KEY TERMS
Feminism
Betty Friedan
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Gloria Steinem
Equal Rights Amendment
Phyllis 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 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 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?