The Strike for Peace and Liberation in America

1960s America was a turbulent time in history. With the Civil Rights Movement at its height, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, and anti-Vietnam protests, it was apparent that was widespread discontent with the current system. Regardless of gender, class, or race, Americans turned this discontent into action, becoming part of a nation-wide protest culture. In part, this is what led to the surge of support for the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960. However, the movement did face backlash from conservative Americans, which ultimately had a detrimental impact on the movement and its success. Despite the early widespread support, the movement later fizzled out after the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment, leaving little to show from the efforts of the women who invested in it.

It is impossible to deny that the Women’s Liberation Movement would have occured with or without the protest culture of the 1960s. The movement itself was composed of leftover discontent from still being unequal in politics and society despite the efforts of first-wave feminists. It is also true, however, that the movement gained momentum due to the other things that were going on in society at this time.

It was a hopeful and progressive time in society — a time in which picket signs and marches were a normal ideal, a time in which protests were on a constant loop on the local news. It was a beautiful time in American history in which rebellion was considered the norm, carrying remnants of the ideals that once sparked the American Revolution. Most of all, though, it was an encouraging time. Women, after sitting in worry for years of the repercussions that would come along with protesting, finally challenged the status quo, which they were no doubt inspired to do by seeing the success of the Civil Rights Movement after its long fight.

The discontent among women crossed every barrier imaginable. For the first time, women of all classes spoke out about their own experiences with the expectations of being a mother. The women whose experiences were most documented were white middle-class women, who had husbands and homes and children to care for — which was a 1950s dream of sorts, but still failed to be fulfilled.Figures like Betty Friedan brought the problem to the public’s attention with her publication of The Feminine Mystique.

Soon after the Friedan’s work was published, women took on a familiar role as activists. This was not a new concept for women; as put by Howard Zinn, women always took on the most important roles in times of need, and then returned to the background when the crisis subsided.[1]

Most women found support in the New Left, a movement that coincided with Women’s Liberation. The New Left was composed of several organizations, but the one in which women found leadership roles in was Women Striking for Peace. The organization orginally formed to protest the arms race, and the nuclear warfare that would inevitably come along with it. Later, however, the view shifted, and the organization took a more domestic stance, advocating for economic and social equality in impoverished neighborhoods in America. [2]

Despite the efforts from women striving for equality, they still lagged behind in the workplace. Women made up 40% of the workforce, yet they maintained jobs that were considered less important, such as secretaries, cleaning women, elementary school teachers, saleswomen, waitresses, and nurses. At work, they faced discrimination; this was unavoidable, however, because most of the women who worked did it out of necessity. [3]

The primary goal of the movement was simple: make legislative change. This was easier said than done, however, particularly in the South, where deep conservatism still trumped the progressive actions of the era. Opposition came from figures of the right such as Phyllis Schlafly.

The argument against the Equal Rights Amendment, which was proposed as the 27th amendment which would condemn gender discrimination, was that it was unnecessary; there was no law that allowed gender discrimination, and so the Equal Rights Amendment could not be justified.In the eyes of leaders of the right like Schlafly, it was not legal to discriminate based on gender; for this reason, there was no need for a law that would only reiterate what was already true, at least from a legal aspect. Essentially, the Equal Rights Amendment was deemed unnecessary by key figures of the conservative movement, which seemingly undermined the entire movement.

Additionally, the Equal Rights Amendment was not supported by many religious individuals due to the perceptions of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Many Southern Baptists called the movement “diabolical, divisive, and subtle.” [4]

Despite the opposition it faced, the Equal Rights Amendment passed through Congress in 1972, showing that America was eager for a change. The amendment was given a seven year ratification period. In the end, the Equal Rights Amendment failed, falling short of ratification by three states. [5]

The Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s was a delayed reaction from first-wave feminism in which figures such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucrietta Mott fought for women’s rights to vote. Despite the fact that the movement had no clear event that defined its success, it was still influential.

The fight for an Equal Rights Amendment was not solely a second-wave feminist fight. It began soon after the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and the fight continues even today. Remnants of this shared ideology can be found in all corners of the world in the fight for equal pay and equal access to healthcare for women.

Citations

[1] Howard Zinn. “Surprises.” In A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005.

[2] Andrea Estepa. “Women Striking for Peace and ‘the Movement,’ 1967–73.” In Feminist Coalitions: Historical Perspectives on Second-Wave Feminism in the United States. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2008.

[3] Howard Zinn. “Surprises.” In A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005.

[4] Janet Allured. “Arkansas Baptists and Methodists and the Equal Rights Amendment.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 43, no. 1 (1984): 55–66. https://doi.org/10.2307/40027687.

[5] The Equal Rights Amendment. Alice Paul Institute. http://equalrightsamendment.org/index.htm.

[6] Thomas H. Neale. “The Proposed Equal Rights Amendment: Contemporary Ratification Issues.” Congressional Research Service. April 8, 2014. Accessed April 25, 2018. http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/misc/CRS%20ERA%20report%204-8-14.pdf.