new feminism, changing attitudes, birth control

what happened in January 1968 and why was this significant

• a group of young feminists held a symbolic “funeral” for Traditional Womanhood at Arlington National Cemetery after marching on Congress

  • done at a servicemen cemetery = burial of traditional male

• was significant because it showed a defiant rejection of the old, submissive ideal of women and represented the growing, more radical new feminism of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

what was the origin of ‘New Feminism’ and when was it

• emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s

• its origins lay in a generation of women who were more assertive, willing to challenge traditional roles, and inspired by wider protest movements of the era

what influenced ‘new feminism’

1. The civil rights movement, which provided an inspirational example of protest and highlighted discrimination.

2. The reaction to the Vietnam War after 1964, which encouraged more activism and protest at home.

what was ‘new feminism’ a response to

the failure of earlier feminist efforts to achieve equality especially equal pay, rights and disappointment with the government’s lack of action, including JFK’s limited commitment to women’s rights

why did politicians not have to pay attention to the female vote

• women were not united behind specific goals and therefore did not vote as a single bloc

• this meant their vote did not threaten politicians, so there was no incentive to court it

what did JFK promise, and what did he deliver

promised:

• to take women’s status seriously after becoming president in 1961

• reform through the President’s Commission on the Status of Women

delivered:

• the Equal Pay Act 1963, establishing the principle of equal pay

• BUT he also pushed special training for marriage and motherhood, reinforcing traditional roles

• he refused to support Margaret Sanger’s call for federal responsibility for birth control

why was the President’s Commission on the Status of Women a “mixed” one

• it supported equal pay (progressive)

• but also encouraged women to train for marriage and motherhood, reinforcing traditional roles

why did radical feminists begin to campaign more forcefully

• because the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) failed to enforce the Civil Rights Act’s ban on sex discrimination

• this disappointment pushed young, educated feminists toward more forceful activism

what did the ‘new feminism’ of the 1960s reject

idea that women’s purpose was to protect home and family, and it rejected the ‘separate sphere’ that confined women to domestic life

what did Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) argue and why was this radical

• married women were trapped in “comfortable concentration camps”

• they needed to escape domesticity and discover independent identities

• she urged a “new life plan” in which women played a full role in public life

it directly attacked deeply ingrained social attitudes that defined women as wives and mothers first

how did The Feminine Mystique challenge the concept of ‘separate spheres’

• it claimed women should not be confined to the home (“private sphere”) but should seek fulfilment in work and public life (“public sphere”)

• this challenged the entire ideology that had shaped women’s roles for generations

1966

• the National Organization for Women (NOW), founded by Betty Friedan and others

  • it became the major organisation pressing for equality using lobbying, lawsuits, public protest, and mass activism — the organisational base of new feminism

why were feminists slow to support the development of the pill

• because some doctors warned of health risks, and feminists were concerned about its safety

• their hesitation was about health, not about opposing birth control itself

what issue divided new feminists from more traditional women’s rights groups

abortion
NOW’s push for abortion rights caused a major split and led to a loss of support from more traditional women

how many female members of Congress were there in 1969 and what does this suggest

11 women in Congress in 1969.

• Women still had very little political power, and they lacked strong “inside support” to advance women’s rights

• women don’t vote for women just because they’re women, unlike AA

what had happened to the traditional social reform area women had dominated

• it had been taken over by men, especially after the Depression and post-war education reforms

• male academics and social workers displaced women from an area previously dominated by female reformers

3 things that had changed by 1969

1. Women could obtain credit in their own name

• specifically important to own property

1. Job advertisements were no longer separated into ‘Male’ and ‘Female’.

2. Federal funding encouraged companies to adopt equal pay and avoid discrimination

griswold v connecticut

1965

• married women given birth control, to control their family size

• especially benefitted rural, immigrant, religious women

eisenstadt v baird

1972

• gives birth control to all women

roe v wade

1973

• abortion is federally legalised

continuity by 1969

a survey in 1968 indicated that 65% of girls aged 15-19 years wanted to be housewives by the age of 35