Women’s
Liberation

Calls for women’s rights attracted widespread attention during the 1960s. For many women, however, author and activist Betty Friedan’s analysis of “the problem with no name” and the National Organization of Women’s emphasis on legal reform and educational and economic opportunity rang hollow. Four decades had passed since the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote, yet men continued to dominate politics, the professions, and the business world. While many middleclass white women recognized themselves in Friedan’s words, others—younger women, poor women, women of color, lesbians—identified more with the increasingly militant black freedom struggle. More radical feminists concluded that emphasizing rights alone would never revolutionize American gender norms. These women called for liberation in all areas of life.

The women’s liberation movement defied a single description. Adopting the slogan “the personal is political,” its advocates embraced an expansive meaning of political activism. They confronted patriarchy, racism, homophobia, rape, domestic violence, and workplace discrimination. They challenged cultural norms, such as male ideals of female beauty and media representations of women’s proper roles, and produced their own music, literature, and artwork. They fought for reproductive rights and charged that housework and child care, long devalued as the domain of the housewife, constituted work and deserved recognition as such.

The women’s liberation movement faced criticism, and not just from sexist men. Some women, perhaps most famously conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, argued that feminists failed to recognize the advantages of being a traditional American woman. Critics cited the supposed benefits of staying home during the day, caring for children, and avoiding the pitfalls of the masculine world, such as work stress and the military draft. Women’s liberation activists also argued among themselves. Some radical feminists claimed that patriarchy was the most significant form of oppression, while socialist feminists and feminists of color argued that sexism was intertwined with capitalism and racism. These feminists also disagreed about whether men had a place in the struggle for women’s liberation. Moreover, many women of color refused to align themselves with the women’s liberation movement, insisting that racism and poverty took a far greater toll on their communities than sexism.

The following documents provide examples of the ways in which women fought for and against liberation. As you read the documents, consider the similarities and differences in these approaches and why the women’s liberation movement was so controversial.