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Perspective: Gender & Generation Gap
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"Equal Pay," ca. 1975. The women's movement of the late 1960s and the 1970s paved the way for a discussion of equal pay legislation. Although politicians, such as Pierre Trudeau and Bill Davis, sometimes impeded progress towards the objective of equal pay, the concept won increasing acceptance. As a result, newcomers who were accustomed to traditional gender relations faced pressures to accept new definitions of what appropriate gender roles and behaviour. |
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National Archives of Canada (1987-42-271, cartoon by Roy Carless). |
Second generation women in Canada encountered difficulty resolving parental expectations with their own desire to pursue occupations and professions beyond the home. Nicholas Harney's study of Italians in Toronto points to this dilemma facing female children of Italian immigrants. He cites the formation of a group called the Voce Alternativa
(Alternative Voice) forming in that city to provide support and networks for young women of Italian-Canadian heritage. The group took a role in condemning the Columbus celebrations in 1992, challenged their families' traditional values, and attempted to reconstruct still powerful stereotypes about women within their cultural group.6
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