Democratic Primaries

pnwmom

(108,990 posts) Fri Oct 11, 2019, 03:56 AM Oct 2019

EVERYONE KNOWS that when you're ASKED to resign, the alternative is to be fired.

That's what happened to Elizabeth Warren -- and everyone here should be defending her on this point, even if they favor another candidate.

They "showed her the door" -- means they "wanted" her to walk through it. And if she had said no, they would have publicly pushed her out. Her "choice." She had nothing to gain in that era by fighting them on this. She could retain her dignity -- and a future letter of recommendation -- by submitting her resignation. Or she could say no, and be fired.

This is an issue that affected most women in that era -- and could affect us again, if the Trumpers get their way.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2019/10/teachers_could_be_fired_for_being_pregnant.html?fbclid=IwAR3X0B-rSe6bL7nCjXk5XNptGIjKUTFj56I5a0pIMjCSnSeXfca5Q3KNm_A

In 1983, Susan Mocarski was in her first job teaching choir part-time in Illinois. She and two other part-time music teachers in the district were pregnant. At the end of the year, when Mocarski was about four months along, the fine arts supervisor called the teachers into his office. He informed them they were all being fired because they were pregnant, Mocarski told Education Week. But if they pursued legal action, he said, their principals would list "other reasons" as a cause for termination.

Experts say it was extremely common for pregnant teachers to be forced out of the classroom through the 1970s. In fact, up until the World War II era, it was common for teachers to be asked to leave or be fired when they got married.

SNIP

"In New York City, you were more likely to find a pregnant teacher because of how vocal the unions would be," she said. "It was highly unusual in suburban New Jersey to see a pregnant teacher."

SNIP

A National Education Association survey in 1970 found that most school districts required teachers to take unpaid maternity leaves when they were four or five months pregnant, and their job often wasn't guaranteed when the baby was born.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

13 replies

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Highlight:

EVERYONE KNOWS that when you're ASKED to resign, the alternative is to be fired. (Original Post) pnwmom Oct 2019 OP

And of course it wasn't just school districts. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2019 #1

And the reporters covering this garbage story seem to have forgotten all about the reality back then pnwmom Oct 2019 #2

Reporters today seem to forget how a lot of things were. Blue_true Oct 2019 #10

Good OP, pnwmom! BlueMTexpat Oct 2019 #3

Yes. It is infuriating. Those of us who were alive thenml l ms liberty Oct 2019 #4

The media rarely provides real context for situations like this. Lonestarblue Oct 2019 #5

Heck, we couldn't even have a credit card without a male co-signer Native Oct 2019 #6

It was legal mgardener Oct 2019 #7

I had a boss, after giving me a promotion, tell me not to get pregnant. Which was unnerving. pnwmom Oct 2019 #8

I was raised in the South. I never had a pregnant teacher, eventhough 85% of my teachers were Blue_true Oct 2019 #9

And God forbid a pregnant woman be unmarried. Thank you pnwmom for this reminder... Hekate Oct 2019 #11

Yeah, it was a shock to me that so many seem to have forgotten so quickly. n/t pnwmom Oct 2019 #12

The ignorance is sort of excusable in the young, but it is inexcusable in journalists Hekate Oct 2019 #13

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,873 posts)

1. And of course it wasn't just school districts.

Reply to pnwmom (Original post)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 04:45 AM

Oct 2019

In 1969 I was an airline ticket agent at National Airport in Washington DC. In the fall of that year my airline had a lay-off. Nearly 50 years later I'm still outraged that the one agent (of the five of us girls working there) laid off was the one who was pregnant, not the most junior hire. It struck me then as wrong, and it still strikes me as wrong.

This sort of thing was totally common at that time, and too few people questioned it.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

pnwmom

(108,990 posts)

2. And the reporters covering this garbage story seem to have forgotten all about the reality back then

Reply to PoindexterOglethorpe (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 05:01 AM

Oct 2019

Or they are wet behind the ears, and ignorant of recent history.

Yes, pregnancy discrimination affected women in almost all job situations.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)

10. Reporters today seem to forget how a lot of things were.

Reply to pnwmom (Reply #2)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 11:10 PM

Oct 2019

Why do you think the Republican Party survives.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

BlueMTexpat

(15,370 posts)

3. Good OP, pnwmom!

Reply to pnwmom (Original post)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 05:31 AM

Oct 2019

Thanks for posting.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

ms liberty

(8,591 posts)

4. Yes. It is infuriating. Those of us who were alive thenml l

Reply to pnwmom (Original post)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 06:08 AM

Oct 2019

And are women, we know what it was like.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Lonestarblue

(10,038 posts)

5. The media rarely provides real context for situations like this.

Reply to pnwmom (Original post)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 06:18 AM

Oct 2019

Too many people don’t know the reality of being a working female in the 1960s and ‘70s. I still remember the discussions in my first job about why men were paid higher salaries for the same job than women because they had to support families, as if women were working just for the fun of it! Also having to watch men be promoted over deserving, and often better qualified, women. I get really tired of the failure of the media to report stories like this responsibly.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Native

(5,943 posts)

6. Heck, we couldn't even have a credit card without a male co-signer

Reply to pnwmom (Original post)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 06:32 AM

Oct 2019

until the Senate passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1974.

Bottom line - Women carrying children didn’t have complete protection and access to benefits until the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed.

Not to mention being last in line to be granted the right to vote. My MIL passed away a couple of years ago,. and when she was born women couldn't vote. In contrast with reality, people act like this was centuries ago.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

mgardener

(1,817 posts)

7. It was legal

Reply to pnwmom (Original post)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 07:12 AM

Oct 2019

For a married women to be asked if she was pregnant or if she was planning on being pregnant during a job interview.
I think up until 1979 or 80.
I know I was asked.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

pnwmom

(108,990 posts)

8. I had a boss, after giving me a promotion, tell me not to get pregnant. Which was unnerving.

Reply to mgardener (Reply #7)

Fri Oct 11, 2019, 07:27 AM

Oct 2019

As it is, I was working for someone else when I finally got pregnant, and I did leave voluntarily. But with the first boss, I would have liked to keep working, if I could have made it work out. When he said what he said I realized pregnancy wasn't an option.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden