Feminism in the 70’s was the forward thinking and radical culmination of a long history of women fighting for freedom and equality. The feminist movement of the 70’s was all about female empowerment, screaming for radical change. The women of the 70’s were no longer willing to suffer under patriarchal politics like the women of the past. They marched in the streets of their towns, and the streets of Washington using physical presence to reinforce mental awareness of their ideas. They also used direct action, changing their actions at home in new ways, like going out to work and demanding equal pay. The women worked hard to justify child rearing as a job, one that to be fair, should be shared by both sexes in a more equal way. Some burned their bras, some grew out their body hair, some cut off their hair, but all of them were inspired by similar ideas: that a woman is a free creature, equal to men, and shouldn't be limited by restricting concepts and expectations of "what it means to be a woman". To them being a woman meant essentially whatever the woman wanted it to mean for herself. The movement, which had been building for years, was spurred on by the inspired writings of radical feminists and the work they did in Washington, on college campuses, and on the streets trying to boost female power in politics. Considered the mother of the Feminist movement of the ‘70s, Betty Friedan paints the picture of the typical American housewife with this excerpt from her history changing book, the Feminine Mystique:
“Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffered Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night — she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — "Is this all?" Friedan goes even further to say: “The problem that has no name — which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities — is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.”
Friedan believed that for women to happy, and truly equal with men, they had to free themselves from socially defined sex roles placed on many of us from birth. She believed women needed to work beyond the home to be fulfilled.
“The only kind of work which permits an able woman to realize her abilities fully, to achieve identity in society in a life plan that can encompass marriage and motherhood, is the kind that was forbidden by the feminine mystique, the lifelong commitment to an art or science, to politics or profession.”
Friedan even goes so far as to draw conclusions about the feminine mystique, the term that she used to define this effect, and its potential effects on child rearing.
“Strange new problems are being reported in the growing generations of children whose mothers were always there, driving them around, helping them with their homework - an inability to endure pain or discipline or pursue any self-sustained goal of any sort, a devastating boredom with life.”
This era of the feminist movement succeeded in creating great change out of great struggle. The Equal Rights Amendment was reinstated in 1972, lawfully protecting equal rights of all sexes and races concerning any federal, state, or local law. It was written by a woman named Alice Paul. Multiple government programs assisting women and children were created, including the Women Infants and Children program in 1975, which is commonly known as WIC. The Equal Opportunity Credit Act of 1974 made assistance for college available equally amongst sexes. Many laws concerning rape and sexual harassment were revitalized further protecting women and men from injustice. This era saw more women than ever in high political and economical positions, further exemplifying the growing equality of sexes, which still benefits us today.
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