Posted by Reality Guy on June 30, 2003 at 14:43:05:
I do not agree that, as a rule, social change precedes legislative change. As one Russian Czar noted (Peter the Great maybe), many people have to be dragged "kicking and screaming" into new ways. For example, the south had made virtually NO strides toward integration before Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and then the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
In many fields of work, the only way that "attitudes changed" toward fathers was that the government made it a crime not to give parental leave. Attitudes many places still have not changed. I took 5 weeks of leave in 1994. Many wanted to fire me, but they could not.
Five months later, when I was up for promotion, I did not get promoted due to a "lack of dedication and intensity."
I moved on, got another, better job for 8 years, now I work for myself. Looking back, for the others who went after me, I probably should have sued. Winning or losing money is the only way certain attitudes change.
Legislation (and lawsuits) are often the only way to force social change. For example, the Texas legislature would never have repealed its sodomy law. It took years of litigation to get it done.
Good lord, weeks of inactivity have left me soft and weak!! I will recover.
RG