How The Modern Women's Movement Changed America?

There was a time where women were hardly acknowledged as anything other than a housewife. From the year of 1848 to the year of 1920, dawned the era of the original Women’s rights movement of America. Eventually, the movement was modernized. A very influential woman in particular, named Betty Friedan, took action during this modern movement. Betty Friedan changed how her generation and future generations view women’s rights by advancing the Women’s Rights movement, by advocating for women being involved in politics and by leading women into thinking they were more than society wanted them to be.

The period 1940-1975 represented a time of trouble within the United States and overseas. As World War II ended in 1945, many Cold war conflicts erupted shortly after that, increasing social controversy among teenagers, minorities and especially women. During this time period, gender inequality was ongoing in many aspects of life. Women were tired of constantly staying home engaging in domestic activities and were dissatisfied in their roles as “housewives”. The rise of the women’s rights movement was spurred by the growth of women joining the workforce, resentment of being treated as inferior to men, and the rise of unity among women.

In the mid-1800s American women united to participate in social reforms movements more than ever before. This movement’s involved: struggle to abolish slavery, outlaw alcohol, and ban child labor among others (Rupp, 1987). Despite the failure of the women's movement to attain one among its primary goals, the passage of the ERA , the movement overall accomplished an excellent deal. For several women activists, management over their bodies was a central issue in the campaign. Women needed to be liberated to explore and control their gender, while not being judged by society. An oversized a part of management during this arena concerned having access to birth control, or contraception ways (Fishman, 1998). The contraception pill, associate inoculant,

1902 – federal suffrage via Commonwealth Franchise Act but with Aboriginal people in some States still without this right

A Woman’s Struggle In the United States, during the early part of the twentieth century, the world was going through a huge business expansion and progressive era. The Progressive Era was a time where “the progressives” worked to make American society a better place to settle in. The Americans during this time also wanted to provide a democratic society, by allowing women the right to vote in elections. During the Progressive Era, women were taking professions as nurses, teachers, libraries, clerical workers, etc.

Women were growing tired of playing the traditional roles that were expected of them, especially after experiencing an independent life outside of domesticity during the wartime period. Feminist writer Betty Friedan participated in the movement by publishing The Feminine Mystique in 1963 in which she “contested the post-World War II belief that it was women’s destiny to marry and bear children. Friedan’s book was a bestseller and began to raise the consciousness of many women who agreed that homemaking in the suburbs sapped them of their individualism and left them unsatisfied” (889-890). Their efforts to participate in the protest movements came with a lot of difficulty as many women experienced sexual harassment and gender discrimination, causing them to later turned to the feminist movement in the 1970s. Members of the feminist movement were focused on contributing to their cause through the achievement of important accomplishments:

As the economy expanded, more jobs were created and offered to women, particularly in the service sector. In turn, many women were struggling to maintain their roles as dutiful wives and mothers in their suburban communities while continuing to work. During the Second World War, women only composed about 25 percent of the workforce. In the post-war era, that percentage started to rise steadily. As more women were beginning to enter the workforce, it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to balance their careers and their more traditional roles at home as the caregivers. A woman’s primary role was deemed to be taking care of the household, instead of a career-driven individual. However, women during this time felt trapped by their suburban lifestyles and craved for more fulfilling lives outside of their homes. The dissatisfaction they felt eventually started to build up into a rebirth of the feminist movement in the 1960s. One significant contribution within this movement was the 1963 book The Feminine Mystique, written by women’s rights advocate Betty Friedan. In her book, she argued that the suburbs were “burying women

We are currently living through a very eventful time in human rights history. With the overturning of Roe v Wade and many states trying to restrict the rights to emergency contraceptives and IVF, now is a perfect time to look back at where our fight started. With the Puritan women, it's essential to discuss the society they lived in and the social roles and expectations they had to live up to. But more importantly, what rights did Puritan women fight for that later affected other women's rights movements in history, and how did that affect our lives? Puritanism started as a religious movement in England in the early to mid-1500s.

A form of socio-cultural break with tradition known as the generation gap, the political Civil Rights and Anti War movements and the rise of radical student movements on university campuses and in the streets. Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique was an attack on domesticity. ‘gradually… came to realize that something is very wrong with the way American women are trying to live their lives today’.

Betty Friedan brought a shift in society’s views on women’s roles in society with her book, Feminist Mystique. These civil rights

Social movements greatly shaped the lives of workers and unions. The labor movement was made up of anyone who worked, including men, women, and minorities. Many synergistic benefits were awarded to members of all groups who were part of the labor movement. However, many failed to truly succeed and were simply used to push the benefits of the majority group.

In the book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan brings attention to what she calls the feminine mystique, or “the problem that has no name”. Through the use of anecdotal narratives, her own personal experiences as a journalist, editor, mother, and the interviews of many women from different backgrounds in order to unveil the truth about the women of the 1950’s. The problem which sparked the second wave of feminism in the United States is one that focuses on the inequality between men and women and the undervaluing of women in both the social and private spheres. The women of the time gave up pursuing their passions, such as getting an education or careers in science or business in order to fit the image of the stereotypical stay-at-home mom whose main goal in life is to raise her children while providing a safe and comforting home for her husband. The Feminine Mystique, as she called it, was the idea of widespread unhappiness of women, despite the preconceived notion that women were happiest when they have a family. Throughout her work, she dives into many of the problems associated with the feminine mystique and builds a powerful concept of what would eventually be labeled feminism.

Betty Friedan believed that women should feel and be treated equal to men. Friedan fought for women to embody their power and worth. She was an activist for the women’s rights movement and a founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Her book, The Feminine Mystique, connected with her readers by illustrating the standards that women were put under for decades. In the 60’s, women were viewed as nothing but maids and child-bearers. Many women were hesitant to take a stand for this taboo subject; their own rights. Friedan took initiative when everyone else was afraid to. Betty Friedan’s contribution clearly advanced the progression of women’s equality. She accomplished this by writing her famous book, giving a debatable speech, and founding the National Organization for Women.

In 1963 there was the second wave of the women’s movement when Betty Friedan published her book The Feminine Mystique, which sole purpose was to point out the, “problem that has no name” (understanding feminism by peta Bowden). The context of the book described that women were being forced to live under their true

Throughout history, Canada’s identity has changed in many ways and there have been many historical events that have greatly shaped and impacted Canada’s history and identity. The Women’s Movement and women’s contribution in the past and throughout history has had the greatest impact on shaping Canada into what it is today. Among many identifying qualities like being multicultural, bilingual, and world leaders, Canada is also country that has changed immensely in the way of becoming a country that has learned to accept women, move towards providing them with equal opportunities and treating them equally. Through economic, social and political movements and actions, the contribution from women and the women’s movement have increased, changed and improved women’s rights and equality greatly. Women worked to create independence and equality economically through their contributions to war on the homefront in WWI resulting in greater workplace equality, socially through the actions of the Flappers in the 1920’s giving women currently, the confidence and strength that they need to speak up, and politically, through the work of the Suffragists including the Famous 5 to allow women to have the same political rights as men.