31.2
Women Fight for Equality
What social and economic barriers did women face in American
Society?
Quiz
1. Belief that women and men are equal
2. What does ERA stand for?
3. Which supreme court case legalized abortion?
4. Conservative activist that led the opposition to the ERA?
5. Author of The Feminine Mystique.
Key Terms
•Feminism
•Betty Friedan
•National Organization for Women (NOW)
•Gloria Steinem
•Equal Rights Amendment
•Phyllis Schlafly
Key Dates
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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 home
• Made 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 AntiWar 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?