Not Their Mothers' World

In 1848, when 300 people gathered in Seneca Falls, N.Y., to launch a drive for women's rights, their goals were seen as radical by the standards of the day.

Property rights for married women. Equal pay for equal work. The vote for women - a notion so controversial that the assembly itself barely agreed to support it.

Now, women have determined the outcome in a presidential election, play in their own professional sports leagues, and go to college in larger numbers than men do. And yet working women still earn only about 75 cents for every dollar men earn.

Today, the Monitor begins a five-part series exploring where women stand now.