Alice S. Rossi (September 24, 1922 – November 3, 2009) was a pioneering American

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and sociologist.

Biography

Alice Emma Schaerr was born on September 24, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. Rossi's scholarship focused on the status of women at work, in the family, and their sexual life. Her writings helped to build the foundations of the feminist movement. Her early advocacy of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and reproductive rights caused her to gain a lot of national attention. One of her main academic pursuits was the study of people's lifecourse from youth to age, particularly in the case of women. One of her most influential feminist articles was “Equality Between the Sexes: An Immodest Proposal.” First presented in 1963 at a meeting of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, it was published the next year in the academy's journal ''

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...

''. In the article, Professor Rossi argued that for most women motherhood had become a full-time occupation, a state of affairs that hurt not only women but also the larger society in which they lived. For the well-being of both the women and the culture, she wrote, parity of the sexes is essential. This article's publication coincided with the publication the same year of ''

The Feminine Mystique ''The Feminine Mystique'' is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, ''The Feminine Mystique'' became a bestseller, initially selling o ...

'' by

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

, which dealt with similar issues. Familiar today, Professor Rossi's argument was considered subversive at the time. As a result, she was called a monster, an unnatural woman and an unfit mother, as she recalled in interviews afterward. Her article can be found in the anthology “Life Cycle and Achievement in America” (Harper & Row, 1969), edited by

Rose Laub Coser Rose Laub Coser (born May 4, 1916 August 21, 1994) was a German-American sociologist, educator, and social justice activist. She taught sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1968 until her retirement in 1987. She wa ...

. In 1966, Rossi, along with a group that included

, founded the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(NOW). In later work, also controversial, Professor Rossi argued that the cultural divide between men and women was not the product of

socialization In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cultur ...

alone, as the prevailing view held, but was partly rooted in inborn biological differences between the sexes. Professor Rossi held appointments at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

before finally joining the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

faculty, where she was appointed the Harriet Martineau professor of Sociology. She remained there from 1974 until her retirement in 1991, at which point she became an emerita professor. She also was the 74th president of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

Major publications

* ''Generational Differences in the Soviet Union'' (1957) * ''The Feminist Papers: From Adams to de Beauvoir'' (1973, editor) * ''Seasons of a Woman’s Life: A Self-Reflective Essay on Love and Work in Family, Profession, and Politics'' (1983) * ''Gender and the Life Course'' (1985, editor) * ''Of Human Bonding: Parent-Child Relations Across the Life Course'' (1990) * ''Sexuality Across the Life Course'' (1994, editor) * ''Caring and Doing for Others: Social Responsibility in the Domains of Family, Work and Community'' (2001, editor)

References

External links

Papers of Alice S. Rossi, 1927–2009.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Alice 1922 births 2009 deaths American feminist writers American sociologists American women's rights activists Columbia University alumni Brooklyn College alumni American women sociologists American abortion-rights activists Goucher College faculty and staff 20th-century American women 20th-century American people Mary Wollstonecraft scholars 21st-century American women National Organization for Women people