In the 1960Æs, two major factors contributing to social and political change were feminism and poverty. The feminist movement in the 1960Æs promoted choice and equality for women in many different arenas of their lives. The National Organization for Women was and remains an instrumental group in bringing about such changes. President Lyndon Johnson declared a nationwide War on Poverty and pushed through a significant amount of legislation to assist the disadvantaged in the United States.
Several factors contributed to the rise of feminism in the sixties. An increasing number of mothers were working, which was becoming more accepted. Additionally, access to education for women increased; in 1960 35 percent of college students were women. Traditional gender roles were undermined by these factors, as well as the introduction of the birth control pill and IUDs to control fertility, an increased life expectancy, and a rise in the divorce rate (Henretta 829).
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, barring discrimination in employment on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or sex. When the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission avoided implementing it, feminist author Betty Friedan and others formed the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966 (Henretta 829-830). NOWÆs main concerns were economic and social: equal treatment in education and employment, with recognition of maternity and child-care rights, the right of women to control their own reproductive lives with abortion and contraception, and a non-punitive approach to welfare (Chalmers 155). It was a movement of the political center with a traditional organizational structure and dues-paying members. Betty Friedman, author of The Feminine Mystique, which promoted womenÆs self-realization through employment, education, and other activities outside the home, served as NOWÆs president. Membership grew from 1,000 in 1967 to 15,000 in 1971, an...