Quick questions on Women's liberation movement 1960-1980: VCE Modern History Unit 2

On the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, NOW organised the Women's Strike for Equality. Around 50,000 marched down Fifth Avenue in New York; demonstrations were held in around 90 cities. The three demands were equal employment and education, free 24-hour childcare, and free abortion on demand.

In the UK, the Equal Pay Act (29 May 1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (12 November 1975) followed Ford Dagenham machinists' strike (1968) and other industrial actions. The first National Women's Liberation Conference at Ruskin College, Oxford (27 February to 1 March 1970) launched the British movement.

Congress passed the ERA on 22 March 1972 with the support of NOW and a broad coalition. The text: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." 30 states ratified within a year; the 38 state threshold was never reached.

American women earned around 60 per cent of male wages in 1980 (around 64 per cent in 2010). Occupational segregation kept women concentrated in service and care work.

The conservative mobilisation against the ERA, the rise of the Religious Right (Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, 1979), and the Republican abandonment of ERA support (1980 platform) ended the constitutional project.

The Combahee River Collective Statement (April 1977) named the failure of mainstream feminism to address race and class. Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Angela Davis (Women, Race and Class, 1981) and bell hooks (Ain't I a Woman, 1981) developed Black feminist theory. The Chicana movement (Las Hijas de Cuauhtemoc, 1971) developed parallel critiques.

Friedan's reference to lesbians as the "lavender menace" (1969) alienated lesbian feminists; the Radicalesbians group founded in response. The Stonewall riots (28 June 1969) had launched the gay liberation movement; lesbian feminism formed at the intersection.

Roe v Wade galvanised the National Right to Life Committee and the Religious Right. The election of Ronald Reagan (1980) and the appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor (first female Supreme Court justice, 1981, opposed Roe) marked a partial reversal.

Evaluate the achievements and limitations of the women's liberation movement (1960-1980). [10 marks]

Explain the significance of The Feminine Mystique (1963). [4 marks]

Analyse why the movement faced critique from women of colour. [6 marks]