The National Organization Essay Example

The National Organization Essay The National Organization for Womens Impact on Women in America. BY decapitate Priscilla Ditz 12th grade History East Side Community High School The Time Is NOW: The National Organization for Womens Impact on Women In America. Since we all came from a women, got our name from a women, and our game from a women. I wonder why we take from women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think its time we killed for our women, be real to our women, try to heal our women, cause If we dont well have a race of babies that will hate the ladies, who make the babies. And since a man cant make one he has no right to tell a women when and where to create one ? Outpace Shaker In the sass, Second-wave feminism emerged in a political movement known as the Womens Liberation Movement. Women were cast under the shadows of men because many believed their sole purpose In society was to cater to them and their needs. Betty Friedman, a women rights activist, founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) In order to take action by creating domestic equality as well as equality in the work place. In 1966, NOW became a revolutionary organization that ought for equal rights in all aspects of the social realm. NOW played a big role in starting the Womens Liberation Movement and influenced the actions of other feminist movements. During the mid-20th century, Betty Friedman emerged as a prominent writer, feminist and womens rights activist. She published book, The Friendly Mystique In 1963, which explored the Idea of women finding personal fulfillment within themselves Instead of what society saw as their traditional gender roles. Traditionally, American women were believed to be domestic caregivers. We will write a custom essay sample on The National Organization specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The National Organization specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The National Organization specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their place was in the home, to clean, cook and watch over their children. In her book, Friedman revealed the problem with no name that many women seemed to have trouble with . The problem was that women were excluded from opportunities and could not develop their own Identities. The problem with no name was a concept that Friedman used to explain that women suffered because they had a hunger that food cannot fill. Women wanted more than just to care for their husbands and childrenthey had dissatisfaction with the expectation that they could only be a housewife. At that time, the idea of women finding their own identity seemed a bit outrageous to many people and some people even believed that Friedman was delusional for defining such a complex problem. Although The Feminine Mystique sparked criticism, It created a path of hope for women who wanted equal partnership century also endured a long battle for their rights. For many years, women fought to gain equal political rights, such as the right to vote. On August 18, 1920 the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. The amendment stated, The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. 3 Long before the womens liberation movement unfolded, the womens suffrage movement fought for nearly 100 years to win that right. Leaders such as Alice Paul, who founded the National Womens Party, made it possible to obtain that right despite the obstacles of anti-suffragists. After the Nineteenth Amendment was p assed, women were allowed to vote. While women were responsible to play their gender roles, they have been in the workforce long before they were able to vote. Though women worked, they were often shut out of male dominated professions and organizations. For example, in 1900 very few women ad Joined the Teamsters a union made for men, but the union excluded women from having higher positions or manly Jobs. 4 However, during WI, Job opportunities that had previously been closed-off to women but opened up because men were away fighting. By the mid sasss, about 6 million women Joined the civilian labor work force and began working in superior positions during WI. The women who worked rose from about 27 percent to 37 percent as women continued to replace the men who were at war. 6 Despite the fact that women were working like the men, they still received 60 percent less pay than men, had little Job security and he income gap between men and women grew rapidly. As the war drew to a close, women either lost or left the workforce to pursue the American family dream that many Americans wished for after the war. The dissatisfaction of women after WI led to the emergence of Friedman and The Feminine Mystique. After Friedman wrote the book, she was launched into the center of the Womens Liberation Movement. She founded the National Organization for Women (NOW), which became one of the most groundbreaking civil rights organizations in the late sass. NOWs main focus was to have equal partnership and participation for women in all spheres of life. The organization was formed on June 30, 1966 at the National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women, where other attendees such as Friedman demanded changes for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Friedman and Pauli Murray, who was the First African American woman Episcopal priest, wrote NOWs original statement of purpose, which stated: The purpose of NOW is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men. nows Statement of Purpose sets forth its termination to take action to achiev e its goal of equality for women, and NOW was determined to make that change. They pointed out several statistics to show the inequalities women received and the kind of Jobs they had. The statement declared, Although 46. 4% of all American women between the ages of 18 and 65 now work outside the home, the over-whelming in routine clerical, sales, or factory Jobs, or they are household workers, cleaning women, hospital attendants. About two-thirds of Negro women workers are in the lowest paid service occupations10 This reflects a pattern for women throughout history and NOW all women. NOW was the voice for women white or black who felt deprived from true freedom and liberty. The traditional roles and expectations for women still had a powerful impact on society, because although some women were in the workforce, they were limited, and their place was still widely considered to be in the home. After NOW created their statement of purpose, they adopted a Bill of Rights in 1967 which listed specific legal rights that became law since. All First, NOW demanded an end to discrimination employment, That equal employment opportunity be guaranteed to all women, as well as men, by insisting that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces the prohibition against racial discrimination. 12 This law aimed at gender discrimination and in 1968, EEOC finally agreed to bar gender specific Job ads. 13 This was Knows first victory. Second, NOW demanded that women received maternity leave demanding, That women be protected by law to ensure their rights to return to their Jobs within a reasonable time after childbirth without loss of seniority or other accrued benefits, and be paid maternity leave as a form of social security and/or employee benefits. 14 In 1993, congress passed the Family Leave Act, which provided workers up to 12 weeks per year of family leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or illness of a family member. 15 Another important law that NOW demanded was the Equal Education Opportunity Act which states, That the right of women to be educated to their full potential equally with men be secured by Federal and State legislation, eliminating all discrimination and segregation by sex, written and unwritten, at all levels of education, including colleges, graduate and professional schools, loans, and fellowships, and Federal and State training programs such as the Jobs Corps. 6 In 1972, a federal law known as Title IX was established prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex at any educational institution that receives any federal financial assistance. 17 Lastly, NOW demanded reproductive rights asking for, The right of women to control their own reproductive lives by removing from the penal code laws limiting access to contraceptive informa tion and devices, and by repealing penal laws governing abortion. 18 In 1970, New York allowed abortion on demand up to the 24th week of pregnancy, as Gob. Nelson A. Rockefeller signs a bill repealing the states 1830 law that banned abortion. Then, in 1973, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Roe v Wade, which established a womans right to have an abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy. 20 Though NOW was one of the most active and prominent organizations in the womens liberation movement, other groups that were influenced by NOW were also accomplishing things. NOW was the spark, or more like the beginning of a revolution for women. All these other movements shared a similar emphasis on womens rights, but these groups took on cultural forms of gender oppression, not legal ones. Feminist groups began to emerge such as the New York Radical Women (NARY), which formed in 1968. 21 One of the issues that the NARY targeted was the Miss American Pageant where they protested against the pageants underlying values, The Miss America demonstration is often described as the beginning of the second wave of feminism in the United States. It was certainly the first time that the mainstream media?the television news, magazines, and newspapers?covered radical feminist protest NEWER believed that the pageant high-heels, playboy magazines, etc. Onto the Freedom Trash Can. 23 This was referred to as the Bra-Burning Movement, and although there werent any bras actually burning, it became a symbol of the womens liberation. The outcome of this movement was to change the way society viewed women, and to gain more rights. Minority women also formed separate organizations such as the National Black Feminist Organization (INFO) which was founded in May 1973. 24 Their first meeting to ok place in New York City? in the same office that NOW used, and addressed the double burden of sexism and racism that black women faced. Prominent activists such as Doris Wright wrote the statement of purpose for the INFO when the organization was formed, to address ourselves to the particular and specific needs f the larger, but almost cast aside half of the black role in Merrimack, the black women By February 1974 there were over 2,000 members. 25 Most of these members were usually members from popular organization such as NOW. However, INFO was a short-lived organization and disbanded in 1976. Some of the women who participated in the massive Miss America protest organized the Redirections, another group that influenced the debate on womens rights. The Redirections went on to occupy the offices of the Ladies Home Journal, and demanded that they be allowed to publish a liberated issue, and the magazine agreed. The issue included several ideologies that the organization believed. For example, the article stated, Our oppression is total, affecting every facet of our lives. We are exploited as sex objects, breeders, domestic servants, and cheap labor. We are considered inferior beings, whose only purpose is to enhance mens lives. 26 Though this organization lasted several of years, it was able to send out a few messages about how women were viewed to society. However, these radical feminists had a different kind of belief. They wanted to prove to society that women should overrule men, and women should be he ones making the decision, whereas NOW Just wanted equality for both men and women. Redirections conveyed in this issue that women would no longer stand around serving men; the tables must be turned for once. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a constitutional Amendment drafted by Alice Paul in 192, demanding that all men and women shall have equal rights in the US. 27 NOWs campaign to ratify the ERA became one of the organizations best-known endeavors. However, NOWs leaders were not immediately successful in convincing others to Join. In an article about the ERA, Martha Griffith writes, The National Organization for Women, founded in 1966, poured money and time into grass roots campaigns in each state to push for ratification. Rallied by the amendment and the belief that the ERA would be the final push for legislative equality, in February 1977 NOW encouraged a boycott of all states that had not ratified the amendment28 The passing of the ERA could have been a life changing experience to all women, and for organization like NOW who were in support of such an amendment. Unfortunately, the ERA was not ratified by its 1982 deadline, falling short by only three states. The ERA was never added to the constitution. So, why didnt the ERA get ratified? The ERA finally passed the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives in 1972. Congress included a seven-year deadline for ratification by % of the states meaning that 38 out of 50 states had to ratify the amendment by 1979. 29 The ERA received an extension short of becoming a part of the Constitution. Part of that reason was because those states included groups and people who opposed the ERA, people such as Phyllis Scholarly. She was a successful author and activist who formed the National Committee to Stop the ERA. She opposed it for allegedly striking at the traditionalist Emily and religious values. A successful housewife and mother of six, Scholarly has been a broadcaster for CBS, a television commentator, along authored dozens of books, and ran for congress three times. Yet she strongly believed that a womans place is in the home. 30 In addition to her strong feelings towards traditional values, she believed that the ERA would make matters worse. For example, One concern she noted was that the ERA would destroy the institution of marriage. She also identified, by description, not by name, gays and lesbians as being the main people behind the ERA Scholarly also argued that the ERA would lead to sexually integrated bathrooms and prison cells, even though such were not ever among goals of any large segment of the equal rights movement31 Scholarly already believed that the 1963 Equal Pay Act and 1964 Civil Rights Act provided enough gender protection for women. By using the word sex in the amendment, she claimed the ERA would open the door to gay rights. She also believed that the ERA was powerful enough to ban marriage. Scholarly and her beliefs were persuasive enough to assure that only 35 states passed the ERA, three short of the number needed to ratify it. NOW has been a huge influence for other organizations because of all its achievements. While most of these organizations and movements may have a place in society, NOW is the largest feminist organization in the nation, with more than 500,000 contributing members and has more than 500 local campus affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 2 NOW still has the same goals and priorities as they did in the ass. They are still pressing for an amendment to the U. S. Constitution that will guarantee equal rights for women, achieving economic equality for women, championing for abortion sights, reproductive freedom and other womens health issues, supporting civil rights for all and opposing racism, opposing bigotry against lesbians and gays, and ending violence against women. 33 In todays world, most young women are oblivious to womens history and what it took to receive the kind of freedom women have today. And while its true that theres some things we still need to achieve, women still have come a long way to get to where we are today. The name NOW was chosen because women wanted changes immediately. It had been over 100 years since Seneca Falls Declaration of Principles happened and women struggling for equality. They didnt want to wait another 100 years to make a difference, they wanted it now! However, instead of recognizing the accomplishments women have made, today in society women are still cornered and limited. For example, in 2012, the median weekly earnings for full-time working women were $691 , compared to $854 for men. 34 Just that fact alone proves why people still push for the ERA to happen. In society today, women are currently in the middle of finding themselves and their identity, but they are blinded by the medias interpretation of how women would be. The young women today are being bombarded with mixed messages and many are embracing the role of sex objects. But what we need to realize is that its not only the medias fault. Its the lack of information that our young women receive those laws on the Bill of Rights, they probably would appreciate themselves and the women who fought for us. While doing research, I came to recognize how fortunate I am to live in a generation where young women like me can go to college, can vote, can have my own voice, and that Im not forced to be what society wants me to be. The sexualities images of the women in music videos can be damaging where those women have been reduced to simply an object for anothers sexual use. However, it is the individual to choose whether or not they want to follow that road. While we do have all the positive role models such as actresses like Reese Weatherperson, or Hillary Clinton, or even Sonic Estimator, we are still bombarded with images that reduce women as sex objects. We need to drive home the message that exposed bodies arent what make you a woman. More and more in this modern age the world is populated with women who are free to be who they choose to be. We should praise ND celebrate the free thinking woman, and embrace independence the way that Alice Paul did, and the way that the women of NOW did.