Second-wave feminism
A feminist movement that emerged in the 1960s and challenged gender inequality in law, work, family, sexuality, and culture.
The Feminine Mystique: Betty Friedan’s 1963 book criticizing the constraints of domestic life for American middle-class women. Its account of suburban discontent helped catalyze the movement in the United States.
Patriarchy: A social system in which men hold disproportionate power in political, economic, and family life. Many activists used this framework to explain inequality across institutions, not just individual prejudice.
Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972: A United States law that strengthened the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's authority to enforce federal antidiscrimination laws. It expanded federal enforcement against employment discrimination, including discrimination based on sex.
Betty Friedan: An American feminist writer and organizer whose work helped launch the National Organization for Women. Her book and organizing brought attention to constraints facing many middle-class American women.
Liberal feminism: A feminist approach that seeks gender equality through legal rights, policy reform, and equal access to institutions. It contrasts with radical approaches that sought deeper changes to social and intimate power relations.
National Organization for Women: A US feminist organization founded in 1966 to pursue equality through political and legal action. It gave the emerging movement a durable national organization and reform agenda.
Sexism: Prejudice, discrimination, or institutional practices that disadvantage people because of sex or gender. The movement named and contested routine discrimination in workplaces, law, and culture.
Title IX: A 1972 United States federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal financial assistance. Feminist advocacy helped make educational access and athletics sites of legal reform.
Gloria Steinem: An American feminist journalist and activist who helped build the women's liberation movement and Ms. magazine. Her journalism and public advocacy helped popularize feminist demands.
Radical feminism: A feminist approach that treats patriarchy as a fundamental system of power requiring structural transformation. It represented a more sweeping challenge than reforming existing laws and institutions.