Modern FeminismDuring the 50's, women were expected to be model house wives who cooked, cleaned, and took care of children. They also had to be good wives to their husbands at war. However, Betty Friedan published a book called The Feminine Mystique that asked the question "is this all there really is to life? Is this all women are capable of?" That changed the perspective of many woman around the United States and shaped the modern feminism. It lead to the development of NOW, or the National Organization for Women. It was the largest feminist movement since the suffrage. All of this can be traced back to the Civil Rights Movement.
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Freedom Trash Cans
Freedom Trash Cans were very similar in idea to Sit-Ins during the Civil Rights Movement. Essentially what happened is that women would go to Miss America pageants and have demonstrations outside. They threw away objects such as fake eyelashes, hair curlers, high heels, bras, and many other feminine objects in protest. These demonstrations became known as Freedom Trash Cans because of their peaceful way of showing their anger and discontent with how they were being treated: as glorified dress up dolls.
New Words during this Era
New words such as "sexism" were created and became popular during this time. Again, it is similar to the word "racism" that entered the American vocabulary in 1932. Another word that became popular during this period is "Ms" instead of miss. It made it more formal for unmarried woman who only went by their last name. It was more inclusive because men already had "Mr" if they went by their last name.
Advancements for Women
By the 1980, there were more female undergraduates than there were men country wide. Women now were getting fair access to education instead of being the model housewife anymore. Since women were becoming more educated, they rejected the idea of being a housewife and instead chose the career path which lead to less marriage and a plummet in birth rates. Divorce rates also skyrocketed because women were acting upon the unhappiness instead of keeping it inside as they were taught.
Birth control
Birth control was invented by women in 1960, it was the first of its kind. Before the feminist era, birth was seen as a responsibility that women had that they now wanted to go against. Catholic churches around the country frowned upon this and made birth control illegal in many states. However, the Supreme court case of Griswald vs. Connecticut ruled in the favor that those laws were unconditional and made it legal again. The result of this was the skyrocket of premature sex. This also had an effect on relationships. Couples were now living together before getting married.