Second Wave Feminism

(From 1663-1989)

In the early 60s, the media always advocated that a woman’s job was to take care of their husband and child. Women’s prosperity depended on their husband’s career, children’s education and the way she managed her house.

During the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement influenced many white and middle-class women to protest for greater women’s rights--known as second-wave feminism. Most of the members were married women who found the traditional roles of ‘housewife’ and ‘mother’ unfulfilling.

Betty Friedan was one of them, she started her research and wrote a book which was a best-seller that gained support of many women who agreed that being a housewife had left them unsatisfied.

In 1966, Betty Friedan co-founded National Organization for Women (NOW), which set an agenda for the feminist movement.

_{Photo of Betty Friedan leading a group of demonstrators outside a Congressional office in 1971 to show support for the E.R.A. Source.}