2nd Wave Feminism
Along with civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960's, was the birth of second wave feminism. The beginning of the second wave still seemed to carry internalized bias and many felt as though the middle class white woman was inappropriately made the face of the movement...Such obstacles lead to new organizations and associations for different groups of women to present their own agendas, and questions arose as to what the main message really was, for the second wave of feminism. The item below summarizes the conflicting interests within the feminist movement and prompts its readers to look at the movement with a more inclusive view.
One of the most notorious events of the second wave feminist movement was the Atlantic City Miss America pageant protest in which women sought to break the gender role of women and what femininity looked like. A common misconception of this event is that women gathered to burn their bras in the freedom trash can, the trash can did in fact exist however there were no bras burned, rather just symbolic items thrown in by women who wished to release aspects of the feminine image that they felt were restricting as seen in the image below.
This wave is commonly categorized as women's liberation and radical feminism, rightfully so as this wave was dominated by the shared issues of women's sexuality, reproductive rights and the emancipation of women from their "traditional" role in society. As a result of the second wave feminist agenda, came new criticism and people felt as though the movement was too aggressive or potentially threatening to women in society, as seen below in a pamphlet opposing the legal aspect of gender equality, assuming such measures would lead to women being sent to war just like men.
With this new focus on female sexuality and recognition of other marginalized groups of women, the movement was gaining even more traction, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. In Arizona specifically, a feminist group emerged after a successful 1973 retreat, hoping to unify all women of the Southwest, with a heavy emphasis on lesbian and transgender women. Below are two oral history interviews in which members of the group, Southwest Feminists Unite, reflect on their experiences in the group and how they feel the group influenced the current state of feminism today in Arizona.
One of the biggest efforts of the second wave was the push for the Equal Rights Amendment which would ensure equal social rights for all individuals regardless of their sex and/or gender.