One of
The New York Times
's 10 Books to Read for Women's History Month
Gillian Thomas's
Because of Sex
tells the story of how one law, our highest court, and a few tenacious women changed the American workplace forever. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act revolutionized the lives of America's working women, making it illegal to discriminate "because of sex." But that simple phrase didn't mean much until ordinary women began using the law to get justice on the job--and some took their fights all the way to the Supreme Court. These unsung heroines' victories, and those of the other women profiled in
, dismantled a Mad Men world where women could only hope to play supporting roles, where sexual harassment was "just the way things are," and where pregnancy meant getting a pink slip.