A03 Flashcards
America- Reagan and the religious right
evangelical christians were alarmed by rapid social changes such as: abortion, homosexual rights, equal rights for genders
These changes ‘threatened the American Nation
The growing power of this ‘religious right’ heightened feminist fears that the gains women had made in previous decades would be reversed
The Moral Majority
a television preacher transformed the Christian Right into a political force.
the group called the Moral majority was said to bring the group 500 million dollars in contributions.
The rise of Ronald Reagan
He stated that all of America’s problems could be found in the bible
He opposed abortion and described the Soviet Union as an ‘evil empire’
Feminist backlash
it’s subtly implying that women should hold more traditional roles in the home
Susan Faludi’s book on backlash describes ‘the women’s movement has proved women’s own worst enemy’
Puritanism
strict religious laws
To the puritans, a person by nature was wholly sinful and could achieve good only by severe and unremitting discipline
hard work was a religious duty
Salem Witchcraft Trials
Religious fanaticism combined with mass hysteria
Women were accused of practising the ‘devils magic’
women were hanged and put in jail if they were found guilty if they were found ‘mad’
Lynch mobs
Mob mentality
1880-1930s lynching of black people was common, and this would be made up of local citizons and included respectable men and women.
the person being lynched would be hung, beaten, shot and the body would be hung for display (like the wall in Handmaid’s)
The Red Scare
Hysteria, a lack of trust and invasive monitoring of individuals
As the Cold War intensified, the hysteria over a threat of war was called the red scare.
This led to many innocent people afraid to express their ideas, and worried they may be accused of being communist.
Romania
Romania under Nicolae Ceausescu- contraception and abortion banned
there was a low birth rate so contraception and abortion was illegal
society was strictly controlled, women monitored monthly by a doctor (like the handmaids)
this resulted in a huge baby boom
China
Mao Zedong instigated a violent and cultural upheaval after feeling that communism was diluted.
university’s were shut down and books were burned
people were encouraged to betray close family members and children were adopted by communists
the ‘one son policy’ In 1979
Islamic regimes
Taliban views of:
girls unable to be educated
women fully covered
public deaths and brutal sentences
