1. The Feminist Movement Chapter 26, Section 2 By Mr. Thomas Parsons

2. I. A Weakened Women’s Movement A.Feminism, the belief that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially, began as early as the 1920s.

3. B.Women and WWII 1.With the onset of World War II, women joined the nation’s workforce as many men went off to fight the war. 2.When the soldiers returned after the war, many women lost their jobs.

4. C.Women gradually returned to the labor market, and by 1960 made up almost one-third of the nation’s workforce.

5. II. The Women’s Movement Reawakens A.By the early 1960s, women became increasingly resentful of old stereotypes and traditional hiring. B.As more women entered the workforce, the protest for equality increased.

6. C.The President’s Commission on the Status of Women. 1.The group was headed by Eleanor Roosevelt 2.It urged President Kennedy to study the status of women.

7. D.In 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed. - It outlawed paying men more than women for the same job.

8. E.Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed job discrimination. - It became the legal basis for advances by the women’s movement.

9. F.Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) 1.Attitudes about what was proper women’s work took time to change. 2.EEOC was formed to study discrimination in the workplace. 3.The EEOC still held that jobs could be distinguished by gender.

10. G.The Feminine Mystique 1.A book written by Betty Freidan in 1963 2.The book stirred up women all across the country.

11. G.The Feminine Mystique (cont.) 3.For the book, Freidan traveled around the country interviewing women who had graduated with her from Smith College in 1942. 4.Freidan found that while women reported that they had everything they could want, they still felt unfulfilled. 5.The book became a bestseller.

12. H.NOW 1.In June 1966, National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed. 2.They felt it was time for a national women’s organization to promote women into mainstream America. 3.It responded to many issues facing women. a.They demanded greater educational opportunities for women b.They denounced the exclusion of women from certain professions and political positions.

13. III. Successes And Failures A.The women’s movement experienced many successes and failures as it fought for women’s rights.

14. B.An important success was greater equality for women in the educational system. 1.Lawmakers enacted federal legislation banning sex discrimination in education.

15. B.An important success …..(cont.) 2.In 1972 Congress passed the Education Amendment. a.One of the sections, Title IX, prohibited federally funded schools from discriminating against girls. b.It applied in nearly all aspects of their operations, from admissions to athletics. c.Implementation of Title IX was slow at many schools and women still had to struggle for equality.

16. C.Abortion Laws 1.By the late 1960s, some states began adopting liberal abortion laws regarding a woman’s mental health or in the case of rape or incest. 2.The biggest change came with the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe V. Wade. a.The Supreme Court ruled that state governments could no longer regulate abortion during the first three months of pregnancy b.The first trimester was a time within a woman’s constitutional right to privacy. c.This gave rise to the right-to-life movement, whose members considered abortion morally wrong

17. D.In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) 1.The ERA would have protected against discrimination based on gender. 2.In order for it to become part of the Constitution, 38 states had to ratify it.

18. 3.Opposition to the ERA amendment began to grow as many saw the act as a threat to traditional American values and social patterns. 4.Phyllis Schlafly, one of the most vocal critics of the amendment, organized a national Stop-ERA campaign.

19. 3.The amendment failed to be ratified by 38 states and finally died in 1982.