John Carroll University - Carillon Yearbook (University Heights, OH)

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Women are creatin g social change through their work, but even more through their state of rnino' . . D of Carroll, unite you ig to lose but your ster- : world is changing and changing with it. I see 1 a new sense of selfhood, the grow instead of on the ir futures will be deter- by one choice--the men 1--but by many choices, .utOnOm0uS, striving, ex- '-respecting choices. Is this Lion means? rroll men think liberation ford. You're not one of en's lib types, are you? spiciously. What is that? eturn, truly not knowing. reigns. They don't know hey donit like it. What do it anywayl' they ask rheto- Freudian query of despair We want what you wantf' I say: food, clothing, shelter, love, children, friends, challenging work, a life of the mind as well as a life of the body, an open future to do with what we can and will. Respect for personhood, as we respect their persons. Down with chickhood! A century ago, women were just beginning to win access to higher edu- cation. At that time for a woman to marry was to give up legal person- hood and rights and to become sub- merged in her husband's identity. Yet marriage was a woman's path to eco- nomic security and social accept- ability. Denied most forms of higher education or vocational training, mar- riage and motherhood proved to be her only recourse. w 22 Because they had experienced this stark denial of freedom, knowledge and opportunity, the women who first won the right to be educated to the extent of their desire and ability be- came doctors, lawyers, college profes- sors, college presidents, school princi- pals and other professionals. Many people today have forgotten for never knewj that during the nineteen twenties there were more professional women than there are today. More women earned Ph.D.'s in the '20's than in the '60's. A decline be- gan with the Depression. When jobs are scarce, our patriarchal society, through discriminatory laws and cul- tural pressures, persuaded women to decelerate professional expectations. World War II provided a short-term diversion for non-professionals when womanpower was needed in the facto- ries, but the war was followed by a massive return to the Homev as the advent of television emphasized the values of consumerism, home-making and large families. Is the current upsurge of profes- sional aspirations among women, then, just a swing of the pendulum? A fashion trend, in effect, like the cyclic- al popularity of skirt lengths? I tend to think not, and my opinion is based on the serious analytical approach which women of all ages are increas- ingly taking toward an understanding of their own social condition. A na- tional commitment to equal pay and non discriminatory employment pat- terns also distinguishes the present from past periods of relative emanci- pation of women. As men experience humanhood free of the rigid sex stereotypes of the past, they will discover new occupational opportunities too, and new depths of interpersonal relationships. Yes- terday's jokes about liberation are stale and tired, today's women refuse to be humiliated about their aspira- tion. Women are creating social change through their work, but even more through their state of mind. Women are creating social change through their attitudes toward mar- riage, toward male fellow-humans, but the greatest changes will be created because of new attitudes toward self Dr. Kathleen Barber

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ORIENTATION