Women's Equity Action League
The Women's Equity Action League, or WEAL, was a United States women's rights organization founded in 1968,[1] during the feminist movement. The Women's Equity Action League was founded in Ohio and headquartered in Washington, D.C., as a "spin-off" of the National Organization for Women (NOW) by more conservative women[2] wishing to avoid issues such as abortion, sexuality,[3] and the Equal Rights Amendment, although it also worked with NOW in support of the ERA.[3] WEAL focused instead on equal opportunities for women in education, economics, and employment.[4] WEAL established a tax-exempt fund which supported lawsuits and monitored implementation and enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, dealing with academic discrimination and economic equity. It also sought to remove gender as a factor in insurance ratings and lobbied for passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. WEAL published WEAL Washington Report, Better Late than Never: Financial Aid for Older Women, and newsletters on issues of concern to women, including executive and legislative actions and court decisions. According to the Schlesinger Library, which holds the organization's records, "WEAL dissolved in 1989."[5]
The following is a listing of WEAL's stated purposes as described in their records:
-Promotion of greater economic progress on part of American women;
-To press for full enforcement of existing anti-discriminatory laws on behalf of women;
-To seek correction of de facto discrimination against women against women; to gather and disseminate information and educational information and educational material;
-To investigate instances of, and seek solutions to, economic, educational, tax, and employment problems affecting women;
-To urge that girls be prepared to enter more advanced career fields;
-To seek reappraisal of federal, state, and local laws and practices limiting women's employment opportunities;
-To combat by all lawful means, job discriminations in the pay, promotional or advancement policies of governmental or private employers;
-To seek cooperation and coordination of all American women, individually or as organizations to attain these objectives, whether through legislation, litigation or other means, and by doing any and all things necessary or incident thereto.[6]
References
- ↑ Castro, Ginette, trans. Elizabeth Loverde-Bagwell, American Feminism: A Contemporary History (N.Y.: N.Y. Univ. Press, 1990 (ISBN 0-8147-1448-X)), p. 264 (trans. from Radioscopie du féminisme américain (Paris, France: Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, 1984) (French)) (author prof. Eng. lang. & culture, Univ. of Bordeaux III, France).
- ↑ Castro, Ginette, trans. Elizabeth Loverde-Bagwell, American Feminism, op. cit., pp. 62 & 176.
- 1 2 Castro, Ginette, trans. Elizabeth Loverde-Bagwell, American Feminism, op. cit., p. 62.
- ↑ Castro, Ginette, trans. Elizabeth Loverde-Bagwell, American Feminism, op. cit., pp. 62 and see pp. 216–218.
- ↑ Women's Equity Action League. Records, 1966-1979: A Finding Aid
- ↑ "Women's Equity Action League. Records, 1966-1979: A Finding Aid". oasis.lib.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
External links
- Records, 1967-1990. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
- Women's Equity Action League of Massachusetts. Records, 1971-1992. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
- Women's Equity Action League Records http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/ark:/99166/w6517mmw]
- Women's Equity Action League, Iowa Division Records, 1972-1977 http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/findingaids/html/WomensEquityActionLeague.htm]