The inner predisposition for equality

The framework for equality used in this study includes elements

of each of the approaches described above. It views the movement

toward equality between the sexes basically in terms of changing the social mechanisms that channel men and women into separate streams of

opportunities and rewards [Wishart, 1975:367; Broom and Jones, 1976],

that is, the abolition of gender as a criterion for gaining entry into

valued social positions. It also involves modification of social

priorities to ensure that activities in the private sphere receive recognition and rewards more in line with those accorded activities in the economic and political spheres, and it accepts the idea of

institutional change so as to render the world of jobs and politics more accommodation to human needs.

in the others: namely, an inner predisposition in both sexes toward reciprocity in male-female relations. Recognition of the importance of this element to the movement toward equality between the sexes underlies the focus of the research interests in this study. It is suggested by Marshall’s definition of citizenship as "a way of life growing within a man (sic) not presented to him from without” [1965: 96]. For Marshall, equality was inseparable from citizenship — it meant the equal access of all members of society to a system of rights associated with the idea of citizenship. Though Marshall's model of equality is concerned more with class as a source of inequality

between men than with gender as a source of inequality between men and women, his approach is particularly congenial with the one taken here because it views citizenship as a complex status consisting of

psychological and structural elements that reinforce one another in determining the richness and extent of participation in the life of the community. Marshall defines the structural element as consisting of three categories of rights that are legally enforceable: civil

rights, which relate to freedom of speech, thought, and faith, and the

right to own property, enter contracts, and receive justice;

political rights, which consist of the right to exercise power as a

participating member, or as an elector of governing bodies invested with political authority; and social rights, which involve everything

from economic welfare and security to a very broad right that Marshall describes as "the right to share to the full in the social heritage and to live the life of a civilized being according to the standards prevailing in the society" [1965:78].

For the purposes of this study, a most important feature of Marshall's approach is his idea that while civil, political, and social rights may legally extend to all members of the society, there is no guarantee that they will be equally possessed by them. Some­ thing more than legal access is required for citizens to enjoy the full implications of citizenship. Individuals must be equally aware of the rights to which they are entitled and equally motivated to Want

to possess them. As Dahrendorf [1968:195] has remarked, "In a society of equal citizens it remains up to the individual to achieve liberty in the fullest sense. His (sic) success is made possible but is not guaranteed by equality of citizenship".

This adds another dimension to the movement toward equality between the sexes. So far as women’s position is concerned, it

implies that the capacity to take full advantage of the opportunities becoming available in a formal legal sense depends not only on

removing those external barriers to participation that may still exist, but also on creating an inner predisposition to want to extend one­ self in the directions that those opportunities offer. Basically, this involves changing the attitudes of society toward men's and women's roles, and simultaneously changing the images that men and women have about their own and each other's roles.

While the significance for women's position of lifting the inner constraints against equality has been implicitly recognized for some time, it is now coming to be acknowledged explicitly as one of the most important directions of social change. In a paper International

Women's Year Priorities and Considerations3 1974, the committee

appointed to organize Australian participation in International Women's Year stated that "the inequality of women's position in society is deeply embedded not just in the institutions but also in the psychology of society". The Committee gave first priority to programs aimed to foster changes in social attitudes on the grounds that

while legislative and institutional reforms are essential, they will not be sufficient or permanent without a significant

alternation in the attitudes of society to women, and of women to themselves [Australian National Advisory Committee, 1976:7].

The sentence completion material in Part III strongly suggests that the attitudes of society to men and women and of men and women to themselves are equally important constraints against a more equal sharing of roles between the sexes.