Activity 2: Counterculture of the Baby Boom
Caseyann Goore
Ms. Nobrega
HSB 4U
Historical Background
By the end of World War II many women had to return back to the lives they had prior to the war. Many lost the jobs and independence they had gained when the soldiers returned.
Historical Background
The Women’s Movement also referred to as Second Wave feminism applies to the women’s movement that began at the end of 1963 and extended into the 1980s.
First wave feminism addressed many issues including employment, marriage laws, and education. Voting rights were later embraced the voting rights movement.
Key Historical Developments
The second wave is credited to have been set off from a 1963 report from the Committee on the Status of Women.
Wikipedia states, “…second-wave feminism broadened the debate to a wide range of issues: sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, de facto inequalities, and official legal inequalities. Second-wave feminism also drew attention to domestic violence and marital rape issues, establishment of rape crisis and battered women's shelters, and changes in custody and divorce law.” From there, Wikipedia goes on to discuss how most of those issues were addressed, though sexuality and family were not touched on much. In comparison, Spielvogal touches on nothing else besides Betty Friedan and the words of British Women’s Liberation Workshop, who said in 1969, “We are economically oppressed: in jobs we do full work for half pay, in the home we do unpaid work full time… We are brought up to feel inadequate, educated to narrower horizons than men. This is our specific oppression.” (p. 924). While this is true and informative, it misses vital steps in the
During world war two, woman were given many opportunities that they hadn’t had before. While most men were overseas fighting in the war, Women were encouraged to take up jobs that had been vacated by men. This was an unprecedented era which saw more women enter the workforce than any other time in history. Their role during the
Because most men were drafted into the war, women took up most of the jobs. When the war was over, many were not comfortable going back to domestic life after seeing how capable they were. This is where the media awareness aspect ties in. Many Feminist writers emerged post World War Two. Betty Freidan wrote the “Feminist Critique” about the subject of women and consumerism.
While the second wave seemed centered on the rights of upper middle class white women, the third wave embraced women of all races, classes, and cultures. Many more specialized types of feminism arose from this wave, such as ecofeminism, which combines environmentalism and feminism, and womanism, which is aimed toward the rights of women of color. While the third wave has ended, there are still many active feminist movements happening today.
The movement became known as the ‘Woman’s Liberation Movement’. Australia’s early feminists had fought for Woman’s Suffrage, but the second wave feminists of the late 60s and 70s had wider goals and interests.
Feminism is the fight for equality between the sexes. It can be dated back to the mid-19th century with women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The first wave feminist procured the right to vote for American women. The following second and third waves built upon what the founding feminists created. The second wave of feminism was set off by the disenchantment women across America were experiencing. This disenchantment was caused by the nuclear family and the roles that the women in the 1950s were thrust into. The second wave is said to have lasted from the 1960s-1980s. Sometime after the 1980s, most likely the early to mid-1990s, third wave feminists began to rear their heads. The third wave built upon the advancements made
Many historians learned on the subject are of the opinion that first wave feminism originated in the 18th century with Mary Wollstonecraft’s publication titled Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), and came to an end after the Nineteenth
Their own free and equal lives. Wanted to live in a country where that was possible. And they were ready to give this movement every ounce of energy if it meant that they will finally get the lives they deserve. The first wave had pushed for Women’s suffrage where the 19th Amendment had given women the right to vote in 1920. The 1960s were the spark of the Second Wave.
Abortion was a main issue for the second-wave feminists because it was illegal for a while. There were laws restricting abortion until the 1973 Roe
Second wave -feminism began in the 1960s and lasted throughout the 1990s. Second wave feminism was not a monolithic movement, there were many groups formed this movement that dealt with different issues that affected women. Among the groups in second wave feminist movement were liberal feminists, radical feminist that included women of color and socialist feminists and anti -feminists. Abortion was an issue that did not unified feminist but rape and domestic violence were issues that affect all women.
First-wave feminists fought for women's suffrage. Led in the 1970s by icons like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, a second wave pushed for economic and legal gains. Their ideals would eventually clash with the spirited individualism of third-wave feminists, women in their 20s and 30s who still advocate for women's rights while embracing a "girlie culture" that celebrates sex, men, gay culture, and
As stated previously, The Sisterhood is Powerful was the Landmark for the Second Wave Feminism which occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. As America saw a renaissance of feminist activity, including the women's liberation movement and other mainstream feminist groups, it had to evolve with the recognition of equity among genders. This movement continued from the first wave which was usually thought of as being from 1848-1920 when women won the
In the 20th Century, The reemergence of the women's movement in the United States in the late 1960s is commonly referred to as the modern women's rights movement, the feminist movement, or the women's liberation movement. It is also known as second wave feminism, which serves to distinguish it from the period a century earlier when women in the United States first organized around demands for full citizenship. That earlier campaign, known as first wave, culminated with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which legally (if not actually) barred discrimination in voting on the basis of sex. Feminists in the 1960s, like their predecessors, sought to
1. The second wave is characterized by the issues of the Women’s Strike for equality which was a change to a world full of oppression. During this wave, women have gained the right to voting in 1920, and they could make up to the same pay as their husbands. Married women received the privilege to own a credit card without asking their husband for permission. The difference between this issue is that in the first wave the women were wanted everything to be gender neutral because they wanted to be equal just like men.The similarities in these issues are that the women got what they ask for especially with being intersectional and allowing men to expect them how who they
After women won the right to vote, the second wave of feminism began in the 1960s and continued on to the 90’s. This wave was highly associated with the anti-war and civil rights movement and the movement started growing conscious to a variety of minority groups all over the world. Out of three waves, the second wave’s voice was increasingly radical and theoretical as sexuality and reproductive rights were dominant issues. Protest began in Atlantic City in 1968 and 1969 against the Miss America Pageant. Many activists thought it to be a degrading “cattle parade” that reduced women to only objects produced by the patriarchy. Along with fighting against sexism in cartoons and politics, second wave feminists found their voice among other movements such as Civil Rights and the Anti-War movement. While the first wave was fought by middle class white women, the second wave invited and incorporated women of color and developing nations demonstrating that race, class, and gender oppression were all related and seeking sisterhood and solidarity (Rampton).