Second-wave feminism

Second-wave feminism refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early nineteen sixties and lasted until the late seventies.

Overview

Second Wave Feminism is generally identified with a period beginning in the early nineteen sixties and ending in the late nineteen seventies. Whereas first-wave feminism focused largely on de jure (officially mandated) inequalities, second wave feminism saw de jure and de facto (unofficial) inequalities as inextricably linked issues that had to be addressed in tandem. The movement encouraged women to understand aspects of their own personal lives as deeply politicized, and reflective of a sexist structure of power. If first-wave feminism focused upon absolute rights such as suffrage, second-wave feminism was largely concerned with other issues of equality ranging from the economic to the reproductive. Second wave feminism often tried to foster a common female identity in which all women could find political solidarity, a tendency that third-wave feminism would later criticize extensively.

Major moments

Among the major events that marked the time known as second wave feminism, were:

The Commission on the Status of Women was created by the Kennedy administration, with Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. The report issued by that commission in 1963 that documented discrimination against women in virtually every area of American life.

That exact same year, Betty Friedan's, The Feminine Mystique, appears on bookshelves. The book was comprised of interview materials with women that buttressed the facts reported by the Commission report. It became an immediate bestseller.

Due to a combined effort from many different sorts of activists, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Title VII made it illegal to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, religion, and national origin. Historians note that the category "sex" was actually included in an eleventh hour attempt to kill the bill.

The rise of radical feminism during the 1970s.

Eight years later, Title IX in the Education Amendments of 1972 (United States) was passed, which forbade discrimination in the field of education. Many people see Title IX is extremely important to young women today, contributing to equal provisions for women's sports in school and feminist campus activism, among other things. However, it became clear early that many existing anti-discrimination laws were not enforced. For instance, within the commission's first five years, it received 50,000 sex discrimination complaints, but did little to investigate them.

Frustrated by what they saw as a blatant disregard for spirit of the law, The National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in 1966. It's mission was to function as a legal "watchdog" for women, along the lines of the NAACP for Black Americans. This was soon followed by other organizations addressing the needs of specific groups of women, including Blacks, Latinas, Asians-Americans, lesbians, welfare recipients, business owners, aspiring politicians, and professional women of every sort.

On January 22, 1973, Roe vs. Wade was passed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision legalized abortion in all 50 states, by stating that the right to decisions regarding one's reproductive system was consistent with the right to privacy under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

Inspired in part by the legal victories of the 1960's and 70's, but still worried about de facto discrimination, many feminists supported and worked to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment into the United States Constitution. The Amendment, proposed in 1972, said:

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Opponents, such as Phyllis Schlafly, charged that passage of the ERA would lead to men abandoning their families, unisex toilets, gay marriages, and women being drafted. Despite polls consistently showing a large majority of the population supporting an Equal Rights Amendment, when the deadline for ratification came in 1982, the ERA was still three states short of the 38 needed to write it into the U.S. constitution.

The Feminist Sex Wars of the late 1970s and 1980s between anti-pornography feminism and sex-positive feminism. The "Sex Wars" led to deep divisions within the feminist movement and also laid the groundwork for many issues that were important in third-wave feminism.

Education

One debate which developed in the United States in response to second-wave feminism revolves around the question of coeducation. During the 1960s and 1970s, many of the most prominent American men's colleges, including multiple Ivy League institutions, became co-ed. Some women's colleges also responded by becoming coeducational, such as the seven sister college, Radcliffe College, which merged with Harvard University. In addition, another Seven Sister college, Vassar College, declined an offer to merge with Yale University and instead became coeducational in 1969. Connecticut College and Sarah Lawrence College also became co-ed during the late 1960s. Additional women's colleges (such as Wells College, which became co-ed in 2005) have more recently adopted co-education.

Other schools responded to the tenets of second-wave feminism by promoting the importance of maintaining their single-sex status. Since 1900, the seven sister college, Barnard College has been affiliated with Columbia University, but it continues to be independently governed. In 1983, Columbia College began admitting women after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard for a merger along the lines of Harvard and Radcliffe. In 1990, Mills College's tentative decision to become co-ed was met with so much resistance from students and alumnae that the proposal was dropped. Sweet Briar College recently renewed its decision to remain single-sex ^*. Of the original Seven Sisters colleges, Mount Holyoke College, Wellesley College, Bryn Mawr College, and Smith College remain unaffiliated women's colleges. In addition, historically prominent women's colleges such as Spelman College, Agnes Scott College, Bennett College, Simmons College, and Scripps College have maintained their single-sex status.

Journalism

Ms. magazine, founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem, contains articles centered around issues related to the second wave.

Legislation

Important works of legislation which developed in the United States as a result of the second wave include Title IX (1972), which enforced the involvement of girls in sports and athletics in school. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which sought to guarantee equal rights under the law for Americans regardless of sex, also developed during this time. The amendment was not ratified, due in part to the extreme difficulty of passing constitutional amendments of any kind. The amendment was of a general nature and did not focus on specific rights. Instead it sought to provide a strong legal precident for other changes and function and a general symbol of feminist empowerment.

Organizations

Individuals involved in the development of these and related issues were often a part of NOW or the National Organization of Women. The late Betty Friedan was one of the founders.

The rise of intentional communities

One interesting and underdocumented aspect of the second-wave was the rise of women's cooperative living communities. An example of one such intentional community was the Chatanika River Women's Colony.

Second wave in popular culture

Ideals and debates associated with second-wave feminism were reflected in popular culture of the 1970s and 1980s (see references below). These figures would be revisted during the late 1990s and early 2000s period of Girl Power.

References

Heide, Margaret J. Television Culture and Women's Lives: "Thirtysomething" and the Contradictions of Gender
Inness, Sherrie A. (ed.) 'Tough Girls : Women Warriors and Wonder Women in Popular Culture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
Osgerby, Bill, Anna Gough-Yates, and Marianne Wells. Action TV : Tough-Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy Chicks. London: Routledge, 2001.
Press, Andrea L. Women Watching Television: Gender, Class, and Generation in the American Television Experience. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.
——— and Tery Strathman. "Work, Family, and Social Class in Television Images of Women: Prime-Time Television and the Construction of Postfeminism." Women and Language, 1993 Fall, 16:2, 7-15.
Roth, Benita. Separate Roads to Feminism: Black, Chicana, and White Feminist Movements in America's Second Wave. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Tasker, Yvonne. Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture. London: Routledge 1998
———.Spectacular Bodies : Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 1993.

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Overview

Major moments

Education

Journalism

Legislation

Organizations

The rise of intentional communities

Second wave in popular culture

Blaxploitation films and characters

Other characters

General films, plays, and television

See also

References