Scutt). This book takes it one step further than Thomas’ “Because of Sex” by saying that the law should be revised to suit the needs of women. From a legal perspective, “A Law of Her Own” shows how job opportunities for women are scarce and how women are largely excluded from the courtroom. The book urges the legal system to forego bias pertaining to women, and pave the way for equal opportunities for both sexes.
One of the most important features of the book that immediately appealed to me is the fact that Thomas meticulously researched the lives and experiences of women who attempted to bridge the wage gap in the United States. From the very beginning, Thomas delves into the heart of the issue, and structures the book in such a way that all potential obstacles a working woman might encounter in the work place are addressed. For instance, issues like pregnancy, women being denied partnership or employment for no apparent valid reason and unfair criteria which are used as a weapon to eliminate women from the labor force have been elaborately explained.
If I were asked to recommend the book to someone oblivious about the theme, I would highlight the fact that Thomas’ book does not simply provide an account of the women and their bravado, but also refers to the legal system which is intricately linked to the chain of events. Moreover, knowledge of law is not necessary to grasp the primary theme of the book – Thomas includes all relevant information about the Civil Rights Act and Title VII, which have since helped countless women attain equal stature in the work place (Hersch and Shinall).
References:
Aiken, Juliet R., Elizabeth D. Salmon, and Paul J. Hanges. “The origins and legacy of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Journal of Business and Psychology 28.4 (2013): 383-399.
Bartlett, Katharine T., Deborah L. Rhode, and Joanna L. Grossman. Gender and law: Theory, doctrine, commentary. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2016.
Guy, Mary E., and Vanessa M. Fenley. “Inch by inch: Gender equity since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Review of Public Personnel Administration 34.1 (2014): 40-58.
Hersch, Joni, and Jennifer Bennett Shinall. “Fifty years later: The legacy of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 34.2 (2015): 424-456.
Mandel, Hadas, and Moshe Semyonov. “Gender pay gap and employment sector: Sources of earnings disparities in the United States, 1970–2010.” Demography 51.5 (2014): 1597-1618.
Purdum, Todd S. An idea whose time has come: two presidents, two parties, and the battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Henry Holt and Company, 2014.
Scutt, Jocelynne A. “Because of Sex-One Law, Ten Cases, and Fifty Years That Changed American Women’s Lives at Work; A Law of Her Own-The Reasonable Woman as a Measure of Man.” (2017): 149.
Tharenou, Phyllis. “The work of feminists is not yet done: The gender pay gap—a stubborn anachronism.” Sex roles 68.3-4 (2013): 198-206.
Thomas, G. (2018). because of sex. [online] Gillian Thomas. Available at: https://gillianthomas.net/because-of-sex.html.
Thomas, Gillian. Because of Sex: One Law, Ten Cases, and Fifty Years That Changed American Women’s Lives at Work. Picador USA, 2017.
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