THE FEMINIST
MOVEMENT
1950s-1980s
Summary
• 1950s – The Perfect Woman
• Beginning of the Feminist Movement
• Women in the Workforce
• Family Changes
• Sexual Revolution
• Legislative Action
Key Terms
•
•
•
•
Feminine Mystique
Sexual Revolution
Roe v. Wade
ERA
1950s – The Perfect Woman
• Societal Pressure for women to return to
home and be good wives and mothers,
idealized women at home if the family
could afford it 3
• If they worked and didn’t need it they were
considered selfish3
• Women got married right out of high
school or in college 3
• 1/3 of girls married by 192
• Women had large families, about three to
four children3
• From 1940-1960: the number of families with 3
children doubled and the number of families
with 4 children quadrupled3
1950s – The Perfect Woman
• Remaining single was undesirable
and being single and pregnant was
unacceptable3
• It became no longer acceptable for
a wife to shut her husband out of
the bedroom, so effective femalecontrolled contraceptives were
needed3, however birth control
information classified as
“obscene1”
• 1951 average age of marriage
drops to 20 years old for women 2
Beginning of the Feminist Movement
• Women extremely active in Civil
Rights Movement
• Began to resent their subordinate
status2
• By 1960 36% of all women 16
and older worked for pay2
• Median income of the working
woman was 1/3 that of a man2
• Betty Friedan’s The Feminine
Mystique
• Describes her experience as a
middle-class housewife
• Image of woman as mother, wife,
living through husband and children
and giving up her own dreams2
Beginning of the Feminist Movement
• Women waged protests against
traditional womanhood such as
the Miss American pageant 2
• National Organization for
Women formed 1966
• Filed over 1000 suits against sex
discrimination2
• In 1967 women were 50% of
voters but held only 4% of state
legislative seats and 2% of
judgeships2
• 1969 women were 40% of entire
labor force in US2
• Most of these jobs were secretaries,
cleaning women, teachers, waitresses
etc.
Women in the Workforce
• 1969 women were 40% of entire labor force in US
• Most of these jobs were secretaries, cleaning women, teachers, waitresses etc.2
• They earned 56% of the average male worker’s wage4
• 1978: Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits women being fired,
denied a job, or denied a promotion because they are pregnant 5
Family Changes
• Women fought for free child care, right for abortion and equal pay
• 1965 married couples could obtain contraceptives legally 2
• 1960-1980
• Married couples with children: 44.2% - 30.9%6
• Men living alone: 4.3% - 8.6%6
• Women living alone: 8.7% - 14%6
• Never married: 17.3% - 22.5%6
Sexual Revolution
• Sexual Revolution – based upon the idea that women enjoyed sex just as
much as men and should be able to enjoy it, clashed with traditional
American values3
• Right to abortion
• Before 1970 1 million abortions done every year, only 10,000 of which were legal2
• 1/3 of women having illegal abortions had to be hospitalized for complications2
• Illegalizing abortions worked against poor because rich could afford to either have baby
or have a safe abortion
• Court actions to make abortions legal began in over 20 states between 1968-19702
• 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decided states could prohibit abortions only in the last
three months of pregnancy2
• Our Bodies, Ourselves open book about formally taboo health issues2
• Women began to speak out against rape 2
• Birth control
Legislative Action
• 1964 Civil Rights bill, conservatives hoped to defeat the entire bill
by adding an amendment to outlaw discrimination on the basis of
gender as well as race. First the amendment then the bill passed3
• ERA – Equal Rights Amendment
• Women leaders such as Gloria Steinem campaigned for Amendment that
would eliminate gender discrimination
• Amendment failed
Bibliography
1.
Eisenberg, Bonnie, and Mary Ruthsdotter. "Living the Legacy:The
Women's Rights Movement1848 - 1998." Living the Legacy. 2002. Web.
20 Mar. 2012. <http://www.legacy98.org>.
2. Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-present. New
York: HarperCollins, 2003. Print.
3. "Women in the 1950s." PBS.org. PBS. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/sfeature/w50.swf>.
4. Geddes, Darryl. "Women in the Workplace." Cornell Chronicle Online. 19
Feb. 1998. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/98/2.19.98/Blau_report.html>.
5. Smith, Kristin E., and Amara Bachu. "Women's Labor Force Attachment
Patterns and Maternity Leave: A Review of the Literature." Census
Bureau Homepage. 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0032/t
wps0032.html>.
6. Tompkins, Vincent. American Decades. Family Life ed. Vol. 8. Gale
Cengage, 2000. Print.