ROLE LIMITATIONS: In our society, most men and women grow up unconsciously learning that women are inferior to men. Most positions of power are held by men and traditional women's roles tend to be paid less and valued less. Like boys, girls tend to internalize these expectations and see themselves as less intelligent, capable and powerful. In one study of third graders, boys and girls were given a simple puzzle to complete. Both boys are girls finished it quickly and when asked how they did it so well, boys responded that they were good at puzzles and girls responded that it was an easy puzzle or that they were lucky. The same children were given difficult puzzles which most could not complete. When asked why they had not been able to do it, boys responded that it was a stupid puzzle, and girls responded that they must not be good at puzzles. Even at this age, girls tended to brush off success and internalize failure while boys did just the opposite.

ECONOMIC: Even with recent advances of professional women, females still make only 60% of what men earn in the work world. Nearly 75% of full-time working women make less than $20,000 a year; less than 40% of working males make less than $20,000. The average female college graduate earns less than a man with only a high school diploma. While some women are paid less for the same job, this descrepancy also reflects the number of low-paying jobs which are traditionally reserved for females and the invisible cieling which keeps women from advancing to the most high-paying jobs. Only 19 of the 4,000 Fortune 500 company corporate officers and directors are women and over half of these companies don't even have one female board member. Women, many of them single parents with children, represent two-thirds of all poor adults.

BODY IMAGE: As a sexual object, women have always been coached and pressured into measuring up to an ideal female image. A woman must paint her face, shave her legs and arm pits, disguise her body odor, wear restrictive and often uncomfortable clothing and, usually, loose weight in order to be attractive and "catch" a man. The underlying message is that "you are not okay the way you are" and most women buy it. A majority of women report that they do not like their own bodies, and about 150,000 talented, intelligent young women starve themselves to death every year.

SEXUAL HARRASSMENT AND ASSAULT: The rate of sexual violence against women has more than doubled since the early 1970's, at a rate of nearly twice that of all over violent crimes. One in five women have been seuxally assaulted and one in three college women will have to deal with some form of date rape durin their four of higher education. Sex-related murders 160% between 1976 and 1984 with at least one third of these women being murdered by their husband or boyfriend. Official complaints of sexual or gender harrassment on the job have more than coubled since 1970.

POLITICAL POWER AND REPRESENTATION: Women were only granted the right to vote in 1920 and, in 1993, there are still only three female state governors, six female US Senators, and less than 8% of all federal and state judges are women. Durnimg the second Reagan administration, there were fewer than 60 women on the White House staff and not one ranked high enough to attend daily senior staff meetings. Women's political issues such as equal job opportunity reproductive rights child care, sexual harrassment and assault, and low income assistance are typically decided by a predominantly male legislative and judicial system.

MEN'S ISSUES:

MALE IDENTIFICATION: Most children spend the majority of their time around women - mothers, child care workers, elementary school teachers. For boys, this provides little day to day observation of what it is to be a man. Boys are forced to rely of cultural and media stereotypes as role models. Fathers often come home tired from a long workday and may be cast in the role of disciplinarian - "Just wait until your father gets home." While more and more fathers are taking an active role in raising their children, work, divorce and their own masculine upbringing may limit their ability to relate to their own sons. Many men are learning to form close, personal relationships with each other, but some are still uncomfortable expressing their feelings, fear s and weaknesses to other men. They either keep them hidden or talk to women.

HEALTH

BODY IMAGE

-From Quests and Quandaries, Chapter 4, Relationships.