When women of the society started leaving their houses and contributing to economy many of them became more aware of their work conditions and pay. With more women getting higher education they felt discontent to their domestic and subordinate jobs. Powered by the black freedom struggle and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this gave a rise to the New Wave of Femminism. One branch of this movement, National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed by women activists who were frustrated by the turtle speed enforcement of new civil rights laws. A more radical group of femminism was formed when in 1965 New Left activists Mary King and Casey Hayden complained about sex discrimination while working for SNCC.
IAH 201: U.S. & The World (D) The Women’s Rights Movement Starting In the early 1800s women began to question their general role in society and how it is unjust and unfair. Interestingly the educated radicals and working class women in early 1800s were still concerned with the roles and rights of women, they did not classify suffrage as being the prominent issue. The idea of women’s suffrage did not become the primary goal of the Women’s rights movement until around the 1850s, and then remained the primary goal up until 1920 when women finally achieved the right to vote. Further, there were many significant male and female figuresthat played crucial roles in the Women’s rights movements that eventually led to, but didn’t stop at, the achievement of women’s right to vote in 1920. It was in the early 1800s when women began to question various issues such as their roles in society and their rights as a woman, or their lack of rights and unjust inequality in comparison to males.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for women to have legal rights, have better jobs, and higher education, even though many men shunned her. First off, many women fought against the laws that discriminated against them. In 1848, Stanton met with four other women for a social meeting. They decided to form a convention and get together to “discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women (Brown).” This convention was called The Seneca Falls Convention. The women campaigned for full female equality.
The mission of the NAWSA was to fight for women’s rights and to also gain respect for all women in the United States. Alice Paul along with her friend Lucy Burns began to think of many ideas to help the suffrage movement but the NAWSA thought that their ideas were to extreme and would only cause problems for women in America. So Alice Paul and Lucy Burns started their own organization called the National Women’s Party or NWP. Which held the same concepts that the NAWSA but with a more radical or extreme approach. The NAWSA started criticizing the NWP for their methods and for protesting a president during the war.
In the mid-sixties and early-seventies the second wave of feminism was formed. According to Kari Meyers Skredsvig, the core argument of the second wave was for equality, not only in the home but also in the workplace (Skredsvig par. 3). This wave also dealt with deeper issues in literature like sexuality and reproductive rights. In these two periods women around the world expressed their frustration with inequality and sexual frustration.
R.C Sherriff uses Madge as a representation of how women should be protected from the grim truth and realities of the war through Stanhope’s fear or her finding out about his alcohol addiction. Compared to ‘Journey’s End’, although the focus of the novel is based on the male perspective, there is a small, but important female presence in ‘Regeneration.’ By introducing Sarah Lamb and her friends, Barker allows female perspectives to be considered in a male dominated situation on the war. Sarah Lumb represents the change in life experience and attitudes for women as a result of the war experiences. “Sarah worked in a factory....making detonators. Twelve hour shifts, six days a week, but she liked the work...and it was well paid.
First of all, the text I have chosen is the speech by Shirley Chiholm “Equal rights for Women” which was addressed to the United States House Of Representatives in 1969. In this speech, the composer presents the viewpoint of prejudice which women was experiencing at that time. She is an excellent example of a woman who speaks up and challenges the authority about women’s issues. In her speech, Shirley states the disadvantage of being discriminated because they are women; “they are too emotional”; and the “unspoken assumption is that women are different”. She questions people to think about the existence of discrimination in our society what sometimes is lured that: “women are already equal”.
Since the 1960's, feminism has challenged the traditional stereotypes of a woman's role as mother and housewife within a patriarchal family. It also raises girls' expectations and ambitions with regard to careers and family. These changes are partly reflected in media. A good illustration of this is McRobbie's comparison of girl’s magazine in the 1970's, where they stressed the importance of marriage to the 1990's, where it was more focused on career and independence. Changes in the family and employment are also creating changes in girls' ambitions, which is supported by Sue Sharpe's research where she compared the results of interviews she carried out with girls in the 1970's and 1990's, where in the 1970's the girls had low ambitions and their priorities was love, marriage, husbands and children before careers.
In 1960s, the feminist movement emerged against the dominant patriarchal society. The goal of feminism according to Faye Powell was, “to eliminate sexist oppression imposed by patriarchal society…and discriminations against women on the job, in the home and in all areas of women’s lives.” (p. 2.) From this feminism movement comes the awakening in the black women community, known as the “Black Feminism.” The term Black Feminism is used to encompass the needs of all the women of colour. Their realization of being victimized based on gender and race brought about this movement.
Other writers helped society accept the role of women outside of the home. Women no longer wanted to be viewed as domestic, but instead wanted do things that showed their intelligence and skills. The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was written during this time. It was a satirical story that symbolized the oppression of women. Art and literature during this time depicted the changes in women, addressing marriage, divorce, rights, and independence in general.