Part of what is involved in participating in cultural change is violating what you were raised to believe was sacrosanct,” she said. “It is getting yourself to accept a different set of values and relinquish old ones.

Perhaps most important for women’s advancement, there still is no private or public support for working families, who rely primarily on mothers to care for the children.

For every man there was an inferior woman, for every writer there was a checker,” said Nora Ephron.

The women who fought those fights were not the ones who got the rewards. People like me, who came right behind them, got the good jobs and promotions. I know many of the heroines of those battles and they aren’t bitter. They’re still very ticked off at their former employers, but they’re very happy and proud of the women who came after and got the opportunities that rightfully should have been theirs. To me that’s the definition of a great heart.

The workplace is designed around the male life cycle and there is no allowance for children and family. There’s a fragile new cultural ideal – that both the husband and wife work.

Recognizing that sexism still exists, they said, “is one of the challenges of the new generation.

Newsweek never hired women as writers and only one or two female staffers were promoted to that rank no matter how talented they were...Any aspiring journalist who was interviewed for a job was told, "If you want to be a writer, go somewhere else--women don't write at Newsweek.

For every man there was an inferior woman, for every writer there was a checker," said Nora Ephron. "they were the artists and we were the drones.

I don’t think these men know that it’s illegal,”she said. “They’re very liberal and they have daughters and I think we should talk to them.”The gruff-voiced woman barked back, “Don’t be a naive little girl. People who have power don’t like to give up that power.

I quickly realized that I enjoyed editing more than writing. I felt more suited to it and it fit my nurturing personality. I had lots of ideas and a strong sense of structure, and I enjoyed working with talented writers, relishing the give-and-take in making their work better.