1941 - 69

Question 1

How many working women were there by 1945?

Answer 1

• 5 million more than there was in 1940
• a majority being married women

Question 2

How was WWII a turning point for women rights and opportunities?

Answer 2

• Similarly to the first world war, when men went to go fight in war, women were expected to replace them in the workplace
• However by 1945 there was evidence that women’s attitudes to work was changing, in 1919 a majority of married women were happy to return to their domestic roles, however in 1945, 75% wanted to remain in paid employment
• Married women proved that they could do physically demanding and skilled labor just as well as men, this helped to challenge the stereotype and showed society that women could succeed beyond the domestic role
• Icons like Rosie the Riveter became a symbol of female strength and independence, this made women gain new levels of confidence and independence and this shifted public attitudes about gender ( SOCIAL RIGHTS)

Question 3

What happened post WWII ?

Answer 3

• There was a clear indication that the concept of seperate spheres had not been eradicated
• The media began to play a important role in reinforcing the long held belief that a women’s place was the home
• it did this through magazines which elevated the ideal American Family which glorified the image of the housewife and women were portrayed as happiest when cooking, cleaning and raising children
• Dr Benjamin Spock also published his famous ** common sense book of baby and child care ** in 1946 which emphasised the important role of mothers in the home and it became the best seller

Question 4

How was the 1960s a new age for women in the workplace?

Answer 4

• by 1960 there was twice as many working women as in 1940
• Mostly in relatively low prestige jobs for wages that remained significantly lower than men’s
• There was an increase in the number of well educated wives entering the workforce from households with an income provided by the male bread winner
• the idea of a second income was becoming acceptable, as it enabled better off families to enjoy the good things of life

Question 5

How did the Cold war increase employment opportunities for women ?

Answer 5

• The successful launch of Sputnik I and II meant that the USSR was ahead in the space race
• So the US recognised that they needed to harness all its talents and abilities to get ahead of the game, including females
• This led to further expansion of educational provision, particularly in Universities

Question 6

What were the origins of new feminism ?

Answer 6

• During the 1950s and 60s there was an emerging group of women who were clearly focused on the pursuit of their rights and were prepared to challenge the tradition gender norms
• its emergence was a response to the failure of the government to respond positively to the demands of equal rights and in particular equal pay
• It also emerged out of frustration with the post war gender roles, as after world war two, women were pushed back into domestic roles
• they got inspiration from the civil rights movement which was gaining momentum and national attention

Question 7

What did JFK do to help women?

Answer 7

• was crucial by supporting the equal pay act of 1963, which made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same work

Question 8

How did the new feminism impact women opportunities and rights?

Answer 8

• The new feminist movement was more aggressive in its method
• One of the the most influential feminists writers of the early 1960s was Betty Friedan, and her bestselling book called the Feminist Mystique is often seen as the catalyst the the second wave of feminism
• she argued that married women wanted to escape from their comfortable concentration camps( referring to the home ) in order to discover their own identities
• Economically , New feminism pushed for equal pay, and this led to the equal pay act of 1963, and they advocated for better treatment of working mothers which led to laws such as maternity leave
• Politically, they encouraged women to run for office and engage in political activism
• Socially, they challenged the traditional gender roles and they pushed for more representation of women in the media and bought awareness to gender violence such as rape and harassment

Question 9

How did Betty Friedan impact women rights and opportunities ?

Answer 9

• A feminist writer who campaigned for women civil rights
• Her book called ** The Feminine Mystique ** critiqued the societal expectation that the women’s only role was to be wives and mothers
• and it also bought national attention to the discrimination women faced in the workplace
• in 1966 she formed the National Organisation for Women (NOW) to press for equality
• NOW pushed for economic equality in the work place and was instrumental in the pushing for the Equal pay act, it also demanded that women should have access to high paying jobs
• By 1968, NOW had become even more aggressive and passionate in its pursuit of its objectives

Question 10

What was the political situation of women by 1969?

Answer 10

• Women were still dependent on male politicians for whatever changes were introduced, by 1969 there was only 11 women in national politics however they were not actively promoting women civil rights and this meant that women had no one to advocate for their rights
• Although women now had the right to vote due to the 19th amendment, their political engagement was still often lower then men’s