The Declining Status of Women: Popular Myths and the Failure of Functionalist Thought

Despite frequent claims of equality of status for women and men, U.S. Census data from 1940–64 suggest a gradual but persistent decline in women's occupational, economic, and educational achievements, compared to those of men. These findings suggest that women have suffered a loss in status, as measured by the variables usually used to determine social status. In the discussion of these findings the normative nature of the functional definition of sex roles is identified as a justification for discrimination against women.