Woman Between Islam and Western Society
3. Western Woman
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A CLOSER LOOK
Western women have come out of the house and
into the marketplace in full force, but a closer look
raises the question as to how much of this is
“liberation,” and, even more important, what is its
cost in human and social terms for women and for
society.
In 1990, 53.5 million women, or 58 percent of all
American women, were in the labor force — three
fourths of them working full time. From 1975 to
1990, 20 million women had been added to the
work force. Labor force participation of all women
between 16 and 65 years of age rose dramatically,
but the steepest increase was among married
women with a husband present in the home. In
1990, nearly 60 percent of all married mothers with
children under six years of age were working
outside the home. In 1980 less than 20 percent of
married mothers with toddlers under three years of
age were fulltime workers; by 1990 more than 33
percent of these mothers were in the work force.
Though women have made substantial advances in
professional,
technical
and
administrative-
