The
Woman's Movement
Popular
Protest Movements
Fuelled by Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique in 1963, and the
introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960, women were encouraged to gain
greater independence and freedom. The movement was based on a sense of
injustice. Women were stereotyped in the media as housewives.
Their feelings lead to hundreds of peaceful anti-war demonstrations. One ended
in disaster at Kent State University, Ohio in 1970, when four students were
shot dead by the National Guard.
Students protesting against the Vietnam War
A distinctive music culture accompanied the movement. Artists like The Doors,
Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan were very popular. As well as
this, young people began to develop their own culture that was a reaction to
their parents expectations - the hippy culture was born. The Hippies
experimented with drugs such as marijuana and LSD, as well as being associated
with free love, 'Flower Power', vegetarianism and their anti-war stance. A
favourite slogan at the time was "Make love, not war".
The Student movement was developed for a number of reasons, but the reason
that galvanised most support was opposition to the war in Vietnam. Students
wanted to avoid the draft. They felt that the war was immoral and
imperialistic, and not something that they wanted to die fighting for. Most
felt that their government was corrupt and unfair and they wanted a greater
say in how education was run. As a result they set up the SDS - Students for a
Democratic Society. They also had many anxieties against censorship, nuclear
weapons, racism and capitalism.
The
Student Movement
Gradually more jobs became open to women and the pay gap narrowed, but
opportunities and numbers have still not equalised.
 | 1961: Kennedy set up the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and began investigating equality. |
| 1963: Equal pay Act |
| 1964: Civil Rights Act - employment could not be determined on the grounds of gender or race. |
| 1966: NOW (National Organisation for Women) was set up. They campaigned and coordinated action for women's equality. |
| 1972: Educational Amendment Act. This combated the stereotyping of women in text books and examinations. |
Most men were at college and men had higher paid professional jobs. There were
virtually no prominent women in politics. The most famous being Jackie Kennedy
(wife of murdered President John Kennedy), however, she was admired for her appearance
rather than her political intellect. Women were also paid less for the same
jobs as men and were not entitled to maternity benifits.
Anti-war slogan popular with Hippies
Lastly, there was pessimism created by the deaths of John Kennedy, Malcolm X,
Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. They were seen as heroes - people who
could change the establishment.
The Black Power movement grew as a response to the perceived failure of Martin
Luther King's non-violent protest.
The
Black Power Movement
Mohammed
Ali
Another group, the Black Panthers, was not as segregational as the Nation of
Islam, but saw integration with whites as being centuries away. They wanted
blacks to dominate local business, politics, education and welfare rather than
rely on whites' goodwill.
Malcolm
X
The
Nation of Islam / Black Muslims
| Elijah Muhammad led this radical group. |
| The Nation of Islam believed that whites were evil and therefore blacks should not live or work alongside white people. |
| They wanted segregated communities where blacks could run their own affairs without other's involvement. |
| Unlike Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam encouraged blacks to use violence in pursuit of their goals. |
| They encouraged blacks to convert from Christianity (seen as the white man's religion) to Islam as well as abandoning their 'Christian slave name'. |
| The most well known American to adopt this was boxer Cassius Clay, who became known as Mohammed Ali. |
| By the late 1960's the Nation of Islam began to split, with prominent members like Malcolm X forming their own groups. |
Black
Panthers
All groups wanted equality, but were divided over the issues of how blacks and
whites could live peacefully together.