Issues and events of significance to women were among the stories that dominated the news in 1992, labeled ”The Year of the Woman.” From a ban on breast implants in January to the height of the Tailhook scandal in July to the November elections and December separation of Prince Charles and Diana, women took action to effect change in many arenas, including politics, the courts and the classrooms.
Among the developments:
-Harassment: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says in December that job-related discrimination complaints reached their second-highest annual total since the 1964 Civil Rights Act became law. Of the 70,339 complaints filed in fiscal 1992, nearly 30 percent concern alleged sexual harassment, a 44 percent increase from fiscal 1991. In April, representatives of women`s groups and civil rights lawyers tell a Senate labor subcommittee about lengthy delays and alleged incompetence among EEOC staffers who process the complaints, largely filed by women, and cite a backlog of nearly 46,000 cases.
In February, the Supreme Court rules that sexually harassed students may sue their schools and school officials for monetary damages. In November, 10 women accuse Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), a supporter of abortion rights and family leave, of sexual harassment. The complaints follow similar charges in March against Sen. Brock Adams (D-Wash.), who announces he won`t run for re-election, and in October against Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).
-Military: A presidential commission in November recommends that women continue to be barred from ground and air combat units but be allowed aboard some types of warships, such as aircraft carriers. Military women take part in Operation Restore Hope during December to relieve the famine in Somalia, performing duties in categories including logistics, maintenance, engineering and intelligence. The Navy announces in May an investigation into the scandal at the annual Tailhook aviators convention in September, 1991, during which at least 26 women say they were forced to walk a gantlet of drunken colleagues who fondled them.
Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett resigns in July, hours after President Bush holds a private meeting with Navy Lt. Paula Coughlin, who took her accusations public after deciding that supervisors ignored her complaints. The same month, the Navy relieves two top officers of their commands for failing to stop a lewd skit about Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.)
– Politics: Voters in November elect a record number of women to the U.S. Senate, including Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, tabbed to become the first black woman senator. Eleven women run for 35 Senate seats; five win. In the 435-member House, 106 women seek office; 47 win. Many women`s groups hail the victory of President-elect Bill Clinton, who promises to support abortion and family leave and who, in December, names a number of women to top administration positions.
– Medical research: National Institutes of Health Director Bernadine Healy argues in June against legislation requested by groups including the National Women`s Health Network to require the federal agency to establish research projects specifically studying women, saying separate programs would merely expand bureaucracy. In October, a national conference of medical professionals convenes in Chicago to propose establishing curriculum to develop women`s health as a medical specialty.
– Breast health: In January, Food and Drug Commissioner David Kessler announces a moratorium on silicone breast implants because of concern about their testing and safety. The nation`s largest implant manufacturer, Dow Corning Corp. of Midland, Mich., in February reveals its own researchers had reservations about implant leakage. In March the company says it will stop making silicone implants.
– AIDS: The Centers for Disease Control and prevention in Atlanta reports that the number of U.S. women being diagnosed with the AIDS virus is increasing faster than the number of American men with the disease.
– Economy: The Institute for Women`s Policy Research in Washington reports in June that census figures show women in 1991 earned 70 cents for every $1 earned by men. The 5,000-member National Association of Women Business Owners reports in July that women started businesses in 1991 1 1/2 times more frequently than men did and that 11.7 million people work for businesses owned by women.
– Children`s rights: Gregory K., a 12-year-old Florida boy whose case went to court in September, successfully ”divorces” his natural parents, igniting a debate over constitutional rights for minors. Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children`s Defense Fund, urges parents to realize that ”nurturing the next generation is the most important function of this society.” Past writings on children`s rights by another fund board member, future first lady Hillary Clinton, become summertime campaign fodder for Republicans who consider her views too liberal.
– Entertainment: Roseanne Arnold proves herself the first lady of television sitcoms by taking on the industry. Once more left out of the Emmy- winners category in August, Arnold exerts enough clout to persuade ABC to bring risky storylines such as lesbianism to her top-10 program and to give her husband Tom his own show in the slot following hers.
– Royalty: Britain`s Queen Elizabeth II admits that 1992 is a royal headache, as she stands strong despite seeing Windsor Castle in flames and despite agreeing to pay taxes. And in what some construe as progress (in that past monarchs have solved unhappy marriages by beheading their wives), the royal family agrees to two public separations and a remarriage: In March, Buckingham Palace announces the separation of Prince Andrew and his wife, the former Sarah Ferguson; in December, the palace announces that Prince Charles and Diana will separate; later that month, a divorced Princess Anne remarries.
