Download - Feminist Movements
Feminist Movements Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique,
1963
Inspired white, middleclass, suburban housewives Friedans solution
to TheProblem with No Name =Education & Employment Used surveys
of womenfrom high school 40s Causes of 1960s Feminist
Movement
Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique, 1963 Civil Rights Era &
Anti-Vietnam War Protests Large population of educated women in
U.S. The Sexual Revolution The Sexual Revolution 1960s = New
emphasis oncasual dating, self- fulfillment, & open talkabout
sex in society Rise in pre-marital sex,couples living together
outof wedlock 1960 = F.D.A. approved thefirst Birth Control Pill
Religious groups issuedstatements against the Pill (NOW) National
Organization for Women
Formed by 28 women in 1966 Members were professional,politicized
women & unhappyformer housewives 1967 = 1,000 members vs
=15,000 members Betty Friedan was first president The major
organization forwomen in the 1960s feministmovement Consciousness
Raising
Recruitment tactic ofyounger feminists Transformed a
womansperception of herself andsociety Sought to make privateissues
public: rape, domesticabuse, child abuse, anti- pornography Roe v.
Wade (1973) Supreme Court upheld awomans constitutionalright to an
abortion 1972 = Over 2,500 illegalabortions performed perday
Maternal deaths fromabortions declined Pervasiveness of
Sexism
Sexism exists at all levelsof society: in family, law,economy,
religion, media Ending sexism meanschanging attitudes as wellas
laws Feminist groups debatedHOW to end oppressionof women What
About Other Feminists?
Moderate = BettyFriedan, fans of TheFeminine Mystique,NOW members
Working-class, lesbian,and women of colorleft out of 1960sfeminist
movement Believed racism & sexism needed to be eradicated
together
1970s = Black Feminist movement began withwomen who were left out
of both the Civil RightsMovement and Black Panthers Believed racism
& sexism needed to be eradicatedtogether Combahee River
Collective (ERA) Equal Rights Amendment
1st Proposed in 1923 bysuffragist Alice Paul &the National
WomensParty ConstitutionalAmendment wouldhave guaranteed
equalrights for women andmen Passed by Congress in 1972 Expired in
1982 with only 35 outof 38 states required to approve Opponents
feared it wouldeliminate womens protectionlaws (that were based
uponwomens inequality) Title 9 A step to bring equity to womens
sports on July 1, 1972
Intense forms ofphysical and psychicconflicttend to destroygirls
physical andpsychic charm andadaptability formotherhood --Olympics
for Girls? 1929 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Althea Gibson Billie Jean King