MOVEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE
The Second Wave of Feminism
LEARNING INTENTION: Define the second wave of
feminism and outline the perspectives of three key
second wave feminists
Defining the second wave of
feminism…
RECAPPING: Feminism strives for
political, social and economic
equality between the sexes
INCREASED DEBATE
around sexuality
INCREASED DEBATE
AND CHALLENGED
roles in the family
CHALLENGED official
legal inequialities
RECAPPING: Feminism involves
organised activities on behalf of
women’s rights and interests
INCREASED DEBATE
AND CHALLENGED
gender roles in the
work place
RAISED AWARENESS
about reproductive
rights
BEGAN:
United States in the
early 1960s and spread
throughout the
Western World
RAISED AWARENESS
around de facto
inequalities
TURN ALL THE INFORMATION
PRESENTED IN THESE BOXES
INTO A FLUENT PARAGRAPH
Social Forces bringing about the
Second Wave of Feminism
The Second World War
• Women played a vital part in both world wars
• Many women found that the advances they
had made were greatly reduced when the
soldiers returned from fighting abroad
• With so many men out fighting, women were
needed to work on the land and in factories:
traditionally male dominated positions
• Pay was significantly less than males got
during peace time
The Second World War
• Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) in Britain
had one million members by 1943
• Mainly older women as younger women were
needed in factories and on the land
• Did whatever was needed:
Aided people who had lost homes
collected scrap metal
knitted for service men
provided tea and refreshments
Increased female involvement in the
Work Force
‘In 1921 only 9.2 percent of women in the paid
workforce were married; the figure in 1970 was
over fifty-three percent’ (Evans et.al 2006:176).
BUT WHY?
• Booming post World War II economy
• More jobs available to women
• Increased birth control
This challenged the old belief that a
woman’s place was in the home
The need for organisation
• With opportunities opening up for women, many felt organisation
was needed
BUT WHY?
 To educate women about their options
 To ensure they were treated with respect in the workplace
 To ensure they achieved equality and fairness in all aspects of
working life
Various feminist thinkers sought to make this happen:
Simone de Beauvior, Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer
Building the second wave of feminism
INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
Building the second wave of feminism
Simone de Beauvior: A pioneering feminist
• Published Le Deuxiéme Sexe (The Second Sex) in
1949
• Explored how women had been oppressed by
patriarchy
• Existentialist philosophy: One is not born a
women but becomes one through social
experience
Building the second wave of feminism
Simone de Beauvior: A pioneering feminist
• Argued that women are made to feel that the male
ideal is one they should aspire to
• Women are made to feel that being a women was to
lack something
• Argued women should be seen as a separate identity
deserving equal recognition and status
• Have the right to exercise their own choices in
developing their identity
Building the second wave of feminism
Betty Friedan: A pioneering feminist
• Was fired from her job as a union newspaper
journalist in 1952 for being pregnant
• In consequent freelance work, become angry
of injustices experienced by women in the
workforce
Building the second wave of feminism
Betty Friedan: A pioneering feminist
• 1957 study: Explored lost opportunities of
women who had children. Most return to the
domestic sphere, regretting it
• Nobody wished to publish her work
• From this study, she went onto write ‘The
Feminine mystique’ which had a powerful
political impact
Building the second wave of feminism
Germaine Greer: A pioneering feminist
• Influential Australian feminist
• The Female Eunuch (1970), Sex and Destiny: The
politics of Human Fertility (1984)
• Argued that traditional western social roles of women
(e.g: house maker, mother, care giver) repressed the
development of their identity
Integrating quotes into your writing
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2.
3.
Create the context for the quote
Smoothly intergrade the quote into your writing
Explain the meaning or relevance of the quote
Example
Betty Friedan was a significant theorist that influenced the
rise of the second wave of feminism. She asserted that
women are in the habit of being oppressed by men and
must realise they need to change this. She argues that
‘[m]en are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real
enemy is women's denigration of themselves’ (Friedan
1957). Friedan suggests women need to see themselves as
deserving equality, and consequently, society will benefit.
Integrating quotes into your writing
STEPS TO USING QUOTES:
1.
2.
3.
Create the context for the quote
Smoothly intergrade the quote into your writing
Explain the meaning or relevance of the quote
As a class
‘One is not born a woman, but becomes one’ (De Beauvior 1949).