N.O.W. & C.W. (National Organization of Women) Statement of Purpose The N.O.W. Statement of Purpose was a historic document written to take action against the discrimination of women in all aspects of life in which they are affected. This document was written by Betty Friedan and Pauli Murray to represent the organization and spread their message and goal throughout the United States. Friedan and Murray were the co-founders of the National Organization of Women, founded in 1966 to end sex discrimination and provide women with reproductive healthcare. Murray was a trans African American woman born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1910. She attended Hunter College in New York City and graduated with a degree in English Literature. As a trans woman, …show more content…
Women at the time had a fear of being labeled as “feminists” or losing their supposed qualifications as mothers or their home caretakers, therefore, working women tended to sit on their hands until well into their careers. The source states, “In 1964, of all women with a yearly income, 89% earned under $5,000 a year; of all full-time year-round women workers earned less than $3,690; only 1.4% of full-time year-round women workers had an annual income of $10,000 or more.” The co-founders of the organization, Murray and Friedan, were among the women who were most affected by these circumstances. Murray being an African American woman greatly limited or disqualified her from many job opportunities and industrial positions while Friedan could only work as a housewife and a freelance writer due to her lack of education opportunities compared to that of a man. As a trans woman, Murray was also denied any sort of gender-affirming healthcare, and women as a whole were still deprived access to reproductive healthcare or contraceptives even after the founding of the American Birth Control League in 1921 and the start of commercial production of birth control in the United
“Even in the modern day world, women struggle against discriminatory stigmas based on their sex. However, the beginnings of the feminist movement in the early 20th century set in motion the lasting and continuing expansion of women's rights” (Open Websites). One such organization that pushed for women’s rights was the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) established in 1890. The NAWSA was the largest suffrage organization and worked toward securing the right to vote. The NAWSA however was split into two, the NAWSA and the National Women’s Party (NWP), when suffragists were disagreeing on how to achieve their goal.
The National Organization for Women’s 1966 Statement of Purpose was written by Betty Friedan, whose published book “The Feminist Mystique” in 1963 have made a big impact on American women at that time. This source is effective in using the rhetorical strategies such as ethos, pathos, and logos to convince the public to take action to help women can be treated more equally and can take part in any aspects of society, especially their privileges and responsibilities should be fair and equal in compare with men.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
During the 1960’s there was a lot of major events that happened in the United States. The 1960’s was known as a decade of “culture and change”, there were lots of political and cultural changes. (Anastakis, 22) One particular movement that was important to society and the country was the Women’s Movement also called the “Feminism Movement”. The first women movement which happened a few decades before focused on gender equality and overcoming different legal problems. The 1960’s women’s movement focused more on different issues such as family, sexuality, workplace issues, and also rights of reproductively. (MacLean, 45) I chose to cover this topic because women have always been influential throughout history, and I being a woman it is important to know about our rights and who paved the way for us.
Crystal, E. (1918). Birth Control in the Feminism Program. In E. C. DuBois & L. Dumenil, Through Women’s Eyes: An American History with Documents (p. 509). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Women’s history in the United States has always been represented as a struggle for rights. Wealth and status were tied to either their fathers or husbands. In the early 1900s, women were afforded the traditional roles of society. The majority of women worked in the home. If they were of the 18% young or poor women, they also worked in factories as laborers, manufacturing items for the booming industrial revolution (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). During this time period the workplace was not in compliance with current safety standards. There was no minimum wage yet, work conditions were horrible and they worked long hours, “In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was 53 hours,” (Fisk, 2003). Women took “pink collared jobs” or “woman’s work” that paid less than men’s wages. These jobs such as secretaries, waitresses, garment workers and housekeepers are still significantly underpaid today. Many widows and mothers were not able to make ends meet and often had to have their children work as well to support the family. Women had no rights to change these conditions or their circumstances. The inability to partake in the democratic process was something many women were angry with; Alice Paul was one of them.
One would have to be a fool to believe that men and women have always been or even are equal. Only in the past century have women been allowed to vote and 50 years since women of color could vote. Even today, women and men are held to different standards. Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was a feminist that was not only an author, but also, the first president of an organization known as the National Organization for Women. She is well-known for her work "The Feminine Manifesto", and she is the author of the article "The Importance of Work". Betty Friedan was a feminist during the height of the women's rights movement, so it is not surprising in the least that her article hit on women's rights. "The Importance
After women fought for their right to vote and Congress passed the 19th Amendment of the Constitution, women believed they were capable of doing anything. Before the 1920s, women were considered lower than men, treated poorly, and didn’t have equal opportunities. Women were not given the same opportunities as men because it was believed that women could not tolerate as much work as a man. Women were not educated and therefore didn’t have jobs. They were housewives who cooked, cleaned, and took care of their children.
Throughout 1895 to 1950, women wanted to be more publicly involved in society and this was aided because of the Liberation Movement. This support for women can be seen around the world, especially in the United States as well. Although these programs would not make women equal to men, these programs gave still gave women more choices.
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "National Organization for Women - NOW." Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. .
To ensure that women would have the same opportunities as men in jobs, education, and political participation, the National Organization for women was formed in 1966 (Foner 944). The sixties also marked the beginning of a public campaign to repeal state laws that banned abortion or left the decision to terminate a pregnancy to physicians instead of the woman (Foner 945). Although the sixties were a decade in which the United States became a more open, more tolerant, and a freer country, in some ways it became less of a thing. During the sixties, America intervened in other nations and efforts were made to stop the progress of the civil rights movement. Because of America’s foreign policy and Americans fighting against the civil rights movement, it is clear that the sixties in America were not purely a decade of openness, tolerance, and freedom in the United States.
Over the years, there have been many fights for freedom, one of the major ones being the fight for women's freedom. It is known as a major movement called the Women’s Right movement, and women fought against many traditional values, trying to have their voice heard, and gain support for rights and freedom. Many groups gathered to protest, with many ongoing debates, and speeches taking place, working towards just one common goal, allowing a woman’s voice to be heard in their fight for freedom. Women’s freedom would bring many benefits for them, in many different areas that include voting rights, more job opportunities, equality, and many more benefits. This made it a noticeably big objection that the women worked to overturn.
Every woman in the world has heard at least one “you cannot” in her lifetime. Believe it or not there used to be a time when society believed that statement and women were confined to cooking, cleaning, or housekeeping. Today, there are many amazing women pursuing their dreams, such as Hillary Clinton, a very famous politician, and Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. The women back in the 1840’s are the reason women today have this freedom, the women who changed feminism forever. The women’s suffrage movement was a long-standing battle for equality between men and women that should have been instituted from the start of our country due to women’s increasing political intelligence and work ethic. This became instituted thanks to Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony whose work was primarily in the 1880’s. Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony are still some of the most influential women in history because of their bravery and mental strength in the women’s suffrage movement.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) believes in equality between males and females, which is planning on happening (Statement of Purpose, 1966). Women were given many new rights that they have never been able to have before.