Sounds of Second Wave Feminism
Sounds of Second Wave Feminism
Sounds of Second Wave Feminism
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1940s and 50s – women largely relegated to domestic life (wife, childcare, homemaker, etc.); ideal of suburban housewife promoted by media (TV) – Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best
1949 – Simone de Beauvoir (French), book: The Second Sex – critical of above ideas; critical of conventional gender roles; argued that womanhood is a dynamic process, a process of becoming; not one thing, but multiple possibilities that are evolving and changing
1961 – birth control pill made widely available
1963 – Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (book) – critiqued women’s roles as only homemakers, domestic life; argued that women’s lives were more fulfilling if they had roles outside their homes (many consider this to be start of 2nd wave feminism)
1963 – Equal Pay Act
1963 – Gloria Steinem, journalist; revealed chauvinism of Playboy; founded Ms. Magazine (1971)
1966 – National Organization for Women (NOW) – for legalized abortion, federally funded day care
1968 – Protest of Miss America pageant [bra burning myth started; protest beauty standards]
1970 – first Women’s Studies courses offered at San Diego State – others followed
1970 – Women’s Strike for Equality
1972 – Title IX passed – outlawed sex discrimination in education
1973 – Roe V. Wade – abortion legalized in U.S.
Timeline for Music of the Second Wave
1963 (same year as Feminine Mystique) – Lesley Gore “” [pop] – against patriarchy, male control
1967 – “” – Aretha Franklin (originally written & recorded by Otis Redding in 1965)
1968 – “,” “” Aretha Franklin [soul]
1971 – Carole King [coincided with rise of female singer-songwriters throughout 70s: Joni Mitchell Blue, Judy Collins, Carley Simon “”]
1972 – Helen Reddy’s “” (hear me roar) [pop]
1972 – founding of Olivia Records (by Judy Dlugacz, in Washington DC) – female-owned label
1975 – Cris Williamson The Changer and the Changed [folk]
1975 – Loretta Lynn ” [country] [right to birth control]
1978 – Chaka Khan “” [disco] [women’s solidarity]
1978 – Gloria Gaynor “” [disco] [survive without men; survive abuse]
1980 – Dolly Parton “” (for movie of same name) [country] [women’s right to work]
1981 – Joan Jett “” [rock] [women’s right to be ‘bad,’ not held to unreasonable standard of respectability]
1983 – Cyndi Lauper “ ” [pop] [women’s right to party, casual sex]
Comparisons
Like women of 1st wave (who fought for abolition), second wave feminists involved in civil rights of 1960s onward
Second wave tried to be more inclusive of race and class; but some critiqued it as still being too white and middle class
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