Intro to Women's Studies: Second-Wave Feminism (1960s-1980s)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key activists, legal milestones, literature, political breakthroughs, and cultural contributions of Second-Wave Feminism (1960s-1980s).

Second-Wave Feminism

A period of feminist activity spanning the 1960s to the 1980s that focused on cultural inequalities, healthcare and reproductive rights, legal and governmental representation, financial and workplace equality, domestic violence, and traditional gender norms.

Simone de Beauvoir

A French existentialist philosopher, writer, and feminist theorist who wrote novels, memoirs, and philosophy, best known for authoring the 1949 feminist treatise The Second Sex and her relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre.

The Second Sex

A 1949 foundational feminist book by French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir examining the oppression of women throughout history, divided into two volumes (Facts and Myths and Lived Experience) and famous for the assertion: 'One is not born a woman, she becomes one.'

TIME 'Man of the Year' (1975)

The January 1976 issue of TIME magazine that named 'American women' as the 1975 award recipients, highlighting the profound changes in women's roles, identities, and careers across society as the 'Year of the Women.'

Betty Friedan

An American feminist writer and activist whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is widely credited with sparking the second wave of American feminism.

The Feminine Mystique

A concept and 1963 book by Betty Friedan addressing the societal assumption that women naturally find complete fulfillment exclusively through marriage, housework, sex, and motherhood.

"The Problem That Has No Name"

The phrase coined by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique to describe the widespread, unspoken unhappiness and lack of personal fulfillment experienced by American housewives during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Kathrine Switzer

An American marathon runner who, in 1967, became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an officially registered competitor, during which race official Jock Semple attempted to physically remove her from the course.

Title IX

A federal civil rights law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibiting sex-based discrimination—including sexual orientation, gender identity, athletics, harassment, and parenting accommodations—in federally funded education programs.

Gloria Steinem

An American feminist journalist and political activist who co-founded Ms. Magazine, wrote an undercover exposé on the Playboy Club titled 'A Bunny's Tale', and authored the satirical essay 'If Men Could Menstruate.'

"If Men Could Menstruate"

A 1978 satirical essay published in Ms. Magazine by Gloria Steinem arguing that biological traits and functions associated with dominant, higher-status groups are culturally glorified, whereas identical traits in lower-status groups are stigmatized.

Dorothy Pitman Hughes

An African-American feminist, child-welfare advocate, and small-business owner who traveled the country on speaking tours with Gloria Steinem and encouraged her to co-found Ms. Magazine.

Bella Abzug

An American lawyer, social activist, and U.S. Representative nicknamed 'Battling Bella' who co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971.

National Women's Political Caucus

A political advocacy organization founded in 1971 by Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan to recruit, train, and support women running for public office.

Shirley Chisholm

An American educator and politician who became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968 and, in 1972, the first Black major-party presidential candidate and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

The "Pill"

An oral contraceptive using synthetic estrogen and progesterone to repress ovulation, which was clinically tested starting in 1954 and approved by the FDA on May 9, 1960.

Sarah Weddington

An American attorney, law professor, and Texas state representative best known for representing 'Jane Roe' before the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.

Roe v. Wade

The landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (410 U.S. 113) holding that the United States Constitution protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

Sherri Chessen

A Phoenix children's television host ('Miss Sherri' on Romper Room) who sparked intense national debate, protests, and job termination in 1962 after publicly seeking an abortion upon discovering the drug thalidomide caused severe fetal deformities.

Thalidomide

A tranquilizer developed in the 1950s by West German company Chemie Grünenthal GmbH, prescribed for morning sickness, and withdrawn in November 1961 after causing approximately 2,000 infant deaths and birth defects in more than 10,000 children.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

A proposed constitutional amendment authored in 1923 by Alice Paul and passed by Congress in 1972 intended to eliminate legal distinctions between men and women in employment, divorce, property, and other matters.

Phyllis Schlafly

A conservative American attorney and author who founded the STOP ERA campaign and successfully mobilized opposition against ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Sandra Day O'Connor

An American attorney and politician who served from 1981 to 2006 as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

An American jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1993 until 2020 as its second female justice and first Jewish female justice, known as a champion for gender equality and civil rights.

Pat Schroeder

An American Democratic politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997 as the first female representative elected in Colorado.

Geraldine Ferraro

An American attorney and congresswoman who became the first female vice-presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party when she ran on the Democratic ticket with Walter Mondale in 1984.

Hillary Clinton

An American politician who served as First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State, becoming the first woman to win a major U.S. party presidential nomination (2016) and win the national popular vote.

Sally Ride

An American astronaut and physicist who flew on the Space Shuttle in 1983, becoming the first American woman and third woman overall in space.

Linda Alvarado

President and CEO of Alvarado Construction, Inc., co-owner of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, and 3M board member, prominent as a pioneering female and Hispanic commercial general contractor.

Meg Whitman

An American corporate executive who served as president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, CEO of Quibi, and director on the boards of General Motors and Procter & Gamble.

Ferron

A Canadian-born singer-songwriter and poet whose 1980 release 'Testimony' became an anthem within the post-folk women's music circuit.

Helen Reddy

An Australian-American singer and entertainer whose 1972 song 'I Am Woman' became an anthem of the second-wave feminist movement.

Judy Chicago

An American feminist artist and educator known for large collaborative installations examining female history and culture, most notably The Dinner Party.

The Dinner Party

A landmark 1979 feminist installation artwork by Judy Chicago consisting of a large triangular banquet table with 39 place settings dedicated to historical and mythical women.

Barbara Kruger

An American conceptual artist from The Pictures Generation famous for collages of black-and-white photographs overlaid with white-on-red text addressing feminism, consumerism, and autonomy.

That Girl

A groundbreaking 1960s television comedy series starring Marlo Thomas that centered on a single, independent professional woman living on her own in New York City.

Diane English

An American screenwriter, producer, and director best known for creating the feminist television sitcom Murphy Brown and directing the 2008 film The Women.

Candice Bergen

An American actress who won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes portraying the title character on the CBS television series Murphy Brown.

Ellen DeGeneres

An American comedian, producer, and actress whose character on the sitcom Ellen came out as a lesbian in 1997 concurrently with her own real-life public coming out on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah Winfrey

An American media mogul, talk show host, actress, and philanthropist who became the first African-American woman to own an independent television production company.