"The 1964 Civil Rights Act is best known as a monumental achievement of the civil rights movement, but it also revolutionized the lives of American women. Title VII of the law made it illegal to discriminate "because of sex." But Congress gave little guidance about how much it wanted to change in a "Mad Men" world where women played mainly supporting roles. It was up to the Supreme Court, then, to endow that simple phrase with meaning, and its decisions...

"Women's rights have been in a state of flux since our nation's founding. Taking a broad view of the ongoing efforts to attain rights for women, this work provides unique insight into the context of the issues and reveals the range of factors that can influence a particular policy decision. What constitutes "women's rights" depends on whom you ask--or who is in political office at the time. Understandably, women's rights have changed across time as...