Ever since the second wave of the women`s movement hit American shores almost two decades ago, there has been a perceived undercurrent of stormy conflict between women in the paid labor market and full-time homemakers.
Feminists assert that the supposed battle lines drawn between the two types of women have been manufactured by conservatives who want to stem the tide of women entering paid employment.
They point out that the women`s movement was started in the late 1960s by full-time homemakers. More proof of their respect for full-time homemakers, they say, is a belief that ”all women are homemakers.”
When only 26 million women had jobs outside the home, the suggested distrust between the two groups was a theme that was played on frequently by organizations that believe women have only one choice of a ”place” in society: the home.
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 7 percent of all Americans fit the prototype of the once pervasive nuclear family. The Women`s Bureau of the Labor Department reports there are some 50 million women in the civilian work force–54.3 percent of all American women aged 16 and older.
And, a record 19.5 million mothers, or 6 out of 10 women with children under 18 years, were in the U.S. work force in 1984. Ten years earlier, fewer than 5 out of 10 mothers were employed outside the home.
What was once customary–staying home–is no longer. What was once radical–working outside the home–is now the norm.
A somewhat surprising indication of the far-reaching influence on our society of millions of employed women is underscored by the current philosophy and readership demographics of–believe it or not–the largest-selling women`s magazine, Family Circle.
Family Circle magazine, headquartered in New York City, is published every three weeks and is bought by some 6.7 million women each week. The readership rate of each issue is estimated to be 29 million. Last Christmas, some 8 million women bought the magazine.
What`s remarkable about Family Circle`s circulation figure is that 95 percent of its distribution is in single copy sales bought from racks in supermarkets.
And what`s also remarkable is that today more than half of the magazine`s readers–an estimated 55 percent–work in paid employment. That figure closely matches the national percentage of working women.
”Back in the 1950s, Family Circle meant homemaker,” said Gay Bryant, the magazine`s editor. ”It was billed as the magazine only a homemaker could love.”
Today, the magazine covers traditional areas of food, shelter and clothing–and it also features news about pay equity, battered wives, teenage pregnancy, rape, abortion and career advice. A recent issue even featured a
”working couple`s guide to better sex,” and a comprehensive look at AIDS. One area never covered: celebrities.
Bryant was formerly editor of ”Working Woman,” a magazine on the cutting edge of changes in women`s lives. She came to the more traditional Family Circle two years ago, but the editor sees no schism between employed women and full-time homemakers and has no editorial problem dealing with the many roles of women.
”All good magazines are service magazines,” said the editor, who has a staff of 73. ”Our specialty is service to women, figuring out what the problems are and suggesting solutions.”
Working women and full-time homemakers ”have the same concerns,” Bryant said. ”We`re looking around for ways to make what we do easier,” she added. ”We`re concerned about food, a roof over our heads, wanting to do what`s right by our families and feeling good about ourselves.”
The service approach is far more helpful and interesting, the editor says, than ”the sex lives of celebrities.”
Because more than half of her readers are in the labor force, Bryant packs scores of time-saving tips in each issue: 20-minute recipes, one-dish meals. She also offers child-care ideas.
The approach of the largest selling women`s magazine is, its editor says, ”a belief that you can make things better, and that can mean making a cheerful potholder or writing a good resume.”
”They`re both creative, and the sense of optimism and energy that go into both are the same,” she said.
And homemakers and employed women are interested in both.
”Women at Work,” hosted by Carol Kleiman, airs every Sunday at 7 a.m. on WFYR radio (103.5 FM).
