Second Wave Feminist Movement

The first wave feminist movement accomplished political equality for women through national voting rights, and the beginning steps for economic equality through the Hull House, which was created by Jane Addams in an effort to provide women with the resources necessary to learn a trade so they could be independent if they were widowed and alone. Although political equality was a good step, economic and social equality for women was still a work in progress. The second wave feminist movement was the first time women such as Betty Friedan, shed light on women being unhappy with the societal roles they were forced into. She did this through her book, The Feminine Mystique. Margaret Sanger, who created birth control during the first wave of feminism, …show more content…
This was taboo to talk about, but she wasn’t arrested for being taboo, unlike Sanger. Even though The Feminine Mystique helped spark the second wave feminist movement, it was still criticized by women who felt that getting married and having babies was their sole purpose in life. I think the reason that feminism struggled to capture the nation’s attention prior to the 1960’s was due to women not being able to unite for one common goal, because they all had different ideas for what roles women should play in society. Some, like Friedan, wanted to find an answer to this “problem with no name”, others were perfectly happy staying home, while some wished they had the luxury to decide between the two. Also, there were social pressures that molded women from a young age to think that they should only work or go to college long enough to find a husband and the reinforcement of these ideas through media outlets like television. Television shows would often portray women in the workforce as comedic, and many shows starred “traditional” families with the men doing “men things”, and women doing “women