OLLI0083 - The U.S. Women’s Movement

Course Description

This course will explore the resurgence of the American women’s movement in the 1960s and 1970s, now often referred to as the second wave of feminism. We will begin by discussing both the traditional roles white middle-class women were expected to play in the home and family after World War II and some women’s dissatisfaction with these roles. We will examine how some women gained activist experience in the civil rights movement and the New Left but then grew disillusioned with the unequal treatment they received in these groups. We will investigate the history of the liberal feminists, such as the women in NOW (National Organization for Women), who wanted to work within current institutions, and the radical feminists, such as members of Redstockings and other women’s liberation groups, who were eager to remake society so that women were liberated from confining roles and stereotypes. Throughout the course, we will consider the continuing relevance of second wave feminism’s goals, strategies, and activism. Watch video