Women, in their pursuit of gender equality, have evolved greatly from the early modern period to the postmodern world. Whereas early modern women simply focused on getting a good education, modern women focused on acquiring equal legal rights as men and postmodern women focused on expanding upon a woman's role in society from that of a traditional housewife to a woman with the same career goals and aspirations as a man.
In the early modern period, not only were women not even given the most basic of natural rights in many countries, they were also regarded as intellectually inferior to men. As such, women were not accepted to the same schools as men and thus, women did not receive the same level of education that men received. For instance, …show more content…
Thus, in an attempt to further promote equal opportunity between men and women, a second wave of feminism emerged between 1968 and the 1980’s, which can be best characterized by women’s refusal to acclimate to society’s rigid belief of what an ideal woman should be or act like (Mancia, Class, 12/2). This is perfectly illustrated in the Feminine Mystique, written by Betty Friedan, in which Friedan discussed the unhappiness of many young women in the 1950’s and early 1960’s despite many of them being married and having children, living the life a woman is “supposed” to have. Furthermore, Friedan complained of young women who were being taught that “truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights” (Friedan, p. 271). Instead, they were being taught that it was a woman’s “job” to essentially be a housewife (i.e. stay home, clean the house, make food for her family, take care of the kids, etc...) (Friedan, p. 273). However, Friedan largely opposed this view and believed that it embodied the false prototypical stereotype about women. Rather, Friedan believed that a truly feminine woman would do just the exact opposite and does aim for a career, higher education, and political rights in the same way that a man would (Mancia, Class, 12/2).
In many ways, second wave feminism can be seen as a direct product of some of the other emancipation movements that took place in the postmodern period such as the African American civil rights movement and the decolonization movement. The success of these liberation movements encouraged the second women’s rights movement and acted as a model for women seeking change in the postmodern period
In the early modern period, not only were women not even given the most basic of natural rights in many countries, they were also regarded as intellectually inferior to men. As such, women were not accepted to the same schools as men and thus, women did not receive the same level of education that men received. For instance, …show more content…
Thus, in an attempt to further promote equal opportunity between men and women, a second wave of feminism emerged between 1968 and the 1980’s, which can be best characterized by women’s refusal to acclimate to society’s rigid belief of what an ideal woman should be or act like (Mancia, Class, 12/2). This is perfectly illustrated in the Feminine Mystique, written by Betty Friedan, in which Friedan discussed the unhappiness of many young women in the 1950’s and early 1960’s despite many of them being married and having children, living the life a woman is “supposed” to have. Furthermore, Friedan complained of young women who were being taught that “truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights” (Friedan, p. 271). Instead, they were being taught that it was a woman’s “job” to essentially be a housewife (i.e. stay home, clean the house, make food for her family, take care of the kids, etc...) (Friedan, p. 273). However, Friedan largely opposed this view and believed that it embodied the false prototypical stereotype about women. Rather, Friedan believed that a truly feminine woman would do just the exact opposite and does aim for a career, higher education, and political rights in the same way that a man would (Mancia, Class, 12/2).
In many ways, second wave feminism can be seen as a direct product of some of the other emancipation movements that took place in the postmodern period such as the African American civil rights movement and the decolonization movement. The success of these liberation movements encouraged the second women’s rights movement and acted as a model for women seeking change in the postmodern period