The Women’s Movement II

‘Women’s Lib’• NOW @ one end of movement’s spectrum

– Friedan supported traditional family values & marriage

– Used conventional methods of political pressure & court cases to gain objectives of equal pay and career opportunity

• Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) @ other end– Younger feminists w/ more radical objectives &

different methods– Ran ‘consciousness raising’ groups to ‘awaken’

women to their ‘enslavement’– Saw every aspect of life as impacting treatment

of women. EXAMPLE: Didn’t wear makeup as statement against male supremacy

– Most radical members were lesbians who saw men as surplus; ‘A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.’

WLM Poster: Should a bride to be work as a Hertz girl before marriage? Yes. It gets her used to being taken for granted. And if that’s not perfect training for marriage we’d like to know what is. The Beatles’ Hello Goodbye

WLM & Protest• Bra burning was big

– Bras seen as symbols of male domination– Women wore them to appear more attractive– Going braless was symbol of one’s liberation

• Beauty ideals protested– 1968: Miss America Beauty contest

protested– Claimed contest treated women as objects– Protestors crowned a sheep as Miss World

• Were protests successful?– WLM claimed they raised profile of issue– Media loved them– Critics claimed protests belittled effort &

were not taken seriously

The Doors’ Light My Fire

Abortion• Important campaign for radical feminists

– Abortion was illegal in USA– Feminists saw discrimination against women– Woman should not bear child she didn’t want– WLM said fetus part of woman’s body,

therefore woman could choose what happens to her body

• Early 1960s: Griswold v. Connecticut– Conn. outlawed abortion & birth control

devises– Estelle Griswold’s attorneys didn’t argue

against abortion laws directly– They argued laws were illegal restriction on privacy of ordinary Americans

– While abortion is not protected by Constitution, privacy is inferred

– 1965: SC rules 7-2 in favor of Griswold

Roe v. Wade – A Nation Divided• 1970-73 Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey)

– sued against abortion laws anonymously– Troubled teen, raised in reform school,

mother of three, abused by husband– Perfect test case for feminist attorney Sarah

Weddington to legalize abortion nationally

• Jan 22, 1973: SC ruled 7-2 in favor of Roe– anti-abortion laws in all states struck down

• Controversy continues– Norma McCorvey converted to Christianity &

seeks to overturn Roe v Wade– Many constitutional scholars agree that privacy

argument attributed to 14th amendment and applied to abortion is weak

– Current SC is divided on issue, w/ probable 5-4 or 4-5 split should abortion case come to court now

Opposition to WLM• STOP ERA most high profile opposition

– Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was suggested constitutional amendment

– STOP ERA feared erosion of family values

• Phyllis Schlafly led opposition– Argued feminists devalued woman’s role by

equating it with men– Opposed abortion, seeing it as denying

rights to unborn children

• 1982: ERA defeated by three votes–Why?– ‘Pro-Life’ movement growing in strength– ‘Pro-Choice’ movement caught off guard– Poor women’s lives getting worse, not better– Feminist movement radicalized, isolated– Freidan left NOW due to ‘lavender menace’– Most Americans saw women as having their

own values, different from those of men

Focus Task: The Women’s Movement

• Prepare a presentation entitled ‘The mixed success of the Women’s Movement in the 1960s and 1970s’

• Below are the methods of campaigning used by the CRM activists:– Court case/legal action– Non-violent direct action– Empowering ordinary people– Marches and demonstrations– Violent protests

• Which of these were also used by feminists? Give examples.

• Which do you think was the most important for the Women’s Liberation Movement? Explain.

Fin

PSDs on Women’s Movement• "SECTION 1 - Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or

abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."SECTION 2 - The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."SECTION 3 - This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."– Proposed text of ERA amendment

• The Positive Woman starts with the assumption that the world is her oyster. She rejoices in the creative capability within her body and the power potential of her mind and spirit. She understands that men and women are different and that those differences provide the key to her success as a person and fulfillment as a woman.– Phyllis Schlafly, The Power of the Positive Woman, 1977