Feminism in the Netherlands
Later, the struggles of second-wave feminism in the Netherlands mirrored developments in the women's rights movement in other Western countries.
The Republic of the Seven United Provinces, known as the Netherlands, was created through the Dutch War of Independence, which began in 1568 and ended with the Treaty of Westphalia.
Though they were still legally subordinate to men, widows such as Volcxken Diericx, an Antwerp publisher, and Aletta Hannemans, a Haarlem brewer, were allowed to continue their husband's business.
In 1841, Anna Barbara van Meerten-Schilperoort founded Hulpbetoon aan Eerlijke en Vlijtige Armoede, the first women's organization in the Netherlands.
Kindergartens, which had been pioneered in Germany, spread quickly in the Netherlands and needed a workforce of trained young women to staff them.
[6] Yet, where other feminists in the country pressed for labour laws addressing the specific needs of women workers, Drucker was opposed.
"[8] Drucker was firmly on the radical edge of feminism in the Netherlands, but she gave speaking tours and published a popular feminist journal, Evolutie (Evolution).
[4] Women had in part gained the vote to a political compromise "package deal" between socialists, liberals, and "confessionalist" parties.
[10] The international feminist organizations gained larger memberships as women worldwide continued to struggle for emancipation.
[11][12][13] A 1967 essay by Joke Kool-Smits, "The Discontent of Women", was published in De Gids and is credited with launching second-wave feminism in the Netherlands.
Its dual-gender composition made it rare among Western Second-wave feminist organizations, but it was similar to others in that its membership was predominantly middle or upper class and well-educated.
[18] On 15 December 1969, the female employees of the cigar factory Champ Clark in Nieuwe Pekela called a wildcat strike to demand equal pay.
The 1976 publication of Anja Meulenbelt's novel De Schaamte Voorbij (The Shame is Over) was another important piece of second-wave feminist writing in the Netherlands.
[21] In the late 1970s, the fight for access to abortion, rape crisis centres, and women's shelters became a dominant focus of the feminist movement.
[24] The 1980s saw many victories for the feminist movement, including the disintegration of the male breadwinner logic as the Netherlands began to prioritize re-gearing the welfare state in favor of incorporating women into the workforce.
[34] From the 1970s onwards, the Netherlands has started promoting policies based on gender equality; and has once been described as having "the most extensive and comprehensive [sex equality apparatus] in Europe"; this is largely due to the appointment of a State Secretary to oversee an Emancipation Council launched in 1977, and its implementation of policies at the local level with help from feminist activists recruited into government positions.
Economist, lawyer and journalist Heleen Mees wrote a book exploring the issue of women's low employment rate, called Weg met het deeltijdfeminisme (Away with Part-time Feminism) in 2005.
She identified differences between Dutch and American culture that partially explain the discrepancy in working hours between women in the two nations.
In her book, Mees discusses the American "marketization" of much of women's former household duties, such as using businesses for laundry, eating out, having groceries delivered, and other services, which are rarely available in the Netherlands.
