1. Second Wave of Feminism
why then?
1960s were time of protest
Betty Friedan’s book published in 1963
Ironic Statistics: more women in college, yet more women in underpaid jobs; technology had replaced many women’s jobs, yet unable to access “men’s” jobs

2. Listen to the account of a 1962 HUAC meeting...
What were the women protesting?
How did the actions of WSP represent a shift?
Pp Born for Liberty

3. Women’s rights generally emerge during widespread social change
What was happening in the late 1950s and early 1960s that would bring about that change?
Women’s rights generally emerge during widespread social change

4. Cultural developments...
Greensboro Sit-ins (1960)
Election of Kennedy who argued for civic involvement (1960)
Twice as many women were attending college in 1960 than 1950
By 1960, women earned 60 cents for every dollar a man made
FDA approved the birth control pill in 1960
How did each of these developments create foundations for a women’s
movement?

5. Two Publications Simone de Beauvoir The Second Sex (1949)
“Man is the default; woman is ‘other’”
Motherhood left women “riveted to her body”.
Women have not been “left to take her own chances”.
Betty Friedan The Feminine Mystique (1963)
(Survey) Women who worked and played a role at home were more satisfied than those who simply worked.
As the average age of marriage and employment of women dropped, so did their satisfaction.
The image of the “happy homemaker” was the fault of male-dominated media companies.
Friedan’s survey was of Smith graduates.

6. Establishment of NOW Founded in 1966 by 26 women at a conference in DC
Responded to failure of gov’t to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act which banned discrimination by employers
Initial division over the inclusion of lesbians; by 1971 had adopted cause of “freedom to choose sexuality”
Sought to use the courts similar to the NAACP, to force the government to protect women’s civil rights
Promoted reproductive choice regardless of outcome of Roe v. Wade
Read your section of the “Statement of Purpose” from NOW
In what ways are the ideals similar to those of the Civil Rights Movement?
In what ways do women have unique challenges?
Statement of Purpose:

7. Sociological Study: Where does sexism come from? (Fishbowl Discussion)
[Female Perspective]
How has gender influenced your choices?
Why do you think America has had a history of prescribing gender roles?
Do women have a different place in society than men? Explain.
Why do you believe there is a disparity between men and women’s pay?
[Male Perspective]
Have you underestimated girls/women in your life? How and why?
Do women have a different place in society than men? Explain.
Why do you believe there is a disparity between men and women’s pay?