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The Paula Gordon Show |
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The Paula Gordon Show |
| Family | |||
The entrance of women, especially mothers, into
the workplace has been the most important change in American society in
the last 30 years, according to Mary Ann Mason, a social historian, lawyer,
professor of law and social welfare and Dean of the Graduate Division
at the University of California, Berkeley. Ironically, Dr. Mason says,
almost at the moment when women entered the workplace, the number of hours
people were required to spend at the workplace revved up . So Americans,
she believes, are working against themselves in trying to balance family
and work life. |
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Conversation 1 Mary Ann Mason reports to Paula Gordon and Bill Russell that the American family unit is fundamentally healthy, but challenged by dramatic and accelerating changes. Dr. Mason provides the historical context.  7:18
secs |
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Conversation 2 The law is transforming our families, Dr. Mason, Esq. says. Step-families now affect 1 of 11 American children, she says, yet step-parents have the status of “legal stranger.” She considers how step-parenting affects a surprising variety of women and children, particularly as biology no longer entirely defines “family.” She expands, noting how central the family continues to be for all humans, then considers issues surrounding the availability of resources to children in industrialized and developing countries. 9:40
secs |
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Conversation 3 The excitement of 1960s and ‘70s feminism is quite different than the experiences of those women’s grown children, Dr. Mason says. She describes her women graduate students at UC-Berkeley and compares the family-related experiences of women and men once they move on into universities and the professions. Two things, she says, are essential if women are to successfully combine work and families in either world: a flexible work schedule and child care. She elaborates. 10:17
secs |
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Conversation 4 The 19th century transformed American families, Dr. Mason notes, then describes the vastly expanded role of schools in child rearing. The experience of 18 year olds in America and Europe are contrasted. Acknowledging the impact on families of technology and mobility, Dr. Mason outlines what America can and cannot learn from other societies. She urges a national conversation about what’s important, concerned about the growing imbalance between family and work in America. Certain that we are in a period of very strong transition, Dr. Mason contrasts the resiliency of families to worrisome realities faced by those among America’s underclass. She observes that Americans seem to have given up on poor people. 10:46
secs |
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Conversation 5 “Social welfare” affects the quality of everyone’s life and all families, says Dr. Mason. She insists that all Americans are working too hard while their quality of every day deteriorates. Families are paying the price, she says. As a lawyer, Dr. Mason witnesses serious problems surrounding custody and argues both for giving children a role in their own custody and for following developmentally sensible guidelines. She describes children’s love of stability and continuity and the importance of their siblings. She speaks of shifting affectional bonds and relationships and of the often unexpected results when adopted children find birth parents. 11:42
secs |
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Conversation 6 We have an urgent need, Dr. Mason says, to focus on what is happening to the fabric of American society as a whole and to individual children in particular as all parents are forced to work very long hours, especially parents at the bottom of the economy, where wages are falling. 3:08
secs |
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Acknowledgements We are delighted that after four years of trying, we
were finally able to sit down with Dr. Mason for this Conversation.
Her courtesy and gracious welcome were very special and we thank her
in full measure. |
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