2.3 - Protest and personal freedom - growth of women's movement Flashcards
(17 cards)
In what ways was life unequal for women in the early 1960s?
The economic inequality of women was pronounced increasing numbers of women after the Second World War worked by 1963 most women in low paid jobs such as waitresses cleaners shop assistants or secretaries educated women were expected to choose female occupations such as nursing and teaching which conform to traditional stereotypes of women as providers of nurture and care many employers were sexist as in the mid 1960s congresswoman Martha Griffiths Colton airline that had fired a stewardess when they married all reached age 32. Demonstrated inequality in employment opportunities for example women constituted 80% of teachers but 10% of principles and only 7% of doctors and 3% of lawyers gender inequality was often enshrined in the law and practise 18 states refused to allow female jurors and six said women could not enter into financial agreements without a male Co signatory schools, expelled pregnant girls and fired pregnant teachers, some states prohibited my woman from accessing contraception. Patrick Moynihan, a leading figure in president nixon’s administration admitted that male dominance is so deeply a part of American life that males don’t even notice it not surprisingly increasing numbers of articulate middle class women agitated the equal pay equal opportunities and equal respect in the 1960s
- How significant was the coincidence of other protest movements?
Other protest movements encouraged women’s activism in the 1960s. first assured that protests could bring desired results such as legislative reform second their sexism inspired a reaction as women faced discrimination and sexual harassment in civil rights organisations such as SNCC and the SDS. In 1964 women can constituted 33% of SDS members but only 6% of the leadership although SDS approved a pro women’s rights resolution. the accompanying debate was characterised by male ridicule and contempt for gender equality having been politicised by organisations such as the SDS. some disillusioned and moved on to campaign for women’s rights some anti war protesters became feminist in early 1968 hundreds of woman attended an anti war meeting in Washington then marched to Arlington National Cemetery in stage a mock ‘burial of traditional womanhood’
Who was Betty Friedan and what did she describe in The Feminine Mystique (1963)?
In 1963 Smith College graduate and suburban housewife Betty Friedan drew attention to the dissatisfaction of many middle class housewives with domesticity women’s magazines films and advertisements in the 1950s frequently promoted domesticity is the Norma and the ideal bold are encouraged to play with dolls to emphasise their femininity and to play down their intellectual capacity so woman took refuge in tranquillizers the quantity taken doubled between 1958 in 1959 or alcohol freedom wrote about what she described as the problem that has no name in the feminine mystique in 1963 she said that women were imprisoned in a comfortable concentration camp taught that they could design no greater destiny than to glory in their own personality that Disney required focusing upon the needs of their children husband brother upon their own needs freedom to urge him to break out of the camp and fulfil their potential through education and work her best selling book tape to reservoir of discontent especially among college students
- Who were the NOW and how successful were they?
In 1966 Betty Friedan and others formed the national organisation for women (NOW) because they were unhappy when the government equal opportunities Commission (EEOC) refused to enforce title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which banned the discrimination in employment on the basis of sex as well as race. The NOW aim to monitor the enforcement of the legislation under demand an amendment to the constitution that affirmed women’s rights to equality in all areas they used a variety of tactics including:
· Litigation for instance representing laurino weeks who said that the southern belle company had contravened the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it denied her application for promotion to the switchman because women would not be able to lift a weight of 30 lbs weeks and then out last initial case in 1966 but were victorious in 1969 after several appeals
· Political pressure for example the now produced a Bill of Rights for women in 1968 that sought to enforce Title VII, equal access to education unemployment maternity leave federally funded childcare to assist working mothers and reproductive rights then now was the first national organisation to endorse the legalisation of abortion
· Public information campaigns for instance in 1967 then now help gain national attention for the flight attendants fight against sexist airline advertisements such as ‘I’m Debbie fly me’
Protests for example in 1970 the now organised a national women strike for equality an estimated 100,000 women gave the strike active support thousands March with ‘don’t iron while the strike is hot’ banners some protesters dumped their children on their husbands desks
How did the movement for women’s liberation differ from that for women’s rights?
The women’s rights movement in the early and mid 1960s sought equal rights and opportunities in work. the late 1960s saw the development of women’s liberation movement which put a new emphasis upon publicising an opposing sexist oppression and cultural practises that objectified women the movements did overlap among the leading radicals were Joe freeman Shulasmith Firestone and Ti grace Atkinson
What sorts of methods did the ‘women’s lib’ movement use?What sorts of methods did the ‘women’s lib’ movement use?
The women’s Lib movement used a variety of methods including:
· attending a national conference for instance in 1967 freeman and Shulasmith attended a national conference of new politics in Chicago conference director William pepper said that their resolution on gender equality did not merit floor discussion this inspired freeman to produce a newsletter voice of the women’s liberation movement which encouraged the formation of wounds innovation groups nationwide
· The first national meeting of women’s liberation activists was held in Chicago where freeman lived freeman said the women’s liberation movement was a younger branch of the women’s movement that prides itself on its lack of organisation eschewing structure and damning the idea of leadership thousands of systems around the country are virtually independent of each other she saw the woman’s liberation room as complementary to the older organisations such as now
· Support for women’s Lib was generated through Freeman’s newsletter and through conscious raising meetings in colleges and in the community these meetings sought to raise awareness of gender inequality and to encourage activism to combat it awareness certainly increased in 1961 a quarter of women polled that they felt discriminated against but after conscious raising it reached 2/3 by 1974
· Sheila Smith Firestone auntie grace Atkinson were excellent examples of women libbers who opposed the male domination that went too far for many members of now the experience at the national conference of new politics inspired Shulasmith Firestone to establish a women’s liberation group in New York City and New York radical feminists which health conscious raising meetings focused upon the issue of male subordination of females. In her book, THE DIALECTIC OF SEX (1970) she suggested solutions such as in vitro fertilisation to free women from their biologically determined position in society
To grace Atkinson was an early member of the now but left the organisation in 1968 because she considered it sufficiently radical she set up a group called the feminist in NYC Atkinson argued that the sexual revolution had benefited men more than women as it given them easy access to women’s bodies she is critical of marriage which she likened to slavery and pornography
What issues was the movement disunited over?
Woman activists frequently disagreed over tactics and issues:
· Some members of the now felt that the beliefs of Shulasmith Firestone and Ti-Grace Atkinson on the dramatic demonstrations of some supporters of women’s Lib made the American public less sympathetic for example in 1968 a group of over 100 women disrupted the sensor to parade at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City with a stink bomb and crowned a live sheep Miss America. They threw bras, girdles, curlers, false eyelashes, wigs and other ‘women’s garbage’ into a freedom trash can
· Some women activists disagreed over the demand for legalised abortions (less important, mostly agreed on legalised abortions, other issues more crucial)
· Breakaway groups such as the radical lesbians resented the lack of support from the now for lesbian women
However despite the disunity the women’s movement proved more lasting than most 1960s protest movements it’s effectiveness was demonstrated by the response with the federal government
- How far did the government concede to their demands?
President Johnson responded favourably to feminist lobbying within 1967 executive order banning gender discrimination by federal contractors and the NOW monitored enforcement fighting over 1000 discrimination cases an running $13 million in payback for women by 1971 the Democrat controlled Congress was sympathetic to women’s demands title I acts of the education amendments of 1972 prohibited sex discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funds more significantly both houses of Congress agreed to the equal rights amendment in that year however president Nixon opposed the era and abortion he vetoed the 1971 child development act which was stablish the national system of childcare centres the pool working mothers the feminist had long sought mixing body of mothers should stay at home and feared the cost of the system however he recognised gender equality was an increasingly important political issue worried the only 3.5% of the people whom he appointed to office or women and did nothing to stop the EEOC taking enforcement increasingly seriously Supreme Court was supportive of women’s rights and ruling such as the weeks versus southern belle and Reed versus Reed in 1971 in the latter the Supreme Court ruled that idaho’s insistence that males must be preferred to females with regard to administration of the estates of the deceased was unconstitutional and that laws differentiating man and woman had to be reasonable not our arbitrary
Equal Pay Act of 1963
- Prohibited wage discrimination
- Equal work… on the basis of skill, effort, working conditions, responsibility; ensured fair comparisons of roles.
- If employers violated EPA ‘63, could file
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex and national origin.
When Title VII was enacted, airlines subjected female flight attendants to discriminatory requirements around weight, pregnancy, marriage, and other issues. After one of its very first investigations, the EEOC found that an airline’s policy of firing only female flight attendants once they married was sex discrimination in violation of Title VII. Through this and other efforts, Title VII led to changes in that industry and others allowing women to be judged on their abilities, opening the doors of opportunity.
Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court ruling of 1965
- They found that the constitution protects married couples’ freedom to use contraception without government restriction
- Protected married couples’ right to privacy and banned states from denying contraception to married couples
1967 Executive Order extending full affirmative action rights to women
It was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson on October 13 1967.
It banned discrimination on the basis of sex (gender) in hiring and employment in both the United States federal workforce and also as part of government contractors.
Advanced workplace as it ensured women got the same kind of equality as other marginalized groups.
1968 EEOC decision ruling illegal sex-segregated help wanted ads
-Previously in help-wanted advertisement, common in newspapers, discriminated against gender, through the creation of men’s and women’s columns, separating what was deemed by traditional standards as ‘women’s work.’
-In August 1968, the EEOC reversed its prior guidelines on help wanted ads, stating simply that “the placement of job advertisements under separate male and female column heading violates the law”.
Title IX and the Women’s Educational Equity Act (1972 and 1974, respectively, educational equality)
- Title IX: Federal civil rights law in the US that was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government
- Women’s Education Equality Acts (74): development of a nonsexist curriculum, personnel training programs, vocational and career counselling
Title X (1970, health and family planning)
The Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 is a federal grant program dedicated to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services. It was signed into law under President Richard Nixon on December 24, 1970.
By 1969, both Congress and President Richard Nixon supported a bill that will provide adequate Family Planning services. In 1970, the Senate passed Title X unanimously, and the House voted 298 to 32 to pass the bill on to Nixon, who signed it into law.
Title X is legally designed to prioritise the needs of low-income families or uninsured people (including those who are not eligible for Medicaid) who might not otherwise have access to these health care services. These services are provided to low-income and uninsured individuals at reduced or no cost.
Roe v. Wade of 1973
Roe v Wade ruled (7–2) that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. The ruling was that a person may choose to have an abortion until a foetus becomes viable, based on the right to privacy contained in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Viability means the ability to live outside the womb, which usually happens between 24 and 28 weeks after conception.
