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Defenders of special protective labor legislation for women often maintain that eliminating such laws would de-stroy the fruits of a century-long struggle for the protection of women workers. Even a brief examination of the his-toric practice of courts and employers would show that the fruit of such laws has been bitter; they are, in practice,more of a curse than a blessing.
Sex-defined protective laws have often been based on stereotypical assumptions concerning women' s needs andabilities, and employers have frequently used them as legal excuses for discriminating against women. After the Sec-ond World War, for example, businesses and government sought to persuade women to vacate jobs in factories, thusmaking room in the labor force for returning veterans. The revival or passage of state laws limiting the daily orweekly work hours of women conveuiently accomplished this. Employers had only to declare that overtime hourswere a necessary condition of employment or promotion in their factory, and women could be quite legally fired,refused jobs, or kept at low wage levels, all in the name of "protecting" their health. By validating such laws whenthey are challenged by lawsuits, the courts have colluded over the years in establishing different, less advantageousemployment terms for women than for men, thus reducing women"s competitiveness on the job market. At the sametime, even the most well-intentioned lawmakers, courts, and employers have often been blind to the real needs ofwomen. The lawmakers and the courts continue to permit employers to offer employee health insurance plans thatcover all known human medical disabilities except those relating to pregnancy and Childbirth.
Finally, labor laws protecting only special groups are often ineffective at protecting the workers who are actuallyin the workplace. Some chemicals, for example, pose reproductive risks for women of childbearing years; manufac-turers using the chemicals comply with laws protecting women against these hazards by refusing to hire them. Thus the sex-defined legislation protects the hypothetical female worker, but has no effect whatever on the safety of anyactual employee. The health risks to male employees in such industries cannot be negligible, since chemicals toxic e-nough to cause birth defects in fetuses or sterility in women are presumably harmful to the human metabolism. Pro-tectiv~ laws aimed at changing production materials or techniques in order to reduce such hazards would benefit allemployees without discriminating against any.
In sum, protective labor laws for women are discriminatory.and do not meet their intended purpose. Legislatorsshould recognize that women are in the work force to stay, and that their needs--good health care, a decent wage,and a safe workplace--are the needs of all workers. Laws that ignore these facts violate women's rights for equalprotection in employment.
56. According to the author, which of the following resulted from the passage or revival of state laws limiting
the work hours of women workers?
[A] Women workers were compelled to leave their jobs in factories.
[B] Many employers had difficulty in providing jobs for returning veterans.
[C] Many employers found it hard to attract women workers.
[D] The health of most women factory workers improved.
57. According to the first paragraph of the passage, the author considers which of the following to be most help-ful in determining the value of special .protective labor legislation for women?
[A] A comparative study of patterns of work-related illnesses in states that had such laws and in states that did not.
[B] An estimate of how many women workers are in favor of such laws.
[C] An analysis of the cost to employers of complying with such laws.
[D] An examination of the actual effects that such laws have had in the past on women workers.
58. The main point of the passage is that special protective labor laws for women workers are__________
[A] unnecessary because most workers are well protected by existing labor laws
[B] harmful to the economic interests of women workers while offering them little or no actual protection
[C] not worth preserving even though they do represent a hardwon legacy of the labor movement
[D] controversial because male workers receive less protection than they require
59. The author implies that which of the following is characteristic of many employee health insurance plans?
[A] They cover all the common medical conditions affecting men, but only some of those affecting women.
[B] They lack the special provisions for women workers that proposed special labor laws for women would provide.
[C] They pay the medical costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth only for the spouses of male em-ployees, not for female employees.
[D] They meet minimum legal requirements, but do not adeqately safeguard the health of either male or female employees.
60. According to the passage, special labor laws protecting women workers tend generally to have which of the following effects?
[A] They tend to modify the stereotypes employees often hold concerning women.
[B] They increase the advantage to employers of hiring men instead of women, making it less likely that women will be hired.
[C] They decrease the likelihood that employers will offer more protection to women workers than that which is absolutely required by law.
[D] They increase the tendency of employers to deny health insurance and disability plans to women workers.
