Passionate Politics: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again
Song lyrics: “I am Woman” by Helen Reddy
Introduction
The Women’s Rights Movement of the 1970s
catapulted out of the rebellious sixties counterculture with ardent
momentum. By the early seventies,
American women were making great strides towards political, economic, social
and personal equity. Politically, much
legislation was passed in the seventies, such as Title IX, the Equal Pay Act
and Educational Equity Act, which continue to guarantee freedom for American
women today. However, the mass media’s
portrayal of the movement and its leadership was usually tinged with negative,
demeaning commentaries and sexist stereotypes about feminism. By the end of the 1970s, feminist leadership
had fragmented and many Americans wanted to distance themselves from the
Women’s Rights Movement.
Guiding
Questions
What are the major political achievements of
the Women’s Movement? What role did the
mass media play in constructing negative images about the movement and the word
“feminism?” What equal rights are women
still trying to achieve or protect in modern America? What are local connections to the larger
movement and media coverage of national events?
Why did the Women’s Movement internally split and collapse at the end of
the 1970s?
Learning
Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit,
students will be able to
1. Identify the political goals of the modern
Women’s Movement.
2.
Explore the considerable progress shaped by
the Women’s Movement in the political, economic, educational, and personal
realm between 1970-1979.
3.
List some of the attitudes and beliefs
obstructing the progress of the Women’s Rights Movement, paying special
attention to the mass media’s role in constructing these images.
4.
Learn about the many leaders who
inspired this movement, including Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Flo Kennedy
and Kate Millet.
5.
Identify opposition to the Women’s
Movement.
6.
Create awareness about the many personal
freedoms which contemporary women enjoy thanks to the efforts of women in the
1970s.
7.
Identify the major achievements of the
1970s Women’s Movement such as Title IX, Roe v. Wade, Ms. Magazine and the Women’s Strike for Equality.
8.
Analyze the political, personal and
social reasons why the Women’s Movement fragmented at the end of the 1970s.
Preparing
to Teach this Lesson
·
Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and
other useful Websites.
·
For excellent and extensive historical
backgrounds reference The World Split
Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America, by Ruth Rosen.
·
Watch the A&E Biography on Gloria
Steinem.
·
Burn a CD copy of Helen Reddy’s song, “I
am woman” to play to your students to generate a discussion before and after
the unit.
·
For background information on the
general scope of the Women’s Rights Movement, EDSITEment offers two companion
lessons designed to supplement your classroom curriculum through organized
access to archival materials
·
Who Were the Foremothers of Women’s Equality?
·
Women’s Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs
Suggested
Activities
1. Political
Achievements and Failures
2. Feminist
Leadership
3. Women’s Strike
for Equality
4. Reproductive
Rights
5. Title IX
6. Ms, magazine publicizes the
personal
7. The Mass Media
and the Movement
8. Connecting to the
Past
1. Political Achievements and Failures
The political
achievements and legislation inspired and created by the Women’s Rights
Movement of the 1970s is outstanding.
Feminists focused on creating laws to banish economic inequality in
marriage, business, banking and credit.
The movement prompted the passing of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Act and Educational Equity Act, not to mention the groundbreaking Title IX
ruling in 1972. Women also became
politically active for the first time in decades creating the National Women’s
Political Caucus. Furthermore,
reproductive rights, personal rights, battered women’s shelters all were also
issues in which feminists passionately rallied.
To have students
understand the history of the Women’s Rights Movement, go to www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html. Click on the appropriate subtopics and answer
the corresponding questions.
New Issues: Name
five issues which the Women’s Movement promoted during the 1970s.
ERA:
What did the Equal Rights Amendment
propose? Who was Phyllis Schlafly? What happened to the ERA?
More Complex Issues Surface: Analyze
the modern feminist issues and compare and contrast them to issues promoted
during the 1970s.
·
Women's enrollment in military academies and service in active
combat. Are these desirable?
·
Women in leadership roles in religious worship. Controversial for
some, natural for others.
·
Affirmative action. Is help in making up for past discrimination
appropriate? Do qualified women now face a level playing field?
·
The mommy track. Should businesses accommodate women's family
responsibilities, or should women compete evenly for advancement with men, most
of who still assume fewer family obligations?
·
Pornography. Is it degrading, even dangerous, to women, or is it
simply a free speech issue?
·
Sexual harassment. Just where does flirting leave off and
harassment begin?
·
Surrogate motherhood. Is it simply the free right of a woman to
hire out her womb for this service?
·
Social Security benefits allocated equally for homemakers and
their working spouses, to keep surviving wives from poverty as widows.
2.
Feminist Leadership
Feminist leaders in
the 1970s Women’s Rights Movement were an intriguing array of
personalities. Their activism took
various roles from organizing strikes and marches, writing books and articles
to creating awareness about women’s issues.
These women ardently struggled for equal rights and forever impacted
future generations with their passion and activism.
Divide the class into
small research teams of 3-4 students and assign each team one of the following
feminist leaders. Have each group focus
on investigating their leader’s role in the Women’s Rights Movement of the
1970s, including activism, personal writings, public persona and legacy. Analyze their successes in regards to Cynthia
Harrison’s quote:
They
had produced legislation mandating equal treatment for women
in education and
in credit, eliminating criminal penalties for abortion,
changing prejudicial
rape laws, banning discrimination against pregnant
women,
equalizing property distribution at divorce, and offering tax
credits for
childcare.
·
Robin Morgan
·
Gloria Steinem
·
Betty Friedan
·
Shirley Chisholm
·
Bella Abzug
·
Flo Kennedy
·
Kate Millet
These feminists are
nationally renowned, but to find local heroines from your own state visit: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/states/
Click on All
States: Map of Birthplaces this
will provide you with an Encyclopedia
Britannica map. Students may select
a state to find a list of biography links for women from that state.
Reading feminist literature and musings is one
way to truly capture the essence of the Women’s Rights Movement. Have students visit the following links to
gain an understanding of various social, political and personal issues that
were written about in the 1970s. Print
and discuss articles.
·
“If Men Could Menstruate” by Gloria Steinem
http://www.mum.org/ifmencou.htm
·
“Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Syfers
http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/wantawife.html
·
Sexual Politics by Kate Millet
http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/millett.html
·
“Is the Women’s Movement in Trouble?” by Roberta Lynch
http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/premature.html
·
For other classic feminist writings go to:
http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/classic.html
3. Women’s Strike for Equality
To honor the 50th
anniversary of the 1920 suffrage vote, Betty Friedan organized a national
“Strike for Equality.” Feminists rallied
under three central demands including the right to abortion, the right to
childcare, and equal opportunity in employment and education. Around the country, women marched, picketed,
protested, held teach-ins, and rallies and produced plays and skits. Indeed, the 1970 Women’s Strike was an
outstanding success and the catalyst of the Women’s Rights Movement.
For historical
background regarding this momentous event go to the following links.
·
http://web.bryant.edu/~history/bryant/70swomen.htm
·
http://newtimes.rway.com/2001/011701/decrow.shtml
·
http://www.now.org/history/protests.html
To celebrate Equality Day (August 26th)
with your students consider the following suggestions for integrating lessons
into your curriculum.
·
Celebrate at your workplace by honoring women who have made
contributions to your company or to your field
·
Celebrate at your women's club or civic organization with a
luncheon, a speaker or a video
·
Decorate with timelines or posters celebrating the contributions
of women to American life
·
Honor outstanding women in your community at an inspiring evening
event
·
Put together a display at your local library, bookstore or
community center
·
Put together a scrapbook or memory book
about significant women or events for women in your community or workplace
4. Reproductive Rights
No other element of
the Women’s Rights Movement generated as much controversy as the debate over
reproductive rights. As the movement
gained momentum so did the demand for birth control, sex education, family planning
and the repeal of all abortion laws. On
January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision
stating:
We
recognize the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from
unwanted
governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting
a person as the
right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her
pregnancy.
To help students
explore the many events and legislation surrounding reproductive rights in the
1970s go to: http://member.plannedparenthood.org/site/PageServer?pagename=timeline
From there, students
can click on the 1970s timeline and research national trends, Supreme Court
cases and laws that impacted the Women’s Rights Movement.
Have students read
excerpts from the actual 1973 Supreme Court decision in
Roe v. Wade: http://womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1187/context/ourdailylives
For additional
historical background of the Roe v. Wade decision go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/49315.stm
To examine articles
focusing on the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision go to
the following links:
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1188/context/cover/
http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0401/22/a05-42792.htm
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/roevwade/
For a local
connection go to the New Hampshire public radio link and access a program
titled: Roe versus Wade in New Hampshire
- 30 years later
http://www.nhpr.org/view_content/4412/
Furthermore, to give
students an understanding of current abortion laws in their state go to http://members.aol.com/abtrbng/stablw.htm and examine
individual state legislation and abortion rulings.
5. Title IX Education Amendments
The Title IX
Education Amendments passed by Congress in 1972 banned sexual discrimination in
any educational institution, legally guaranteeing equality in sports,
scholarship money, sports facilities and support services.
To gain an
understanding of the importance and history of Title IX, students should visit www.now.org
click on Issues and proceed to the Title IX link. From there students should connect to current
Title IX articles. Have students choose
one article that interests them, print and share with the class.
To help students
explore the significance of Title IX in their own communities research the
local newspaper coverage of the 1972 event.
Students might also examine old yearbooks to see when female sports
became mainstreamed into their high school.
Promote a discussion with your students about sports equity in their
school, including uniforms, sports equipment, practice fields and courts. Examine the legality vs. reality and practice
of Title IX in American high schools.
Students can look at recent controversies
regarding Title IX, which in its most basic statement says, "No person in
the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any
educational programs or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
(From the preamble to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.) Title IX
is variously praised as the vehicle that has fostered the progress of women's
athletics in the U.S. (most notably demonstrated by the performance of American
female athletes at recent Olympic Games) and condemned as reverse
discrimination and the death knell to many collegiate athletic programs. Using
the resources of the EDSITEment-reviewed Oyez Project: A Supreme
Court Multimedia Database, students can explore the historical and legal
contexts of the debate over Title IX. A search of the archived cases for
"Civil Rights: Sex Discrimination: Other" yields the following
instances in which the Supreme Court has tackled the issue of Title IX:
·
Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999)
·
NCAA v. Smith (1999)
·
Gebser v. Lago Vista Ind. School Dist. (1998)
·
Grove City College v. Bell (1984)
(Borrowed from the EDSITEment lesson
plan #437, “Women’s Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs”.)
www.edsitement.neh.gov/printable_lesson_plan.asp?id=437
6.Ms. Magazine publicizes the personal
In 1972, Gloria
Steinem launched a mainstream magazine focused on real women’s issues. The response to Ms. Magazine was phenomenal and the preview issue sold out
immediately. To help students understand
the significance of this publication during the Women’s Rights Movement read
Carolyn Heilbrun’s comment:
For
women throughout the country, it was mind-blowing.
Here was,
written down, what they had not yet admitted they
felt, had always
feared to say out loud, and could not believe
was now before
their eyes, in public, for all to read.
To help students
explore the continued importance of this publication, go to www.msmagazine.com. Click on About and read the Ms. Herstory. Have students answer the following questions:
·
How does the title of the magazine set
it apart from other mainstream women’s magazines like Good Housekeeping, Glamour, and Ladies
Home Journal?
·
Why was the content of Ms. so relevant to women’s lives in the
seventies? How did the makeup of this publication differ from other women’s
magazines at the time?
·
How does Ms. magazine continue to support the feminist movement and women’s
issues today? How has this magazine
profoundly and permanently affected American society?
To extend this
activity to current women’s issues click on Feminist Wire
and have students chose a recent news article.
Students might also spend some time browsing the Ms. website and feminist Internet gateway. Students may also want to visit the www.msfoundation.org
to gain an awareness of the legacy of Steinem’s creation.
6. The Mass Media and the
Movement
The mass media is a
powerful force in shaping how Americans perceive national events. Certainly the negative, condescending and
biased media coverage of the 1970s Women’s Movement influenced American perceptions
of feminism and female inequality and greatly shaped national attitudes about
the term “feminist”. Consequently, the stubborn image of the radical,
man-hating, “bra-burner” influenced many women and men to distance themselves
from the movement, just as it was reaching its peak.
Divide the class into groups and assign each
team one or more of the following archival documents. Assign the documents to
the groups according to your knowledge of their work styles so that each group
will take about the same amount of time to finish the assignment below. It's
fine for some documents to be analyzed by more than one group. Note to students
the variety of media among the documents.
Cartoons:
·
Bartholomew, Charles Lewis. "Cartoon Showing President Grover
Cleveland, Carrying Book 'What I Know About Women's Clubs,' Being Chased with
an Umbrella by Susan B. Anthony, as Uncle Sam Laughs in Background."
Between 1892 and 1896 on America's Library, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
·
Cartoon of Anthony on Famous American Trials, a link from the
EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library
Poster:
·
Which Do You Prefer? The Home or the Street? on the Marchand Collection of the Area 3 History and
Cultures Project, a link from the EDSITEment resource History Matters
Magazine Humor:
·
Homely Girls, Frank Leslie's Budget of Fun, January 1866 on the
EDSITEment-reviewed website U.S. Women's History Workshop
Newspaper Article:
·
Newspaper Account of the Proceedings of the 1850 Convention from
the New York Herald, Friday, October 25, 1850 (covers morning session
only) on the EDSITEment resource U.S. Women's History Workshop
Poems:
·
Poem: Who's to Be President? on the EDSITEment-reviewed
website U.S. Women's History Workshop
·
Poem: Woman's Mission, by Ebenezer Elliot. The North Star, October
3, 1850 on the EDSITEment resource U.S. Women's History
Workshop (written to defend the rights of women, this poem was also
published in Frederick Douglass's newspaper, The North Star)
·
Poem: Woman's Power, by Frank J. Walters. Godey's Lady's Book,
February 1850 on the EDSITEment-reviewed website Women's History
Workshop.
Groups should conduct a general analysis of
their documents using the Cartoon Analysis Worksheet, the Written Document
Analysis Worksheet, or the Poster Analysis Worksheet, all offered by the EDSITEment resource Digital Classroom. Then students
should use the handout "Nineteenth Century Attitudes Toward Women:
Inferences and Evidence," on pages 1-2 of the PDF file (see Preparing to Teach
This Lesson, above, for download instructions), to focus on some specific
attitudes toward women. Remind students to think about the assumptions about
women these various documents express. What fears of (some) men do they
exploit?
Reconvene in a whole-class setting. Have student
groups share their documents and the conclusions they derived from them about
attitudes toward women. Did students notice any other attitudes/assumptions
about women not included on the worksheet? Make a list of these attitudes.
II. Attitudes Today
What attitudes about women are expressed in the
media of today? Using the list of assumptions and attitudes completed in Part 3, above, as a
starting point, students could create a form or forms for analyzing any or all
of the following to gauge attitudes about women today:
* situation
comedies on network television
* newspaper
cartoons
* television,
print, or online advertisements
* articles
in women's and/or girls' magazines
* public
opinion in the local community
Each form would be a matrix listing, in the
leftmost column, the specific attitude(s) for which a student should be looking
while allowing spaces to the right for noting sources and evidence. Working individually
or in-groups and focusing on one particular medium, students should cite
specific examples they believe either perpetuate or debunk the stereotypes,
assumptions, and attitudes on their list. Reconvene the class to share results
orally or in written summaries and analyses of the data collected. What
attitudes toward women did student research detect? Do all media express the
same attitudes? Do particular media express particular attitudes? Which, if
any, attitudes from the past persist?
(**Part II and I were borrowed from the EDSITEment lesson plan
#437.)
3.
Contemporary Anti-Feminist Rhetoric
Have students analyze
the backlash of antifeminist organizations on the Internet. Discuss how these Websites play on past
fears, prejudices and stereotypes about feminism and women’s equality. Connect these themes to the many obstacles
facing women in the 1970s Women’s Movement.
Antifeminist Sites World Wide
www.gabnet.com/lit/demoh15e.htm
Anti-Feminist, Pro-Men Web Page
http://www.freewebs.com/antifeminist/
4.
Local Media Influences
Have students visit
their local historical society or public library to research their regional
newspaper. Investigate the newspaper
archives focusing on media coverage of the Women’s Rights Movement. Students may have a particular event and date
in mind or they may simply want to peruse the paper’s focus during the 1970s. Examine how the newspaper covers feminist
events and leaders.
8. Connecting to the Past
Herstory Interview Project:
As a final assessment of this unit, have students
interview a local
woman who was becoming a professional during the 1970s. The following is a diverse list of
significant women in Cheshire County, New Hampshire who continue to play an
important role in their community through local government, support services,
education and medicine. Have students
choose a woman to interview based on their interest in her profession.
State Liquor commissioner;
former Keene mayor; state representative and 12-year member of the Democratic
National Committee
Representative of the 25th NH House District (Keene)