The Fight for Women’s Rights
Table of Contents
Introduction
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Introduction
Considered to be the epitome of writers advocating for gender equality and essentially creating the modern Vindication of the Rights of Women, Betty Friedan’s greatest life accomplishment begin with here accomplishments as a Women’s Rights activist. Despite the myriads of writing pieces on the confinements of gender stereotypes, her accomplishments are shined in her co-founding of the National Organization of Women in 1966. She furthered her notions for equality of women by creating the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, which helped give more precedence to women and help them with abortion laws. Incited by other women feminists and looking for a revolution, Betty Friedan is undoubtedly the pinnacle of women advocates to date.
Section 1: Social Problem addressed by the Humanitarian
Betty Friedan was a women’s right’s activist who pushed for the equality of women. Since the beginning of times, society has been predominantly patriarchal, and hence women have been stereotyped and confined because of this. In the Early modern world, Chinese culture had the women foot bound so that they’re feet would decrease in size, and they would essentially become weaker, human beings. She found her passion in this subject because of the repercussions of WWII, where women were severally inhibited and had very limited job opportunities. Some were forced to enlist in the military because of the amounting casualties. Women participation in the war was in fact prominent, however it was degrading and it caused social conflicts because of the confining stereotypes. The issue of legalized abortion became prominen...
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Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights based on the equality of the sexes. However, Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan did not agree that this definition was concrete, and it is essential to know who these women are because they were the start of the women's movement. They created feminism and equality, but each approached this idea differently. Steinem defined feminism to be an advocacy for women to become better than men. While Friedan viewed feminism to have never existed because it should have been a general human rights movement . Their ideas of feminism were split because of how they were raised and the predicaments they faced while growing up. This lead to Friedan’s belief that the National Organization for Women (NOW) had to focus
The “Feminine Mystique” is a highly influential book in the early second wave feminism movement. It is said that it helped shaped the demands of the second wave by insisting for the right to work outside the home, and to be paid equally; the right for reproductive freedom; the demand that women should not be expected to have children and be mothers if they do not want to. Betty Friedan addresses “the problem that has no name” which is the women who are highly educated, suburban housewives that are bored and want something “more” in their life. This is the point where women knew we needed a second wave. Women’s role had gone backwards and they were beginning to realize that they were all experiencing the same “problem that has no name”. “The
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This work was rejected by many of the more conservative elements in the movement and a storm of protest arose as many of her colleagues condemned her. When she dies in 1902, she was no longer the movement’s leader and was unfortunately, not around to see women’s suffrage in the United States. Her crusade lasted for over fifty years of her life, as she learned and profited from her mistakes and failures, realizing that everything isn’t perfect. Even though she has been dead for quite some time now, her concerns, ideas, and accomplishments have endured and continue to influence the feminist movement and other movements for progress in the twentieth century.
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One would have to be a fool to believe that men and women have always been or even are equal. Only in the past century have women been allowed to vote and 50 years since women of color could vote. Even today, women and men are held to different standards. Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was a feminist that was not only an author, but also, the first president of an organization known as the National Organization for Women. She is well-known for her work "The Feminine Manifesto", and she is the author of the article "The Importance of Work". Betty Friedan was a feminist during the height of the women's rights movement, so it is not surprising in the least that her article hit on women's rights. "The Importance
The need for women’s rights began back in colonial America where women were referred to as “inferior beings”. This era, though it is not particularly noted for it’s feminist movements, did hold such people as Margaret Brent, who was a wealthy holder of land in Maryland and was a strong, but unsuccessful voice in securing a place for women in the legislature of the colony. It was also a period where Quakers, and many other individuals, such as famous American patriot, Thomas Paine supported the rights of women, but at the time it was not enough to make a significant difference and it wasn’t until the 19th century that women would get the real chance to make a difference.
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
When comparing the works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Betty Friedan, and Bell Hooks, I assert that both Gilman and Friedan stress that college educated, white upper- and middle-class women should have the incentive to fight against and alter the rigid boundaries of marriage; however, Hooks in her piece From Margin to Center argues that Friedan and other feminist writers during the second wave had written or spoke shortsightedly, failing to regard women of other races and classes who face the most sexist oppression.
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
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It is a terrible feeling to have something you worked so hard on and have it all taken away. Friedan displayed in her books all the hard work women had to do, and have it all taken away. It is not fair, but because of the paradigm shift, it makes women work just as hard as men or even harder. Once women were going back to college, men were having hard times trying to find a job. This was a great point because Friedan shows to everyone all the hard work she put in, even when being married and with children. Women are considered to be weak and less important which can cause gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes will continue unless women as a whole prove to society that we are just as important as
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