Let's Get This Party Started

In 1960, John F. Kennedy was ushered into office in large part due to women voters. Sound familiar?

After he was elected, Kennedy created the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW). It was the first federal body established to examine women’s issues. On one hand, the PCSW reinvigorated the discussion about women's rights – that these issues were worthy of political debate and public policy-making.

But, as with most politics, it wasn’t that simple. The PCSW was actually set up as a compromise measure – a method to placate women’s rights advocates who might alienate Kennedy’s labor base by bringing up the Equal Rights Amendment.

The bad news: Women settled for a commission to study “our” issues. The good news: The PCSW report, released three years later, addressed a cross section of issues impacting women (workplace issues, guardianship for children, tax deductions for daycare). Many believe it was the spark for the rebirth of feminism in the 1960s – the second wave of feminism as it is called. The report’s findings served as the launch pad for the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (abolishing wage differentials based on sex) and called attention to the lack of oversight from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on sex discrimination issues. As a result of the report, Kennedy passed federal funds for day care for working mothers. Finally, it eventually spawned several new women’s advocacy groups, including the National Organization for Women.

It’s been 45 years since the PCSW issued its report and 18 days since women helped to elect another Democratic president – one with the most ambitious work-family agenda in history.

All I can say is, “Let’s get this party started.”