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Gender and the State: Accommodating Difference and Equality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2014

Eileen McDonagh
Eileen McDonagh*
Affiliation:
Northeastern University
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Extract

Most would concur that the American state, from its very founding and still today, builds upon liberal principles asserting the fundamental equality of all individuals. What is more, social movements have been successful in demanding that the state treat all individuals the same “in spite of” their group differences, thereby promoting the inclusion of people initially discriminated against on the basis of their group difference. This is no small task, as history tells us. For example, we have recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Movement, which exemplify the demand for equal treatment of individuals “in spite of” their race. John Lewis, an African-American civil rights activist, testifies, for example, as to how difficult this was, based on his experience fifty years ago. When he traveled during those times, he ran into racial segregation everywhere, including housing, hotels, restaurants, and public restrooms. His goal was desegregation—that is, to integrate public facilities so that all individuals would have access on equal bases with everyone else (Stolberg 2013).

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 271 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2014 

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References

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