Feminist Movement Research Paper

Words: 1799
Pages: 8

"Hell yes, we have a quota...We do keep women out, when we can. We don't want them here — and they don't want them elsewhere, either, whether or not they'll admit it." (Collins, 20) This shocking confession came from a medical school dean in 1961; it displays the blatant oppression that women in the United States faced during the 1960’s. The Feminist Movement was a movement that stemmed from the frustrations of women all across the United States. The Feminist movement or Second Wave Feminism was incredibly important because it helped women gain the respect and equality that they deserve. Fed up with being limited in almost all aspects of life, women decided to take a stand. A major focus of the movement was to pass the Equal Rights Amendment …show more content…
Women began to work jobs that men had never imagined they could. The famous icon Rosie the Riveter was created to boost morale and encourage women to join the workforce. And join they did, throughout 1940 to 1945, six million women joined the workforce, half of them filling jobs in wartime production. As these women joined, unions grew stronger and stronger. “...they had a taste of freedom, they had a taste of making their own money, a taste of spending their own money, making their own decisions. I think the beginning of the women's movement had its seeds right there in World War Two." This comes from Dellie Hahne, a Red Cross nurse during the war, she explains how after women were given the taste of the freedoms and independence that men were given, they became invested in obtaining …show more content…
The amendment need for three fourths of the states to pass it in order to ratify it. Hawaii became the first state to ratify the amendment; it was followed quickly by about thirty other states within a year. There seemed to be no doubt that what would have been the 27th amendment to the Constitution would meet its required thirty eight states in it’s deadline in 1979.
But the quick passing of such a radical amendment scared conservative activists who quickly mobilized to prevent it from passing. According to Equal Rights Amendment.org, “Anti-ERA organizers claimed that the ERA would deny women's right to be supported by her husband, privacy rights would be overturned, women would be sent into combat, and abortion rights and homosexual marriages would be upheld.” This ended up being enough to trigger a backlash so large that Indiana was the thirty fifth and final state to ratify the ERA in 1977. It was a major disappointment for feminists but it had still left an impact on