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Essay about National Organization for Women

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National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest feminist activists’ interest group of United States that seeks to protect the individual rights of women. The influential success of NOW can be understood through following factors. Its’ concrete background; nearly half century worth of history as foundation; well structured organization; membership incentives; the function and approach of NOW/PAC and NEP; up to date Statement of Purpose; high priority to key issues that benefits society as a whole; and lastly the services that NOW provides on the global scale. NOW currently have 500,000 active members and 550 chapters throughout the 50 states and District of Columbia. As NOW consist a large sum of …show more content…

Unsatisfied with the result of 1966 Conference delegates prohibiting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from legally enforcing its mandate to end sex discrimination, the author of The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan gathered the first African-American female Episcopal priest Pauli Murray, the first Black woman that ran for president of United States, and several others for conference in a hotel then officially formed NOW. The feminist leaders promoted the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in the 1970s. The amendment was approve by the Congress in 1972 then immediately ratified by 28 states. However there was another campaign promoting to stop the ERA led by Phyllis Schlafly, therefore result in only 35 states ratified the amendment with 3 states short to make it into the law. Due to the challenge of getting the ERA ratified, the NOW is officially formed under the disturbance theory and bargaining for the disadvantaged women of the time. Till today the organization is still actively lobbying legislatures and media for feminist issues.
NOW is organized at three different levels. The national level is organized through the annual member conference each year, this gathers members all over the nation as the foundation of NOW’s broad grassroots strength of local chapters, and these members participate in a wide variety of action programs in

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