Gendered Outcomes: Gender Differences in The Biographical Consequences of Activism

This article examines the gendered effects of movement participation on the subsequent lives of activists. We hypothesize that movement participation will have a differential effect on the lives of men and women both because they have different activist experiences by virtue of their gender and because the movements of the New Left questioned the gendered construction of the traditional life course. Using a national random sample, we employ logistic regression and event history models to examine the differences in employment, marriage, and childbirth patterns of men and women who participated in New Left social movements. We hypothesize that New Left activism will have affected the lives of both male and female activists, but that the effect will be stronger for women. The analyses generally confirm this hypothesis. We find significant differences in the influence of social movement participation on the economic, marital, and parenting histories of male and female activists.