How The Rights Of Women Have Changed Since The 1960s And 1970's

A common saying people have embedded in our minds is that the past between 1950s and 1960s is considered as “The Good Ol’ Days” or “The Golden Age.” These assumptions were made due to the prosperity and growth of the nation however the truth is that many Americans felt disadvantaged. After WWII women became confined to the home where they were expected to care for the family. Many housewives did not like these conditions because they felt as though they were slaves in their own little worlds by losing rights they had gained during the war. The only work women were wanted for was for cooking, cleaning, laundering, sewing, taking care of children, etc. Many women became discouraged due to the fact they no longer felt important in society.

Before World War II, women were expected to get married, raise kids, do housework, and obey their husbands. This all changed when World War II came around. The men were busy at war, so someone had to take over their jobs. The government considered having children across the country fill in, but society chose the women to do it instead. The government depicted work only as a necessity, only temporarily, not as a way to change a women’s rights or freedom.

During the 1960s women were confined to one lifestyle, they were not acceptable in the public eye and were limited in their family lifestyle as well as the workplace. Women were expected to marry the traditional young marriage and then devote their time to raise the family and take care of their husband. Due to restriction women became activist and voiced their opinion to become equal in the workplace.

Lingering inequalities and other social trends from previous decades brought forth the modern feminist movement in the 1960s. These feminists campaigned for gender equality with causes such as equal pay for equal work, abortion rights, and social parity. In 1963, author Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, which contained reports from a study conducted on female college graduates during the 1950s and early 1960s, which uncovered that most women labelled themselves exclusively as mothers and housewives, and were unsatisfied with the roles forced upon them. Friedan argued fervently that women needed to discover their own identities outside the roles of a wife and mother. Many believe that the arguments made in The Feminine Mystique marked the start of the modern feminist movement (Loveday, 1)

The period 1940-1975 represented a time of trouble within the United States and overseas. As World War II ended in 1945, many Cold war conflicts erupted shortly after that, increasing social controversy among teenagers, minorities and especially women. During this time period, gender inequality was ongoing in many aspects of life. Women were tired of constantly staying home engaging in domestic activities and were dissatisfied in their roles as “housewives”. The rise of the women’s rights movement was spurred by the growth of women joining the workforce, resentment of being treated as inferior to men, and the rise of unity among women.

The United States of America has changed over time. Some changes have been voting rights, individual rights, and industrial change. An important time in American history is the Roaring Twenties. During that time, an important change America made is giving women the right to vote. This law has been the foundation for women’s rights in America.

Undeniably, the outlook of women in the workforce changed following the advent of World War II. Traditionally, the role of caretaker of the house and home was assigned to the woman. Society and institutions facilitated, accepted and supported this way of thinking and way of life. Working outside the home was considered "a man's job". A woman expressing an interest in being anything other than a homemaker and wife was frowned upon. Accepted was the notion that men are better laborers and a woman could not perform at the same level as a man and therefore are undesirable candidates for work in the office or in factories. When America entered in the Second World War, the role of women as primarily stewards of the home was forever changed. As men answered the call of duty, they left behind a void not only in the hearts of their loved ones but also in the workplace. During this time not only were vacancies found in the work that once employees turned soldiers left behind but also we witnessed an increase of labor need for specific industries, such as those that supported the wartime efforts. Women entered the workforce in droves, filling the much needed void in the offices and the factories. Women become the soldiers on the home front and once the war was over, there was no erasing the progress women made in proving capable and ready to hold gainful employment outside the home. This paper addresses women in the workforce,

The post-war era had shaped society into conforming gender roles, where the normal family consisted of men that worked and women staying at home. It was not until 1963 when Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminist Mystique, started a new wave of feminism and women’s liberation from the suburban housewife role. Friedan was very critical about women and professional work, as she states in her book, “In the late fifties, a sociological phenomenon was suddenly remarked: a third of American women now worked. But most were no longer young and very few were pursuing careers. They were married women who held part-time jobs, selling or secretarial, to put their husbands through school, their sons

The Gilded Age caused the solution of many problems to not happen. During this time, in the late 19th century, there was extreme corruption that was not being fixed. Soon, in 1890, the rise of progressivism took place, trying to fix the problems that were made. Many different progressive era reformers focused on many different issues and tried to mend the corruption relating to that specific topic. Women’s rights was a huge problem during this time, and two specific reformers tried to solve the problem. Progressive era reformers, Alice Paul and Margaret Sanger tackled the problem of women’s rights in similar ways.

It was unfair for women to have to return their normal lives or even begin one as being a housewife. After the war only few women kept their jobs if needed and if not would be released slowly. wanted to In 1957, about 70% of working women held clerical positions, assembly lines or service jobs. Only 12 % held a profession and 6% held management positions. Those that held professional jobs worked as nurses and teachers and lived a normal life. Advertisements in the magazines and T.V. shows were somewhat defined as the role of motherhood and dedicated housewives whose only goal in life was to meet the pleasures of their husband and children. Society believed women fit this role and it should be the goal for women to consume. The number of girls who entered college dropped during the 50s and women left college early to marry after the war and other women who did stay were not planning on working toward any job

The 1940’s were a turning point for women in the workforce. Women were perceived to be the weaker sex by society and faced social prejudices in efforts to become part of the workforce. The common belief was that women were intellectually inferior to men, incapable of making decisions regarding their household, and should not work outside of the home. Their job was to maintain the home, raise the children, and be supportive wives of the working husband.

Women in the early 1960s were content with the social pressure to aspire to marriage and be the ideal wife for their husbands, but, in the 1960s, when the second wave of feminism around the world approached, women believed that they could and should contribute to society in more ways than solely babymaking. Naturally, as men and boys were shipped off overseas to fight the Viet Cong, women stepped out of their usual roles of teachers and assistants in order to help on the Home Front. Many women took jobs in factories to contribute to the war effort in every way they could, from working on production lines to rationing food. Historically, women’s roles in the workplace lead to inspiring images such as Rosie the Riveter, which continues to inspire women and girls to this day. Furthermore, women believed that

Change has always been a major key in life, whether it has been good or bad, for the worst or better of people, not everyone agrees with changing something when they are comfortable or when it seems like it is working in their favor. In Structural functionalism it is said that change it out of the question. Most people that are comfortable believe in maintaining the status quo. Especially when it comes to politics or religion. In the 1960s change was evolving and it angered people to the point where they were lashing out.

In 1920, women won the right to vote and they were gradually moving into the male-dominated labor force, but gender roles were not changing much. Due to the World War II draft, many women entered the labor force and even helped run the country. Upon the return of the veterans, many women were forced back into their homes. However, the opportunities for women were broadening and some women began making careers for themselves outside of the home. The 1960’s saw many feminist movements and in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress which enticed more women to get out of the house and into better careers.

Gender roles is a very controversial topic in today’s society, especially when it comes to working. 100 years ago, in Europe, women were working long hours in factories. Women also worked as nurses, cleaned wealthy people 's homes, and were craftswomen. Meanwhile, 100 years ago in the United States women were expected to stay home and take care of the family/home, while the men went out and worked an average of ten hours a day for six days a week, compared to the traditional five day weeks and 8 hour days.