Women's Rights In The 1960s

The 1960s were a period of change. The passing of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 proved to the American public that positive change could occur through awareness and protest. Rather than accept racism and sexism as a society norm, people began to fight against these types of injustices. While there have been people that have protested sexism prior to the 1960s, the modern feminist movement began in the late 1960s due to the awareness and success of the black American movement in terms of equality. Many women had been associated with both civil rights and antiwar protests (Lytle 269). Having seen the awareness raised through various protests, certain events helped shift their agenda to women’s rights. While the protests for civil rights and antiwar efforts brought awareness, many women great frustrated by their inability to stop the war, or grew tired of …show more content…
Take for example the Miss America Pageant; the pageant celebrated sexism by portraying women as sex objects. The pageant contestants all featured long legs, toothy smiles, big breasts, and little opportunity to display their IQ (Lytle 269). Friedan’s organization NOW helped raise awareness of the media’s portrayal of women. The NOW organization fought to give women full equality. NOW brought further awareness to equal pay, the right of women to fully participate in society, and be fully equal at home and at work (Lytle 272). Women simply wanted to be treated as equals. The expectation to be homemakers with little career choices frustrated modern feminists. The pay gap between men and women was wide, women could be punished for having abortions, birth control was frowned upon, and the media perpetuated a sexist ideal. The agenda of the modern feminist reinforced demands for sexual equality including: information on birth control, access to contraceptives, legalized abortion, and an end to the sexual double standard (Lytle