WOMEN F
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FOR
EQUALITY
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KEY TERMS
FeminismBetty FriedanNational Organization for Women
(NOW)Gloria SteinemEqual Rights AmendmentPhyllis Schlafly
KEY DATES
1963- Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique
1964- Civil Rights Act
1966- National Organization for Women (NOW) formed
1971- Gloria Steinem founds National Women’s Political Caucus
1972- Higher Education Act- Title IX
1972- Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
1973- Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion
1982- ERA officially fails to be ratified
WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE
1950- only 33% women had ever worked for wages
1960- 40% of women worked outside the homeMade up 1/3 of nations workforce
Many jobs were considered “Men’s Work” and women were barred from those careers
Mainly worked as teachers, nurses, secretaries, retail sales, and social work
What do these jobs have in common?
SOCIAL ACTIVISM
Feminism Define:
The belief that women should have economic, political, and social equality with men
Underlying belief behind women’s movement
Inspired by Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements
Faced sexism and discrimination in those movements
A MOVEMENT EMERGES
1963- Betty Friedan Author of The Feminine
Mystique Argued against the view that
women are meant for house work and child bearing Reaction to 1950s
stereotypical Housewife and social conformity
Advocated for opportunity for Women in Careers outside the home
SUCCESSES AND FAILURES
1966- National Organization for Women (NOW) is formed
“…To confront with concrete action the conditions which now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity…which is their right as individual Americans and Human Beings.” NOW Statement of Purpose
New York Radical Women protested the Miss America Pageant
Gloria Steinem helped found the Women’s Political Caucus to help women get elected to government positions
1972 she founded Ms. Magazine
1972-Higher Education Act Title IX- helped gain more opportunity for women to go to college
1973- Roe v. Wade Made abortions legal in the United States Debate still ongoing today
EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
1972- Congress Passes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Needed 38 of 50 states to ratify the constitution “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex”
Opposition from conservatives groups stalled the ERA’s ratification
Phyllis Schlafly – Opponent of ERA Believed ERA was the work of radical Feminists who, “…hate
men, hate marriage, and hate children.”
“Feminism is doomed to failure because it is based on an attempt to repeal and restructure human nature”
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification
Reflection Question:Why do you believe people would oppose this amendment?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How did the values and conformity of the 1950s affect the women’s movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Think about both the supporters and opponents of the women’s movement?
How do you think most minority women reacted to the women’s movement?