SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM

This is the wave where your mom did stuff in an office, also known as the “Mad Men” wave of feminism. Some complicated shit went down somewhere between the civil-rights movement and the Vietnam War. Fortunately, most of it can be figured out by watching “Mad Men,” asking your mom what happened, or just asking your mom what happened on “Mad Men.”

The second wave began in the 1960s and continued into the 90s. This wave unfolded in the context of the anti-war and civil rights movements and the growing self-consciousness of a variety of minority groups around the world. The New Left was on the rise, and the voice of the second wave was increasingly radical. In this phase, sexuality and reproductive rights were dominant issues, and much of the movement's energy was focused on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing social equality regardless of sex

Oral contraceptive pill approved by FDA 1961, Made it easier for women to focus on career without getting pregnant unexpectedly. Featured on the cover of TIME magazine in 1967. Contraception becomes free in UK 1974

Written by Betty Friedan. Laid the ground work for second wave feminism and started the movement

This phase began with protests against the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City in 1968 and 1969. Feminists parodied what they held to be a degrading "cattle parade" that reduced women to objects of beauty dominated by a patriarchy that sought to keep them in the home or in dull, low-paying jobs. The radical New York group called the Redstockings staged a counter pageant in which they crowned a sheep as Miss America and threw "oppressive" feminine artifacts such as bras, girdles, high-heels, makeup and false eyelashes into the trashcan.

After strong women like Mary Tyler Moore, Laverne and Shirley, and Murphy Brown entered the workforce, the real world was never the same. Not only were they the first professional women ever to be in skilled leadership positions, they skillfully demonstrated the rise and fall of shoulder pads.
These brave women showed us that a woman could do any job a man can do, as long as she skipped to that job while singing or throwing her garments into the air. Also, Murphy Brown proved that you can have a baby even if you aren’t married—talk about D.I.Y.!

Formed as a respond to racism and sexism in art. Raises awareness about issues in the world of art through protest art