The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace

Social and business history meet in Povich’s personal account of the discrimination complaint filed against Newsweek by 46 of its female employees in 1970. One of that group’s organizers, Povich, who went on to become the first woman senior editor in Newsweek’s history, and describes the freewheeling office culture of 1960s-era Newsweek. She relates her efforts to judge who might be friendly to their cause, organize the female employees secretly, and find legal representation to help win concessions from the magazine’s editors and management. The eventual lawsuit cited sexual harassment and lack of advancement opportunities for female employees (many of whom had the same education and qualifications as their male counterparts), and its success paved the way for other women (particularly in the media) to “revolt.” ­