Women's Movement In The 1960s

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The 1960s was a very pivotal period in the United States of America. It was an age of revolution and change and Americans were ready to transform their society. The youth rebelled against many issues, for instance, the war in Vietnam, racism and fashion. One of the many issues that was rebelled for and has significantly changed the US history was Women’s rights. There were many events that led to the development of the Women’s movement such as World War I, where all the men were sent to war and the women had to take over their jobs to provide food for their families, as well as the introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment, written by Alice Paul, in the senate and the founding of the National Organization for Women. These three are many of the…show more content…
This had changed by 1918 when World War I had erupted. Most of the men were sent off to war and not many were left to do the job of millions of other men. This was when the women were needed. Many propaganda posters were published encouraging women to work, which they did. This gave women a chance to show that they are no less than men and that they have the ability to work outside of the house and not only inside. There were very high demands for weaponry and therefore many jobs were open to women as employment rates rose. “War work gave women a new sense of pride and confidence. After the war, most women had to give up their jobs to men returning home. Still, they had challenged the idea that women were too ‘delicate’ for demanding and dangerous jobs.” (Ellis and Esler) They could become: railway guards, ticket collectors, police, firefighters, factory workers and many more. Although the women did all these works they continued to receive lower wages than men. They worked the same hours or more, and yet received lower wages, they worked as hard as the men, yet still received lower wages. All this led to protests and demands for equal

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