In the 1960’s many social movements came about which included the Civil Rights Movement, the Student Movement, the Gay Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement. Contrary to what many believe, the Civil Rights Movement did not end in 1968 but shifted into a new phase of ideologies which laid the foundation for feminism. Both the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement had similar goals in mind which were to create opportunities for their minority groups that were just as equal and important as the majority. But these movements had to deal with comparable questions of how they would go about pursuing such prosperities effectively.
The Women’s Movement was primarily powered by the black Civil Rights Movement which laid the foundation …show more content…
In The Feminine Mystique Friedan wrote, “…scientists noted that America’s greatest source of unused brain-power was women. But girls would not study physics: it was ‘unfeminine’” (Charters, p.496) The book gave a platform for women and encouraged women to work for social and political change. Friedan also claimed “It was no long possible to ignore that voice to dismiss the desperation of so many American women.” (Charters, p.499) The social and political changes effected by the early women's movement thus were in the service of a sex-neutral model of society. In this, each individual would be afforded an equal opportunity to shape her or his own life regardless of sex. Differences between women and men, which had consistently been a central ideological and behavioral component of limiting women to a separate stereotyped "feminine" sphere, came under attack. The personal fact of one's sex became an arena of political struggle, as increasing numbers of feminists challenged the prevailing ideology that sex and gender were legitimate constraints on the right to self-determination. Political justice demanded that gender make no difference. Expectations were high that women would achieve the freedom they had been denied and that sexism would be defeated. For the first time a woman's life, a marriage might get to wait a few years to make sure it was about
The Women’s Movement was primarily powered by the black Civil Rights Movement which laid the foundation …show more content…
In The Feminine Mystique Friedan wrote, “…scientists noted that America’s greatest source of unused brain-power was women. But girls would not study physics: it was ‘unfeminine’” (Charters, p.496) The book gave a platform for women and encouraged women to work for social and political change. Friedan also claimed “It was no long possible to ignore that voice to dismiss the desperation of so many American women.” (Charters, p.499) The social and political changes effected by the early women's movement thus were in the service of a sex-neutral model of society. In this, each individual would be afforded an equal opportunity to shape her or his own life regardless of sex. Differences between women and men, which had consistently been a central ideological and behavioral component of limiting women to a separate stereotyped "feminine" sphere, came under attack. The personal fact of one's sex became an arena of political struggle, as increasing numbers of feminists challenged the prevailing ideology that sex and gender were legitimate constraints on the right to self-determination. Political justice demanded that gender make no difference. Expectations were high that women would achieve the freedom they had been denied and that sexism would be defeated. For the first time a woman's life, a marriage might get to wait a few years to make sure it was about