The Madwomen In The Second Wave Feminism

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The Women’s Liberation Movement, or Second Wave Feminism, is defined as feminist activity that took place between the 1960s and the 1970s. Amidst gender inequality in social, political, and economic spheres, women grew discontent with their inferior positions and sought to take action to extend their rights. Encompassing growing sentiments that rejected their male dominated society, women began to reflect their ideals in new works of literature. By adopting new subject matters, critiquing the prolificacy of male orientated novels, and bringing to life socially aware strong, female characters that rejected their subordinate positions, women were able to voice their desire for equality and recognition as complex individuals. The …show more content…

This led to a change in the way women were written about. Encompassing the new strength found by women, writers now sought to capture women as strong, multi-dimensional individuals who broke away from traditional stereotypes. Females were now portrayed as having the ability to do anything a man could do and had “their own lives, a set of morals, and were not so willing to be sacrificial lambs for other …show more content…

No longer submissive and objectified, women were now lively and had the ability to do a large array of things without the help of a man. They didn’t exist for the pleasure and amusement of the male leads but instead propelled the novel through their own actions. Such depictions that deviated from the norm broke down many barriers for women and allowed them to present new identities to the public. Through these new dimensions given to female leads, women were able to showcase their desire of expanding their role and show society and that their identity wasn’t to be belittled by their

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