the verdict was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Ap-
peals for the Eighth Circuit. The Supreme Court re-
fused to hear the case, ending the legal struggle in
Metromedia’s favor.
While the concept of sexual harassment became
more visible in the 1980’s, such cases were usually
dismissed or determined in the defendant’s favor in
the United States. In 1986, Mechelle Vinson filed
suit against her employer, the Meritor Savings Bank,
on the grounds of sexual harassment, arguing that
her employer had subjected her to fondling, expo-
sure, and rape. The district court ruled that her at-
tractive appearance could be held against her and
that testimony regarding whether or not her cloth-
ing could be considered provocative could deter-
mine whether or not she had encouraged the rape
on her employer’s part.
Across the border in Canada, some legal victories
occurred. In 1987, systemic discrimination in the
hiring of women was found to be illegal in the case
C.N.R. v. Canada, and in 1989 the Canadian Su-
preme Court ruled that sexual harassment was a
form of discrimination inJanzen v. Platy Enterprises.
In academia, the case of Nancy Shaw led to in-
creased awareness of women’s studies. Shaw, a les-
bian and women’s studies professor at the University
of California, Santa Cruz, brought suit against the
university when she was denied tenure in 1982 on
the basis that her work on women’s health in prison
was not sufficiently scholarly. Shaw’s legal battle ran
for five years; in 1987, she was granted tenure and al-
lowed to return to teaching.
Impact Events of the 1980’s would shape women’s
political experience throughout the following de-
cades and force politicians to consider their posi-
tions on women’s rights and to make a conscious
effort to include or exclude those issues from their
campaigns. Workplace legislation passed in the
1980’s would shape the experience of both Cana-
dian and American women in the labor force and
eventually open up new professions while removing
some barriers and implementing others.
Further Reading
Brownmiller, Susan.In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolu-
tion. Boston: Dial Press, 1999. Provides an in-
sider’s view of the Meese Commission’s investiga-
tion of pornography and the feminists on either
side of the pornography debate.
Craft, Christine.Too Old, Too Ugly, Not Deferential to
Men.Rocklin, Calif.: Prima, 1986. Craft’s book de-
tails her legal struggles with Metromedia and me-
dia coverage of the case, which included accusa-
tions that she was lesbian as well as charges that
she had been fired because she “wasn’t worth the
money.”
Critchlow, Donald T.Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots
Conservatism: A Woman’s Crusade. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 2005. Describes Schla-
fly’s political career, including her battle against
the ERA and her far-right stance on reproductive
issues and feminism.
Faludi, Susan.Backlash: The Undeclared War Against
America’s Women. New York: Crown, 1991. De-
scribes the conservative backlash evoked by legal
victories for women in the 1980’s and points to
media representations of women showcasing this
reaction.
Kauffman, Linda S.American Feminist Thought at Cen-
tur y’s End: A Reader. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell,- This anthology contains a diverse selection
of essays showcasing some of the major strands of
feminist thought in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
MacKinnon, Catharine A.Feminism Unmodified: Dis-
courses on Life and Law. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1988. Collection of insightful lec-
tures given by feminist legal scholar MacKinnon
that discusses the legal and social subjugation of
women.
Wolf, Naomi.The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty
Are Used Against Women. New York: William Mor-
row, 1991. Describes media backlash against gains
in women’s rights and how it shapes women’s
work experience.
Cat Rambo
See also Abortion; Affirmative action; Bork, Rob-
ert H.; Conservatism in U.S. politics; Craft, Chris-
tine; Domestic violence; Dworkin, Andrea; École
Polytechnique massacre; Environmental movement;
Feminism; Ferraro, Geraldine; Gender gap in vot-
ing; Liberalism in U.S. politics; Marriage and di-
vorce;Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson; Pornography;
Reagan, Ronald; Sexual harassment; Supreme Court
decisions;Webster v. Reproductive Health Services;
Women in the workforce.1062 Women’s rights The Eighties in America