A sex-role revolution is occurring in our society. Men as well as women are becoming aware of the negative effects of sex-role distinctions. Increasingly, we see courses on this topic in high schools, vocational schools, and colleges. More and more women are entering the labor force. Women are becoming more involved in athletics than they were in the past, and they are entering certain types of competition previously confined to males. Women are now playing basketball, football, baseball, and volleyball. There are increasing numbers of women in track and field events, swimming, boxing, wrestling, weight lifting, golf, tennis, and stock-car racing. In 1983, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman selected to be a vice presidential candidate for a major political party. Women are also pursuing a number of professions and careers that previously were nearly all male: military officers, engineers, lawyers, judges, firefighters, physicians, dentists, accountants, administrators, police officers, managers. Entering these new professions often has presented obstacles. Human interactions are also changing, with more women being assertive and seeking out egalitarian relationships with males. To some extent, men are also (more slowly) beginning to realize that sex-role stereotypes limit the opportunities open to them in terms of emotional expression, interpersonal relationships, occupations, and domestic activities.
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