The womens Movement

• Eleanor Roosevelt

  • First lady from 1933-1962
  • only female reporters allowed at her press conferences - forced newspapers to employ women
  • contributed to the 1964 civils right act being passed
  • contributed to the 1963 equal pay act being passed
• Betty Freidan

  • Wrote a book 'The feminine mystique,' challenging ideas that women are for domestic duties only
  • interviewed 1000s of female graduates and published articles saying educated women felt unfulfilled
  • the feminine mystique was a bestseller
• What does NOW stand for


  National Organisation for Women
• Women's liberation movement beliefs 


  • more radical than feminism
  • some believed only lesbians could achieve true liberation from the patriarchy
  • Some believed that men and women should live entirely separate lives
• NOW (National Organisation for Women)


  • challenged pay discrimination and won women $30 million in legal proceedings
  • organised a march of 50,000 women in new York
  • Women disrupted senate with placards and banners
• What did the the Woman's liberation movement do?


  • crashed the miss world pageant and crowned a sheep miss world
  • set up support groups for rape and domestic abuse survivors
  • militant protests, vandalism, sit ins, rallies
• Reproductive rights

  • abortion was illegal so about 200 women died due to dodgy abortions per year
  • 1973 Roe v wade ruling legalised abortion
• Opposition to the women's movement

  • Traditional values
  • Phillys Schlafy
  • Mockery from the media
• Rejection of radical feminism 


  • The press often mocked women protesting for their rights
  • People often jokingly accused feminists of being mentally ill
• Traditional values 


  • many people saw the women's movement as destroying the nuclear family
• What did Phillys Schlafly do?

  • catholic mother of 6
  • politically active
  • prevented an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) with her stop ERA movement
  • republican