Feminism in the United States
[7] Stanton, the young bride of an antislavery agent, and Mott, a Quaker preacher and veteran of reform, talked of calling a convention to address the condition and treatment of women.
For example, the Declaration of Sentiments stated, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men and women are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.
The movement reorganized after the Civil War, gaining experienced campaigners, many of whom had worked for prohibition in the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
[12] In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the American Equal Rights Association, an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to the goal of suffrage for all.
[13] Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the more radical, New York-based National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA).
[13] Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and Julia Ward Howe organized the more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which was centered in Boston.
[13] In 1872 Susan B. Anthony was arrested and brought to trial in Rochester, New York, for attempting to vote for Ulysses S. Grant in the presidential election; she was convicted and fined $100 and the costs of her prosecution but refused to pay.
[18] She was nominated to run by the Equal Rights Party, and advocated the 8-hour work day, graduated income tax, social welfare programs, and profit sharing, among other positions.
[25] Furthermore, propaganda such as Rosie the Riveter presented a narrow view of working women: white, beautiful, and motivated by patriotism rather than economic necessity.
Stern argued that "as long as the institution of housewifery in its present form persists, both ideologically and practically it blocks any true liberation of women".
Specifically, 75% stated that they wanted to remain in their industry and expressed dissatisfaction that it was difficult to pursue careers such as "sales, academia, or journalism".
College reunions in the 1950s, which inspired Betty Friedan's landmark "The Feminine Mystique" were hotbeds for middle-class women to vent about their boredom working at home and by doing so discover shared irritations at the "drudgery" of being a housewife.
The perfect nuclear family image depicted and strongly marketed at the time, she wrote, did not reflect happiness and was rather degrading for women.
"[37] By 1968, Steinem had become arguably the most influential figure in the movement and support for legalized abortion and free day care had become the two leading objectives for feminists.
[53] A major disappointment of the second-wave feminist movement in the United States was President Nixon's 1972 veto of the Comprehensive Child Development Bill of 1972, which would have provided a multibillion-dollar national day care system.
Many widows were ineligible for Social Security benefits, few divorcees actually received any alimony, and after a career as a housewife, few had skills to enter the labor force.
The program, however, encountered sharp criticism from young activists who gave priority to poor minority women rather than the middle class.
[57] The main disappointment of the second wave feminist movement in the United States was the failure to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment.
[68] Ultimately, the ordinance was defeated by a group of people who felt that the way anti-pornography feminists painted the effects of pornography was inherently sexist and made women, especially sex workers, seem as though they were incapable of giving consent.
[71] Marxist feminists believe that prostitutes symbolize the value of women in society, and how a woman's worth is measured in her social, sexual, and economic subordination.
[71] Because of the many divisions within the feminist movement on the topic of sex work, big organizations like NOW preferred to focus on more universal women's rights issues such as abortion.
[74][75] In 1991, Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas, a man nominated to the United States Supreme Court, of sexual harassment.
[81] However, Riot grrrl's emphasis on universal female identity and separatism often appears more closely allied with second-wave feminism than with the third wave.
[83] Third-wave feminism saw many new feminist icons such as Madonna, Queen Latifah, Angelina Jolie, Emma Watson, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga, as well as fictional characters such as Buffy and Mulan.
[83] Third-wave feminists also used the Internet and other modern technology to enhance their movement, which allowed for information and organization to reach a larger audience.
Many serious independent writers, not to mention organizations, found that the Internet offered a forum for the exchange of information and the publication of essays and videos that made their point to a potentially huge audience.
The Internet radically democratized the content of the feminist movement with respect to participants, aesthetics, and issues.Through the 1980s and 1990s, this trend continued as musicologists like Susan McClary and Marcia Citron began to consider the cultural reasons for the marginalizing of women from the received body of work.
[85] Fourth-wave feminism is "defined by technology" according to Kira Cochrane, and it is characterized particularly by the use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, and blogs such as Feministing to challenge misogyny and further gender equality.
[88] [89] Issues that fourth-wave feminists focus on include street and workplace harassment, campus sexual assault and rape culture.
[90][91] Examples of fourth-wave feminist campaigns in the United States include Mattress Performance, The Time's Up Now movement, and 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman.
