Page 52 of the USA A5 booklet (The impact of the feminist movements in the 1960s and 1970s) Incomplete

Question 1

What does NOW stand for?

Answer 1

The National Organisation for Women

Question 2

When was NOW set up?

Answer 2

1966

Question 3

Who was part of the NOW?

Answer 3

Feminist author Betty Friedan (who published the Feminine Mystique in 1963)

Question 4

What did the NOW group do?

Answer 4

They drafted a Bill of Rights for women at their first national conference in 1967.

Question 5

What did the NOW Bill of Rights from 1967 state?

Answer 5

• Equal Rights constitutional amendment.
• Enforce laws banning sexual discrimination in the workplace.
• Maternity leave rights in employment and social security benefits.
• Tax deduction for home and childcare expenses for working parents.
• Child day-care centres.
• Equal and un-segregated education
• Equal job training opportunities and allowances for women in poverty.
• Right of women to control their reproductive lives

Question 6

What did women do to try and gain equal pay opportunities from employers?

Answer 6

In the later 1960s, women petitioned, threatened legal action and went on strike to persuade employers to provide equal pay opportunities and wages.

Question 7

When was the Equal Pay Act and what did it do?

Answer 7

1963, it established the principle of equal pay for men and women in the same job but there were many exceptions.

Question 8

When was the Equal Rights Amendment Act and what did it do?

Answer 8

1972, removed some of the exceptions from the Equal Pay Act but women’s pay still remained at 70% of men’s pay.

Question 9

When was Roe vs Wade?

Answer 9

1973

Question 10

What was Roe vs Wade?

Answer 10

A Supreme Court decision made abortion legal in the USA (and it still stands today)

Question 11

When could women abort their pregnancy?

Answer 11

Within the first 3 months of pregnancy.

Question 12

What did the Supreme Court ruling on Equal Rights in 1972 say?

Answer 12

They ruled that contraception should be legally available to unmarried couples (as it was for married couples).
This sparked much moral and religious debate.

Question 13

What did all the activity around the Equal Rights Amendment by the Supreme Court lead to?

Answer 13

This led to much debate around the world.

Question 14

Although the Equal Rights Amendment laws had been passed, what was the problem with this?

Answer 14

Individual beliefs and practices did not change overnight. Many were opposed to the new laws.
Even some women opposed these laws as they were already happy with the USA they lived in.

Question 15

What were working class women often more concerned with?

Answer 15

Equal pay rather than the abortion laws.

Question 16

What frequently brought people into conflict?

Answer 16

Religious groups (including men and women) used passages from the bible to justify male domination in the home and in the workplace. This frequently brought people into conflict, particularly the young against the old.

Question 17

What did women protest against?

Answer 17

Male sexism which was accepted as normal society.

Question 18

What happened to men’s clubs?

Answer 18

They were criticised and sometimes invaded by angry women.

Question 19

What were publicly burned?

Answer 19

Sexist magazine

Question 20

What did Women’s Liberation supporters destroy?

Answer 20

Destroyed women’s magazines which often focused on cooking, child rearing and taking care of the home.

Question 21

Why did the number of protests die down in the 1970s?

Answer 21

There was a more gradual move towards equality. E.G. Universities in the USA had to accept women from 1972.