Human Rights Activists and the Question of Sex Discrimination in Postwar Ontario.

ONTARIO; CANADA

This article examines the varied understandings of human rights in Ontario in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. The article compares the social origins and implementation of Ontario's Fair Employment Practices Act - which combatted racist and religious discrimination - with Ontario's Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act - which mandated equal pay for women who did the same work as men. Although a few feminists called for the Fair Employment Practices Act to prohibit sex discrimination as well, their pleas fell mainly on deaf ears in this period. Men and women who fought against racist injustice were frequently unaware of gender injustice, for they, like so many others, subscribed to the deeply embedded ideology of the family wage. Conversely, some of the most outspoken advocates of women's rights were unconscious of - or chose to ignore - racism. At the same time, some of the most committed advocates of equal pay for equal work actually reinforced certain conventional assumptions about men's gender privilege at work and at home. Moreover, while the enforcement of both acts was constrained by the conciliatory framework embedded within them, the government officials who were charged with applying both acts interpreted the equal pay act quite narrowly and were significantly more diligent in tackling racist and religious employment discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cet article se penche sur les différentes conceptions des droits de la personne en Ontario au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il compare les origines sociales et la mise en œuvre de la Fair Employment Practices Act ( loi sur l’équité en matière d’emploi) de l’Ontario – qui combattait la discrimination fondée sur la race ou la religion – et celles de la Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act (loi sur la rémunération équitable des femmes au travail) de l’Ontario – qui exigeait le versement d’un salaire égal aux femmes faisant le même travail que les hommes. Quelques féministes réclamèrent que la Fair Employment Practices Act interdise aussi la discrimination fondée sur le sexe, mais leurs appels ne furent guère entendus à l’époque. Les hommes et les femmes qui se sont battus contre l’injustice raciste n’étaient souvent pas conscients de l’injustice liée au genre, car, comme tant d’autres personnes, ils adhéraient à l’idéologie profondément ancrée du salaire familial. À l’inverse, certains des plus ardents défenseurs des droits des femmes n’étaient pas conscients du racisme, ou choisissaient de l’ignorer. Simultanément, les actions de quelques-uns des plus chauds partisans de l’égalité salariale pour un travail égal renforcèrent certaines idées convenues au sujet des privilèges masculins au travail et au foyer. De plus, si l’application des deux lois s’est vue atténuer par le cadre de conciliation qu’elles prévoyaient, les fonctionnaires chargés de les appliquer interprétèrent la loi sur l’égalité salariale de façon très étroite, mais se firent beaucoup plus assidus dans leur lutte à la discrimination raciste ou religieuse au travail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Historical Review is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)