Women

=//__WOMEN__//=

**Purpose:**
The goal of the women’s feminist movement in the 1960’s was to push for women’s economic, political and social equality. Women fought for the right to hold jobs and to earn as much money as the men did during these times. Most of the men however felt that women were not important and did not deserve to be acknowledged as equals. When women tried to fight back against men and tried to hold a higher social status, they went unacknowledged and were brushed off to the side.

Organizations that fought for women’s equality were led by women who felt the need that they needed more credit in society. Some of them were the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions was one of the many organizations that addressed women’s inequality in the work place. This bill although was focused on many African American complaints, it also addressed the problems women’s face in the work place. Many women felt that this bill did not cover enough of their grievances so they created the National Organization for Women to help achieve many other goals. This organization created more child- care facilities and helped to fight for equal education for women. (Danzer 771) They asked to get rid of discrimination when they were interviewed for jobs, this bill made it so that companies could not refuse a job to someone based off of their gender. Roe vs. Wade was also important and fought for the women’s right to obtain an abortion.(Danzer 771) Women wanted to obtain an abortion because it gave them more rights over their bodies instead of letting all the men make the decisions. The women then won over congress when they passed the Equal Rights Amendment. This allowed women to not be denied by theUnited Statesbecause of gender.

Women’s goals during this time period may have seemed hardly unattainable. But they conquered inequality with class and did their hardest to maintain equal rights. Many of the groups never gave up regardless of all the humiliation and embarrassment they went through. It was difficult for women to go from being the everyday house wife to actually holding high jobs in society and making as much money as men. Many men were opposed to this and fought hard against it but women still maintained pushing for equality and freedom. Now in society women have just as much of a right to hold a job in society as the men do and we have all the women of the 1960’s to thank.

**Methods:**
Women never resorted to violent tactics in trying to obtain their goals. Many of them protested and led demonstrations to fight for women’s equality. Some women even led a march in order to promote what they were fighting for.

These methods were somewhat effective in trying to achieve their goals. Women refused to use violent tactics and protested trying to fight for their rights. This how ever was very effective because the Supreme Court felt they had to do something about it or else it would continue to progress. Women made all of their problems very public and gained support and attention by doing so.

**Outcomes:**
Women achieved many goals during this time period. The National Organization for Women prompted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to declare sex-segregated job ads illegal and stated that employers could no longer refuse to hire women. Women also pushed for congress to pass a ban on gender discrimination in any education programs or activities that received money from the government, this law was passed as well. Congress also passed the Equal Rights Amendment which was equal rights for everyone, including women, and you could not be denied something because of your gender. This was a big win for women across the country and was one of their greatest triumphs. Women conquered many problems they felt were unfair and a violation to their rights. Women now could be viewed as complete equals.

Women accomplished many different things during this time period. They were very successful in achieving complete equality to men. The law now viewed women as complete equals but some men still had the problems of looking at women differently then they used too. Over time, some men adapted to the change but others viewed women as the same unequal house workers they were before. Politically women were complete equals and should have the same rights as men, but socially most men refused to view women as though they were just as good as them.

**Citation:**
McDougal Littell Inc. "A New Womans Movement Arises." //The Americans// //Reconstruction through the 20th Century//. Ed. Gerald Danzer, et al. 1999. 770-72. Print.

=//**__Photos__**//= This photo is of women “bra burning”. The bra burning stated that their appearances were for them. Taking off the bras and throwing them away in their freedom trashcans made a statement that women should NOT be judged for their looks and how beautiful they were. Women were now comfortable in their own skin, without bras and feeling good about themselves. The bra burning finally gave women a freedom of being natural but still looked beautiful. //(Campbell)//

//Myth Alert//. World, 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. . //Bra Burning in the 1960's//. N.d. //Women's Rights 1960's//. Google Sites, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. .

Women strived for more equality and wanted greater control over their own bodies. These women wanted to be protected over the abuse they received from men. At the time women just played the average housewife; cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and taking care of their families while men were out at work. Women began to feel sick and tired of this feeling and wanted to fight for their rights. It was time they believed they were more to society than just a housewife cooking and cleaning. This photograph shows an importance with women marching for their equality and how much they strived to gain their equal rights in society. //( McDougal) //

// WomensLib 1970 Washington,DC //. 26 Aug. 1970. //Wikipedia//. N.p., 30 Mar. 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. . McDougal Littell Inc. "A New Womans Movement Arises." //The Americans// //Reconstruction through the 20th Century//. Ed. Gerald Danzer, et al. 1999. 770-72. Print.



This picture is of women fighting for their Equal Rights Amendment. Alice Paul is one of the women that lead this movement. They believed if you are a man or a woman Equal Rights should not be denied. Gender should not prevent a person from gaining equal protection. People who were against the ERA grew fear that it would now put women in combat, terminate laws that protected homemakers and same-sex marriages would grow. The ERA won 35 states approval in 1977 and began a new lifestyle for their role as a woman. Now woman were given lifetime jobs, education, and even a role in political field. (Equal Rights Amendment).

//Equal Rights Amendment March//. N.d. //The Equal Rights Amendment//. Alice Paul Institute, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. [].

=__**Videos**__= media type="youtube" key="Vi5WG6BN76A" height="315" width="420" This video is of Miss Ohio 1968 in the Miss America and how she is now embarrassed to be apart of this pageant. Women protested because they were angry at the fact that this pageant judged women of beauty. This was the beginning of “bra burning”. They threw away high heels, bras, //Playboy// magazines, and even hair curlers in what they called the freedom trashcan. The items in the trashcan never actually got burned because it was a hazard. The crowning of a sheep also happened to make fun of the fact that these women were crowned for beauty. This was important because it ended the judgment of women for their appearance and women finally made an announcement that beauty was not everything. Stewart, Leslyn. Interview by Canton. //Canton////'s Miss Ohio 1968 Talks About// //Women's Rights//. //Youtube//. N.p., 27 Aug. 2008. Web. 15 Mar. 2012..

[] This video shows when Betty Friedman was the average housewife that most women were in the 1950’s and 60’s. She cooked, cleaned and cared for her children as well as her husband. Ten years later she realized that she was not fulfilled with the life she was living. Betty felt that she had more meaning to life than just being a housewife. Surprisingly, she was not the only one who felt that way. This feeling sent her to write a book __The Feminine Mystique.__ She wrote about how women should be entitled to more rights and more doings around their house and community such as working. __The Feminine Mystique__ sparked the idea of women becoming one to make a change for a new lifestyle. //Betty Friedan//. Prod. Ambrose Video Publishing. Ambrose Video Publishing, 2010. //Discovery Education//. Web. 9 March 2012. [].

=__**Primary Documents**__= In this short piece of Judith Nies’ novel, __The Girl I Left Behind: A Narrative History of the Sixties__, it illustrates how Nies lives to tell her story going through the Women’s Movement in the 1960s. She describes how the women she saw and idolized were brave, courageous, and stood for what they believed in. Nies refers to the movement as “the most successful and transformative social movement of the twentieth century.” Judith Nies grew up and became a “pioneer feminist”, which was out of the ordinary when women were supposed to be the trophy wife and house mother. Nies obtained jobs from summer waitress to being "one of only a handful of professional women on Capitol Hill". This demonstrates the advancement women, because women were not usually working on Capitol Hill during this time. Not only did she hold a job on the Capitol Hill, she also was apart of the Woman Strike for Peace campaign against nuclear testing and the formation of NOW. During this time she met several women activists with Madeleine Albright, Paul Wolfowitz, Dorothy Day and Gloria Steinem. Judith Nies tells her memories and how she grew as a woman through the 1960s in this time of change. The Girl I Left Behind: A Narrative History of the Sixties." //Publishers Weekly// 28 Apr. 2008: 128. //Academic OneFile//. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.

The passage __Alice Paul__, it shows how women fought through many strikes to fight for women’s rights in the 1900’s. She participated in several movements, but many of her achievements were through the Women’s Movement. Paul was a suffragist in the 1900’s who tried to help women vote for their life’s causes. During a silent protest outside the White House she was arrested and sent to jail. In jail she went on a hunger strike and refused to eat anything, and then guards tried to force feed her. They said if she wouldn’t eat then they will send her to a psychiatric ward. Alice Paul is a perfect example of a fighter and a survivor during the harsh times for women. Her life resembles how hard it was for women in the 1900s, because how restricted they were. Not to mention how cruel the punishments were for them when they were only trying to battle for what they believe in. Paul is an astounding woman who was a role model for many women activists in the 1900’s. Scholl, Elizabeth. "Alice Paul." //Cobblestone// Jan. 2010: 38+. //General// //Reference Center// //GOLD//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

=__**Music/ Poetry:**__=

Music:
media type="youtube" key="h7ZGevA4T5E" height="315" width="420" “Respect” by Aretha Franklin has been called the “anthem of the women’s movement.” The song was originally recorded by Otis Redding demanding respect from a woman, then was transformed into Franklin’s version, stating that she has and does everything her man needs and wants, and all she asks in return is respect. A lot of women from the 60’s can relate to this statement, each one of them were viewed as a typical stay at home house wife, but never had the respect from their husband that they deserved. This song was titled the anthem because almost every woman could relate to everything that they were going through, and the women’s movement was basically based around respect from others that put them down. The lyrics are strong at powerful, and the fact that is was sung by an African- American women and was still so popularly viewed, shows how meaningful it was.
 * < Franklin, Aretha. "Respect ." 15 Mar. 2012. Music video. ||

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 * < "Respect (song)." //Wikipedia// . N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2012.

Poetry:
Susan Griffin “Three Poems for a Woman” Three poems for women (Susan Griffin)

1.

This is a poem for a woman doing dishes. This is a poem for a woman doing dishes. It must be repeated. It must be repeated, again and again, again and again, because the woman doing dishes because the woman doing dishes has trouble hearing has trouble hearing.

2.

And this is another poem for a woman cleaning the floor who cannot hear at all. Let us have a moment of silence for a woman who cleans the floor.

3. And here is one more poem for the woman at home with children. You never see her at night. Stare at an empty place and imagine her there, the woman with children because she cannot be here to speak for herself, and listen to what you think she might say.

2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. . ||
 * < Griffin, Susan. "Three Poems for Women (Susan Griffin)." //Two See//. N.p., 13 Apr.

In this poem Griffin describes how the voice of a woman just doesn’t matter. She has so many chores and things to do around the house that she can’t be distracted. The women of the 60’s played the roll of a typical “house wife,” a person to stay at home, clean the house, wash dishes, make food, and take care of the children. It was almost seen as a stereo type, and in this poem, Griffin acknowledges that. It’s a very odd poem and you really have to pay attention and connect the women of the 60’s to what she is saying. She describes how there are woman that are at home and could not be here so you can hear what she has to say, in comparison to the 60’s, she couldn’t be here because she was taking care of the house and everything else her husband and men of the society expect her to do, but they couldn’t complain because that’s how things were back then. Until the women started a protest.

__** Conclusion **__
Nowadays there are still plenty of women's organizations to continue the movement of' equality. Many organizations include the __Center for American Women and Politics__ which gave a greater knowledge of the women who participate in politics and the government. There is also the Institute __for Women’s Policy Research__ that centers on poverty, employment wages, family problems, and of women participating in politics. The __National Organization for Women__ is a place that will offer more information about women including their rights, reproduction rights and diversity. These are just a few out of the hundreds of organizations made for women created by women.

"Women and Social Movements Today." //Women and Social Movements in the United// //States//. Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender, 5 Oct. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. < @http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/links/ today.htm>.

Today there is no national organizations or professional groups for any Women’s Movement. There are groups women can be apart of, as well as men, that support the rights of women and their progress. Although, there is Feminist organizations which have newspapers, and group meetings that discuss the goals they want women to reach. Feminists are more likely to join groups that are anti-globalization, social justice or anti-corporate groups. Epstein, Barbara. “Feminist Consciousness After the Women’s Movement.” //Monthly Review Foundation.// Volume 54, Issue 04//.// Monthly Review Foundation. September 2002. Web. 15 March 2012.  These groups have basically gained the power that they need. Comparing 2012 to the 1960's has a dramatic change. Women can now vote, they don't always have to stay at home and do chores, women can gain a steady paycheck, and can support themselves and their family which is something they have never imagined. All women today still face certain problems and most women are targets, because that is how it has always been and they are seen to be weak compared to men. In the long run, the movements of the 60's have accomplished their goals.

"The National Organization for Women's 1966 Statement of Purpose." //National//

//Organization for Women//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. .