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Ratification of the 19th Amendment
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Period: to
Women's Rights 1921-Present
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Betty Friedan
American social activist and leading feminist figure of the 1960s. she wrote the best-selling book “The Feminine Mystique.” Friedan campaigned for an extension of female rights and an end to sexual discrimination. -
A Room of One's Own
A Room of One's Own, a long form essay by Virginia Woolf, came from a series of lectures Woolf gave at two women's colleges, Newnham and Girton, at Cambridge University in 1928. In the essay, Woolf made the case that women writers should have a space of their own. She meant literally and figuratively. She also pointed out that the literary world was dominated by men. Woolf brilliantly used a fictional narrator to make her case. -
Wangari Maathi
Kenyan-born environmentalist, pro-democracy activist and women’s rights campaigner. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to prevent conflict through protection of scarce resources. -
Oprah Winfrey
American talk show host and businesswoman. Oprah Winfrey was the first woman to own her own talk show. Her show and book club are very influential, focusing on issues facing American women. -
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments bans sex discrimination in schools. It states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." -
Equal Rights Amendment
In the mid- to late-1970s, however, the women’s movement seemed to stagnate. It failed to broaden its appeal beyond the middle class. Divisions arose between moderate and radical feminists. Conservative opponents mounted a campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment, and it died in 1982 without gaining the approval of the 38 states needed for ratification. -
The Color Purple
The Color Purple won a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The novel, set in Georgia, dealt with the lives of African American women in the South during the 1930s. The novel won the praise of feminists because many of the characters breakaway from traditional gender roles. -
The Beauty Myth
A nonfiction book published in 1991, The Beauty Myth was an instant best-seller and won the praise of many feminists. In the book, Wolf made a case for a reevaluation of society's current standards of beauty. She explained how women were constantly under scrutiny in these five areas: hunger, religion, sex, violence, and work. -
Malala Yousafzai
Pakistani schoolgirl who defied threats of the Taliban to campaign for the right to education. She survived being shot in the head by the Taliban and has become a global advocate for women’s rights, especially the right to education. -
LIlly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which allows victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck. Previously, victims were only allowed 180 days from the date of the first unfair paycheck. This Act is named after a former employee of Goodyear who alleged that she was paid 15–40% less than her male counterparts, which was later found to be accurate. -
Shelby County V. Holder Case
In 2013, the Supreme Court threatened key aspects of the Voting Rights Act in the Shelby County v. Holder case. In the two years since then, states across the United States have passed laws making it harder to vote through the elimination of early voting and same-day registration opportunities and restrictive voter ID requirements. These laws have had a disproportionately harmful effect on low-income voters, communities of color, people with disabilities, students, and the elderly.
