Essay On 1970s Feminism

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The 1970s: The Second Wave of Feminism The 1970s was a progressive period of time for feminism and feminist movements. With less marriages, smaller families, and more single men and women living alone, the idea of a strong, independent woman was becoming a widely accepted idea (Bondi 334). Along with that, several media formats created during the 1970s encompass this new hope. For example, Alien is one of the first movies to ever incorporate a strong female lead. Politically, 1975 marks the International Women’s Year, created by the United Nations, and later is considered the start of the National Decade of Women. Mental aids like the Virginia Slims cigarette advertisements (e.g. see fig.2) and the international symbol of women’s equality (e.g. …show more content…

Instead of the submissive housewife and mother, more and more women were expressing their hope to become something more. Women started to feel as if the rights of men, should very well be the rights of women as well. Feminist movements in the 1970s originated from recent civil rights movements. These movements consisted mainly of middle-class women, thus creating a substantial impact on much of America. The impacts of the 1960s sexual revolution and the distribution of the birth control pill also encouraged women to identify as individuals, instead of just wives (“United States History – The Women’s Movement” par. …show more content…

One of the biggest creations was the Equal Rights Amendment, designed to create equality for women. The amendment presented several perspectives on what it means to be equal with man. To some, this meant losing certain benefits women have now in order to be equal with man, while others proposed having the best of both worlds. Originally proposed in 1923, the National Women’s Conference brought the amendment to the forefront of congressional matters (Rossi

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