Summary Of Sisterhood Is Powerful
In America’s rebellious teenage years, also known as the 1960’s, a new era of personal expression and freedom was shaped as a spiteful reaction to the Vietnam War. In the midst of the cultural phenomenon that was the emerging counterculture of the 1960’s, a minority group was emerging for a second time. In fact, its label of a minority was arguable. Although females contributed to about half of America’s population, they struggled with their small voices and inability to be heard. After the major milestone marking the passage of the women’s suffrage amendment during first wave feminism in the 1920’s, women lived through forty years of weakened determination. Finally in December of 1961, the President’s Commission on the Status of Women
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was founded. In 1963, John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt as chair of the commission investigated questions regarding women’s equality in education, workplace, and under the law. The results proved the evidence of inequality seen by every female of that time. Rallied by the formation of the commission, the women came together to resolve the equality gaps between men and women. While first-wave feminism worked towards major goals such as suffrage and overturning legal obstacles to legal gender equality, second-wave feminists introduced new, broadened ideas including publishing of ideas, organization formations, equality within the law, formations of rallies, abortion and sexuality rights, and the expansion of feminist pop culture. With the new technology available in the sixties, feminists were able to spread these ideas and gain numbers and influence quickly. Soon, the women’s civil rights movement was an army of poets, artists, authors, speakers, and petitioners, all working to organize the most powerful and successful feminist movement in history. Ultimately, the counterculture’s most powerful subdivision was the young, bra-burning, rioting women of the 1960’s who created a wave stronger than any America had seen before – their impact forever changing the way females participated in society and trailblazing the way for feminists of the future.
Betty Friedan 's The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963, and immediately became a best seller, and laid the groundwork for the new movement. Many believe that the book was the initial catalyst of the second-wave. In 1957, Freidan conducted a survey in preparation from her 15th reunion at Smith College. The results showed how unhappy women were as housewives. Freidan followed up with more interviews, finding that many other suburban housewives were just as unhappy. When no magazines were willing to publish her results, she began drafting The Feminine Mystique. She referred to the mistreatment of women as the “problem that has no name”, bringing light to the issue that not many had recognized before. She determined that post-WWII society had stay at home moms and married women in a place that they were more than discontent with. In the book, Freidan talks extensively about psychology and the minds of American women. Having a degree in psychology, Friedan criticized Sigmund Freud. Freud’s had been very influential during that time. She notes that Freud saw women as childlike and as destined to be housewives. She also discusses overlooked issues such as the change in women 's education from the 1940s to the early 1960s, in which many women 's schools concentrated on non-challenging classes that focused mostly on marriage, family, and other subjects deemed suitable for women. Educators influenced by functionalism felt that too much education would spoil women 's femininity and capacity for sexual fulfillment. Friedan says that this change in education set back girls’ emotional development at a young age, because they never had to face the painful identity crisis and subsequent maturation that comes from dealing with many adult challenges. In the final chapter, Freidan tells many stories of women that challenged the feminine mystique, and how they overcame it. This gave the common American housewife the confidence to make her own stand, thus serving as the catalyst of the second-wave feminist movement.
In order to work their ways to the top, women had to first go through government. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 entered Congress, feminists came together and lobbied, petitioning for the addition of an amendment prohibiting sex discrimination in employment. Eventually, the Act was passed in the form of Title VII, which prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. However, Title VII was still a shallow protection for women in the workforce. In response to the act’s weak enforcement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, was formed. The commission worked to back up the sex discrimination aspects of the act. However, the commission was outnumbered when combating the issue of legal sex segregation in job advertising. Betty Friedan, having gained power after the publication of her influential feminist book, recognized the issue and immediately contacted Dr. Pauli Murray, a law professor at Yale and a member of the President 's Commission on the Status of Women. Together, they restarted the American feminist movement and pressed for a passing of a resolution demanding that the EEOC follow through with its legal mandate to end sex discrimination in employment. Frustrated with the unsuccessful conferences she was attending, Friedan took action into her own hands. At a convention, she wrote the acronym “NOW” on her napkin and passed it around between a number of women attending the same conference. They met in her hotel room and formed what would become the first major civil rights organization for women. Friedan became its first president and immediately started the effort to be heard and included in other civil rights movements. In a report on a conference in 1966, Friedan stated:
"We wasted no time on ceremonials or speeches, gave ourselves barely an hour for lunch and dinner...At times we got very tired and impatient, but there was always a sense that what we were deciding was not just for now 'but for a century... ' We shared a moving moment of realization that we had now indeed entered history."
Although the EEOC did not rule that employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status is prohibited under Title VII until 2012, NOW did achieve Title VII amendments regarding sexual harassment in the workplace in the 1970’s. The group is now one of the largest women 's groups in the U.S. and pursues its goals through extensive legislative lobbying, court cases, and public demonstrations.
The women of the 1960’s and 70’s also worked toward achieving equality through law. The feminism activists of this time often found themselves fighting equality battles in front of the Supreme Court. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first of many government changes and Supreme Court cases produced by the beginning of the new feminist movement. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut struck down the only remaining state law banning the use of contraceptives by married couples. Estelle Griswold, the executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, along with Dr. C. Lee Buxton, doctor and professor at Yale Medical School, were arrested and found guilty after being convicted of illegal contraception distribution. They were fined $100 each. Griswold and Buxton appealed to the Supreme in Connecticut, arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled that the law violated the right to marital privacy and could not be enforced against married people. This was a major step for the sexual freedom of women. The case Weeks v. Southern Bell marked a major accomplishment in the battle against restrictive labor laws as well as company regulations on the hours and conditions of female workplaces. Lorena Weeks, an employee at Southern Bell telegraph and telephone company, claimed that she was denied of her rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after not being promoted to a higher paying position because of her gender. It also resulted in the opening of many previously male-only jobs for women employees and was an important case that marked the first victory in which NOW used the Civil Rights Act to fight gender-based discrimination. It helped to open the way for women to earn a good living without depending on a husband for support. Later, in 1970, Senator Eugene McCarthy introduced the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Senate. NOW pushed for the ratification of the ERA throughout 1970, and the House approved it that year whole the Senate followed two years later. In the same year, Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled jobs held by men and women must be "substantially equal" but not "identical". This caused it to be protected under the Equal Pay Act, therefore making it illegal for employers to change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men. In 1971, for the first time since the Fourteenth Amendment went into effect in 1868, the Court struck down a state law saying that it discriminated against women in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of that amendment. The law required that when the father and mother of a deceased child both sought appointment as administrator of the estate, the man had to be preferred over the woman. This Supreme Court Case was known as Reed v Reed, a separated male and women fighting over the estate of their deceased son. The case led the movement one step closer to balancing out the legal treatment of men and women. One of the last significant Supreme Court cases regarding feminist issues was the Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations of 1973, which corrected newspapers that advertised jobs with the preference of male applicants. The court barred newspapers from mentioning the desired sex in employment advertisements. Also around the same time in 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a major sign that the feminist movement was not only spreading internationally, but touching down in government positions as well.
The feminists did not only show their passion and drive behind the scenes. Second-wave feminism is also known for the conventions and petitions that took place in the 60’s and 70’s. By the end of the 1960’s, feminism was becoming more popular in Chicago, Illinois. In the first known national gathering of women 's liberation, a diversity of female activists gathered held in Lake Villa in Chicago. There, the activists shared stories and ideas, as well as making pamphlets to distribute to other feminists. Around the same time in 1968, New York feminists buried a dummy of "Traditional Womanhood" while attending the all-women 's Jeanette Rankin Brigade demonstration. The demonstration was protesting against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C. The burial of the dummy was one of the first “hands-on” demonstrations. The protesting women dressed the dummy in womanly clothes, made up its face and put curlers in its fake blonde wig. They also hung things like curlers, garters, hairspray, and large banners with phrases written on them like: “Don’t Cry, Resist”. Later feminists would use this technique, some taking it even farther by having feminine consumer goods such as bras and makeup bonfires. Also for the first time, feminists used the slogan "Sisterhood is Powerful”. This brought the women together and encouraged them to spread their ideas unique to each individual or feminist group. Meanwhile at Ford in Dagenham in Britain, 850 sewing machinists went on strike for equal pay and against sex discrimination. This ultimately led to the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the first legislation in the United Kingdom aimed at ending pay discrimination between men and women. This not only showed that the movement in America was leaking internationally, but gave the American feminists hope and determination that their voices would soon be heard. Later that year, the 50th anniversary of woman suffrage in the U.S., tens of thousands of women across the nation participated in the Women 's Strike for Equality, organized by Betty Friedan, to demand equal rights. Five years later in 1975, NOW sponsored "Alice Doesn 't" Day. The day asked women across the country to go on strike for one day. The phrase came from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, in which the main character Alice tries to break away from her limited life as a housewife to pursue a singing career. The film expressed the idea of female independence and agency, exactly what the participants of the one-day strike were trying to achieve.
NOW members as well as other feminists soon began to work towards sexuality and abortion rights. This was prompted by the FDA approval of the birth control pill in 1960. Another first for the quickly advancing movement was the public speakout against abortion laws held in New York City. During this time, the American radical organization called the Redstockings was formed. The group of radical feminists played a huge role in the abortion legalization movement. Members of Redstockings disrupted a hearing on abortion laws of the New York Legislature when the panel of witnesses was a biased group of 14 men and a nun. The group demanded repeal, not reform, of laws restricting abortion. The group also introduced the terms "Sisterhood is Powerful", and "The Personal is Political". With the movement gaining momentum, the NARAL Pro-Choice America, or The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, was founded. NARAL is a pro-choice organization that still exists and is very influential today; yet another example of important, present-day organizations that came out of the second movement. With pro-choice opinion gaining strength in the minds of American women, many females became more comfortable with their sexuality. Once oppressed completely, the country was seeing more and more gay women speaking out. This was an idea that even Betty Friedan herself was uneasy with. For a long time, lesbianism was easy to conceal. Homes were draftier, making it common for females that shared households to share beds as well. Also, with men at war, a large number of unmarried women lived together. This was a popular choice that did not usually raise questions. However, the many voices of the female liberation movement made sexual relationships between two women less uncommon . Women around the country were relived by the spreading pro-lesbian ideas of the movement, some even sighing a breath of relief and saying, “I thought I was the only one!” Eventually, as they gained numbers, important liberation figures including Freidan decided to support the gay women and assist them in the fight for their rights.
A major cultural change influenced by the movement was the sudden influx of feminist pop culture.
Feminists’ ideas were now developed and shared through novels, magazines, music, and art. American feminist Kate Millett published her book Sexual Politics. It is a classic feminist text, said to be "the first book of academic feminist literary criticism" and "one of the first feminist books of this decade to raise nationwide male ire.” Sexual Politics was an important milestone for the feminist movement during the 1970s. It was also extremely controversial because it criticized the work of some very sexist male writers. Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women 's Liberation Movement is also edited and published by the American feminist Robin Morgan. The book was soon a best seller, mostly because of the relatable essays, and historical documents related to the Women’s Liberation movement. It also provided contact information for feminist organizations. The book discussed the need for radical feminism, the discrimination women experienced from men in the political left, and the blatant sexism faced in the workplace. American feminist Susan Brownmiller also published the landmark book Against Our Will, which talked about rape. The book helped modernize attitudes towards the rape and placed it in the broader context of pervasive gender oppression. In 1995, the New York Public Library selected Against Her Will as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century. She later became one of TIME 's "Women of the Year" in
1975. Apart from novels, feminist magazines were falling into the hands of liberation members across the country. Gloria Steinem, an acclaimed trailblazer for women’s rights, worked as a journalist and activist in the 1960s-70s and soon became a main figurehead of the movement. Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine, a publication dedicated to women’s rights concerns. Time declared: "Feminism has transcended the feminist movement. In 1975 the women 's drive penetrated every layer of society, matured beyond ideology to a new status of general — and sometimes unconscious — acceptance. The Time Person of the Year award goes to American Women, celebrating the successes of the feminist movement.” In the same year of 1975, the song "I Am Woman" was published. It was a popular song performed by Australian singer Helen Reddy, which became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement. Feminist art was also emerging; the feminist art piece The Dinner Party, by American feminist artist Judy Chicago, was first put on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1979.(See Appendix)
After a hard and effective run, the early 1980’s marked the end of the second-wave feminist movement and the beginning of the feminist sex wars, which falls under the third wave. Many historians believe the second-wave feminist era ended in the early 1980’s with the intra-feminism disputes of the Feminist Sex Wars. This covered issues such as sexuality and pornography, which led into the era of third-wave feminism in the early 1990’s. Although all three waves of American Feminism had major accomplishments and lasting impact, the second wave of the 1960’s and 70’s was the most powerful and controversial movement in feminist history. All starting with Betty Freidan’s novel, The Feminine Mystique, the movement was the first to create long lasting organization, find equality within the law and government, hold effective rallies and petitions, achieve abortion and sexuality rights, and finally expand feminist pop culture. Overall, the second wave of American feminism was a hard fought battle by the women of the United States, and should never be underappreciated by the fully functioning female members of society today. Bibliography
Collins, Gail. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company, 2009.
Firestone, Shulamith. "The Jeanette Rankin Brigade: Women Power?" CWLU Herstory Website. Accessed May 5, 2013. http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/ CWLUArchive/rankin1.html.
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. 50th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013.
Jewish Women 's Archive. "Publication of 'The Feminine Mystique ' by Betty Friedan." This Week in History. Accessed May 6, 2013. http://jwa.org/ thisweek/feb/17/1963/betty-friedan.
Kesselman, Amy, Heather Booth, Vivian Rothstein, and Naomi Weisstein. "Our Gang of Four: Friendships and Women 's Liberation." CWLU Herstory Website. Accessed May 5, 2013. http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUMemoir/ Kesselman.html.
McBride, Alex. "Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)." PBS. Last modified December 2006. Accessed May 4, 2013. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/ landmark_griswold.html.
National Organization for Women. "The Founding of NOW." NOW. Last modified July 2006. Accessed May 4, 2013. http://www.now.org/history/the_founding.html.
NWHM. "Gloria Steinem (1934-)." National Women’s History Museum. Accessed May 6, 2013. http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/ gloria-steinem/.
"Pittsburgh Press Co. V. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (No. 72-419)." Cornell University Law School. Accessed May 3, 2013. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0413_0376_ZS.html.
Redstockings. "1968: Women 's Liberation Organizing Ignites." Redstockings. Last modified 2012. Accessed May 6, 2013. http://www.redstockings.org/ index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=61.
Wilburn, Delila. "NOW Calls for Women 's Strike." Civil Rights. Accessed May 6, 2013. http://www.civilrights.uga.edu/cities/macon/now_strikes2.htm.
Women and Marxism Archive. "Kate Millett 1968 Sexual Politics." Marxists. Accessed May 6, 2013. http://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/ millett-kate/sexual-politics.htm.
was founded. In 1963, John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt as chair of the commission investigated questions regarding women’s equality in education, workplace, and under the law. The results proved the evidence of inequality seen by every female of that time. Rallied by the formation of the commission, the women came together to resolve the equality gaps between men and women. While first-wave feminism worked towards major goals such as suffrage and overturning legal obstacles to legal gender equality, second-wave feminists introduced new, broadened ideas including publishing of ideas, organization formations, equality within the law, formations of rallies, abortion and sexuality rights, and the expansion of feminist pop culture. With the new technology available in the sixties, feminists were able to spread these ideas and gain numbers and influence quickly. Soon, the women’s civil rights movement was an army of poets, artists, authors, speakers, and petitioners, all working to organize the most powerful and successful feminist movement in history. Ultimately, the counterculture’s most powerful subdivision was the young, bra-burning, rioting women of the 1960’s who created a wave stronger than any America had seen before – their impact forever changing the way females participated in society and trailblazing the way for feminists of the future.
Betty Friedan 's The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963, and immediately became a best seller, and laid the groundwork for the new movement. Many believe that the book was the initial catalyst of the second-wave. In 1957, Freidan conducted a survey in preparation from her 15th reunion at Smith College. The results showed how unhappy women were as housewives. Freidan followed up with more interviews, finding that many other suburban housewives were just as unhappy. When no magazines were willing to publish her results, she began drafting The Feminine Mystique. She referred to the mistreatment of women as the “problem that has no name”, bringing light to the issue that not many had recognized before. She determined that post-WWII society had stay at home moms and married women in a place that they were more than discontent with. In the book, Freidan talks extensively about psychology and the minds of American women. Having a degree in psychology, Friedan criticized Sigmund Freud. Freud’s had been very influential during that time. She notes that Freud saw women as childlike and as destined to be housewives. She also discusses overlooked issues such as the change in women 's education from the 1940s to the early 1960s, in which many women 's schools concentrated on non-challenging classes that focused mostly on marriage, family, and other subjects deemed suitable for women. Educators influenced by functionalism felt that too much education would spoil women 's femininity and capacity for sexual fulfillment. Friedan says that this change in education set back girls’ emotional development at a young age, because they never had to face the painful identity crisis and subsequent maturation that comes from dealing with many adult challenges. In the final chapter, Freidan tells many stories of women that challenged the feminine mystique, and how they overcame it. This gave the common American housewife the confidence to make her own stand, thus serving as the catalyst of the second-wave feminist movement.
In order to work their ways to the top, women had to first go through government. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 entered Congress, feminists came together and lobbied, petitioning for the addition of an amendment prohibiting sex discrimination in employment. Eventually, the Act was passed in the form of Title VII, which prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. However, Title VII was still a shallow protection for women in the workforce. In response to the act’s weak enforcement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, was formed. The commission worked to back up the sex discrimination aspects of the act. However, the commission was outnumbered when combating the issue of legal sex segregation in job advertising. Betty Friedan, having gained power after the publication of her influential feminist book, recognized the issue and immediately contacted Dr. Pauli Murray, a law professor at Yale and a member of the President 's Commission on the Status of Women. Together, they restarted the American feminist movement and pressed for a passing of a resolution demanding that the EEOC follow through with its legal mandate to end sex discrimination in employment. Frustrated with the unsuccessful conferences she was attending, Friedan took action into her own hands. At a convention, she wrote the acronym “NOW” on her napkin and passed it around between a number of women attending the same conference. They met in her hotel room and formed what would become the first major civil rights organization for women. Friedan became its first president and immediately started the effort to be heard and included in other civil rights movements. In a report on a conference in 1966, Friedan stated:
"We wasted no time on ceremonials or speeches, gave ourselves barely an hour for lunch and dinner...At times we got very tired and impatient, but there was always a sense that what we were deciding was not just for now 'but for a century... ' We shared a moving moment of realization that we had now indeed entered history."
Although the EEOC did not rule that employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status is prohibited under Title VII until 2012, NOW did achieve Title VII amendments regarding sexual harassment in the workplace in the 1970’s. The group is now one of the largest women 's groups in the U.S. and pursues its goals through extensive legislative lobbying, court cases, and public demonstrations.
The women of the 1960’s and 70’s also worked toward achieving equality through law. The feminism activists of this time often found themselves fighting equality battles in front of the Supreme Court. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first of many government changes and Supreme Court cases produced by the beginning of the new feminist movement. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut struck down the only remaining state law banning the use of contraceptives by married couples. Estelle Griswold, the executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, along with Dr. C. Lee Buxton, doctor and professor at Yale Medical School, were arrested and found guilty after being convicted of illegal contraception distribution. They were fined $100 each. Griswold and Buxton appealed to the Supreme in Connecticut, arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled that the law violated the right to marital privacy and could not be enforced against married people. This was a major step for the sexual freedom of women. The case Weeks v. Southern Bell marked a major accomplishment in the battle against restrictive labor laws as well as company regulations on the hours and conditions of female workplaces. Lorena Weeks, an employee at Southern Bell telegraph and telephone company, claimed that she was denied of her rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after not being promoted to a higher paying position because of her gender. It also resulted in the opening of many previously male-only jobs for women employees and was an important case that marked the first victory in which NOW used the Civil Rights Act to fight gender-based discrimination. It helped to open the way for women to earn a good living without depending on a husband for support. Later, in 1970, Senator Eugene McCarthy introduced the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Senate. NOW pushed for the ratification of the ERA throughout 1970, and the House approved it that year whole the Senate followed two years later. In the same year, Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled jobs held by men and women must be "substantially equal" but not "identical". This caused it to be protected under the Equal Pay Act, therefore making it illegal for employers to change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men. In 1971, for the first time since the Fourteenth Amendment went into effect in 1868, the Court struck down a state law saying that it discriminated against women in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of that amendment. The law required that when the father and mother of a deceased child both sought appointment as administrator of the estate, the man had to be preferred over the woman. This Supreme Court Case was known as Reed v Reed, a separated male and women fighting over the estate of their deceased son. The case led the movement one step closer to balancing out the legal treatment of men and women. One of the last significant Supreme Court cases regarding feminist issues was the Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations of 1973, which corrected newspapers that advertised jobs with the preference of male applicants. The court barred newspapers from mentioning the desired sex in employment advertisements. Also around the same time in 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a major sign that the feminist movement was not only spreading internationally, but touching down in government positions as well.
The feminists did not only show their passion and drive behind the scenes. Second-wave feminism is also known for the conventions and petitions that took place in the 60’s and 70’s. By the end of the 1960’s, feminism was becoming more popular in Chicago, Illinois. In the first known national gathering of women 's liberation, a diversity of female activists gathered held in Lake Villa in Chicago. There, the activists shared stories and ideas, as well as making pamphlets to distribute to other feminists. Around the same time in 1968, New York feminists buried a dummy of "Traditional Womanhood" while attending the all-women 's Jeanette Rankin Brigade demonstration. The demonstration was protesting against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C. The burial of the dummy was one of the first “hands-on” demonstrations. The protesting women dressed the dummy in womanly clothes, made up its face and put curlers in its fake blonde wig. They also hung things like curlers, garters, hairspray, and large banners with phrases written on them like: “Don’t Cry, Resist”. Later feminists would use this technique, some taking it even farther by having feminine consumer goods such as bras and makeup bonfires. Also for the first time, feminists used the slogan "Sisterhood is Powerful”. This brought the women together and encouraged them to spread their ideas unique to each individual or feminist group. Meanwhile at Ford in Dagenham in Britain, 850 sewing machinists went on strike for equal pay and against sex discrimination. This ultimately led to the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the first legislation in the United Kingdom aimed at ending pay discrimination between men and women. This not only showed that the movement in America was leaking internationally, but gave the American feminists hope and determination that their voices would soon be heard. Later that year, the 50th anniversary of woman suffrage in the U.S., tens of thousands of women across the nation participated in the Women 's Strike for Equality, organized by Betty Friedan, to demand equal rights. Five years later in 1975, NOW sponsored "Alice Doesn 't" Day. The day asked women across the country to go on strike for one day. The phrase came from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, in which the main character Alice tries to break away from her limited life as a housewife to pursue a singing career. The film expressed the idea of female independence and agency, exactly what the participants of the one-day strike were trying to achieve.
NOW members as well as other feminists soon began to work towards sexuality and abortion rights. This was prompted by the FDA approval of the birth control pill in 1960. Another first for the quickly advancing movement was the public speakout against abortion laws held in New York City. During this time, the American radical organization called the Redstockings was formed. The group of radical feminists played a huge role in the abortion legalization movement. Members of Redstockings disrupted a hearing on abortion laws of the New York Legislature when the panel of witnesses was a biased group of 14 men and a nun. The group demanded repeal, not reform, of laws restricting abortion. The group also introduced the terms "Sisterhood is Powerful", and "The Personal is Political". With the movement gaining momentum, the NARAL Pro-Choice America, or The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, was founded. NARAL is a pro-choice organization that still exists and is very influential today; yet another example of important, present-day organizations that came out of the second movement. With pro-choice opinion gaining strength in the minds of American women, many females became more comfortable with their sexuality. Once oppressed completely, the country was seeing more and more gay women speaking out. This was an idea that even Betty Friedan herself was uneasy with. For a long time, lesbianism was easy to conceal. Homes were draftier, making it common for females that shared households to share beds as well. Also, with men at war, a large number of unmarried women lived together. This was a popular choice that did not usually raise questions. However, the many voices of the female liberation movement made sexual relationships between two women less uncommon . Women around the country were relived by the spreading pro-lesbian ideas of the movement, some even sighing a breath of relief and saying, “I thought I was the only one!” Eventually, as they gained numbers, important liberation figures including Freidan decided to support the gay women and assist them in the fight for their rights.
A major cultural change influenced by the movement was the sudden influx of feminist pop culture.
Feminists’ ideas were now developed and shared through novels, magazines, music, and art. American feminist Kate Millett published her book Sexual Politics. It is a classic feminist text, said to be "the first book of academic feminist literary criticism" and "one of the first feminist books of this decade to raise nationwide male ire.” Sexual Politics was an important milestone for the feminist movement during the 1970s. It was also extremely controversial because it criticized the work of some very sexist male writers. Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women 's Liberation Movement is also edited and published by the American feminist Robin Morgan. The book was soon a best seller, mostly because of the relatable essays, and historical documents related to the Women’s Liberation movement. It also provided contact information for feminist organizations. The book discussed the need for radical feminism, the discrimination women experienced from men in the political left, and the blatant sexism faced in the workplace. American feminist Susan Brownmiller also published the landmark book Against Our Will, which talked about rape. The book helped modernize attitudes towards the rape and placed it in the broader context of pervasive gender oppression. In 1995, the New York Public Library selected Against Her Will as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century. She later became one of TIME 's "Women of the Year" in
1975. Apart from novels, feminist magazines were falling into the hands of liberation members across the country. Gloria Steinem, an acclaimed trailblazer for women’s rights, worked as a journalist and activist in the 1960s-70s and soon became a main figurehead of the movement. Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine, a publication dedicated to women’s rights concerns. Time declared: "Feminism has transcended the feminist movement. In 1975 the women 's drive penetrated every layer of society, matured beyond ideology to a new status of general — and sometimes unconscious — acceptance. The Time Person of the Year award goes to American Women, celebrating the successes of the feminist movement.” In the same year of 1975, the song "I Am Woman" was published. It was a popular song performed by Australian singer Helen Reddy, which became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement. Feminist art was also emerging; the feminist art piece The Dinner Party, by American feminist artist Judy Chicago, was first put on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1979.(See Appendix)
After a hard and effective run, the early 1980’s marked the end of the second-wave feminist movement and the beginning of the feminist sex wars, which falls under the third wave. Many historians believe the second-wave feminist era ended in the early 1980’s with the intra-feminism disputes of the Feminist Sex Wars. This covered issues such as sexuality and pornography, which led into the era of third-wave feminism in the early 1990’s. Although all three waves of American Feminism had major accomplishments and lasting impact, the second wave of the 1960’s and 70’s was the most powerful and controversial movement in feminist history. All starting with Betty Freidan’s novel, The Feminine Mystique, the movement was the first to create long lasting organization, find equality within the law and government, hold effective rallies and petitions, achieve abortion and sexuality rights, and finally expand feminist pop culture. Overall, the second wave of American feminism was a hard fought battle by the women of the United States, and should never be underappreciated by the fully functioning female members of society today. Bibliography
Collins, Gail. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company, 2009.
Firestone, Shulamith. "The Jeanette Rankin Brigade: Women Power?" CWLU Herstory Website. Accessed May 5, 2013. http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/ CWLUArchive/rankin1.html.
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. 50th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013.
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