The history of women’s rights post 1945 allows us to examine the development of a mass

society and social trends. This movement changed the trajectory of many western societies and

helped shape society as we know it today.

Following the upheaval, estrangement, and uncertainty brought on by the Great

Depression and the Second World War, the family emerged as the most important institution in

American society. Couples tied the knot at younger ages (the average age of an American woman

at the time of her marriage was 20 in the late 1950s) and at rates that were higher than those seen

in any preceding era and have not been seen since. They were successful at raising huge families.

A large number of people relocated to the suburbs, where they could find expansive tract home

projects at inexpensive prices. They also purchased convenient contemporary goods, such as

automobiles and dishwashers, and began to take more time off work.

The prosperity that followed the war made the monotony of housework less stressful, but

it also came at a price for women, who frequently gave up employment in order to focus on

maintaining the domestic realm. This way of life emphasised the necessity of a one-income

household, which meant that the wife stayed at home to raise the children while the husband

went out to work.

In the 1950s, housewives and mothers frequently gave up their hopes and dreams of

finding fulfilment outside the home in order to care for their children and raise their families in

the suburbs. For example, a drop in the number of women who pursued higher education may be

linked, in large part, to the importance that women place on their marriages and families. In spite

of the increased availability of government funding to help pay for university education, the

percentage of women attending college dropped from 47 percent in 1920 to 38 percent in 1958.

This occurred despite the fact that 47 percent of college students were female.
 Stable ideas of domesticity were rapidly transformed as a result of shifting societal

norms. A large number of postwar wives and mothers, dissatisfied with the lack of professional

fulfilment they had, sought out new activities outside of the routine of domestic responsibilities.

The percentage of working-age women who were also employed rose from 45.9% in

1955 to 51% in 1965, reflecting an increase in the overall number of women in the labour force.

Despite the fact that there has been a rise in the percentage of women who are working, women

are still seen as "secondary employees." Women's salaries were not regarded as an essential

component of the income of families; rather, it was believed that women's pay were for "extras"

such as vacations or brand new consumer durables. The majority of the state-supported nurseries

that had been established during the war were shut down by the post-war Labour government,

and working mothers with young children were once again discouraged from going to the

workforce. It was presumed, for the purposes of determining welfare payments to families, that a

man's salary supported his wife and children, who were considered to be his dependents (this

was referred to as the "family wage"). It was decided to cut the benefit rates for married women

to a level that is lower than what it is for married males.

Mothers shared with their daughters what they had experienced and accomplished during

the war, as well as how its aftermath had narrowed their horizons. Campaigning for more rights

and greater opportunities led to a significant increase in the number of women who were

conscious of their potential and the necessity for change throughout the 1960s and 1970s, which

saw the formation of feminist organisations and a heightened awareness of gender injustice.

In her seminal work, The Feminine Mystique, which was first published in 1963, Betty

Friedan famously referred to this predicament as "the problem that has no name." The popularity

of the book was evidence that Friedan was able to connect with readers who felt dissatisfied.
Women who came of age in the 1960s were resolved to live lives that were less limited than

those of their mothers, and they set out to accomplish this goal in a number of ways. As a result,

many conventional ideas regarding parenting and marriage were called into question as a result

of the women's rights movement and the sexual revolution that occurred in the 1960s. There was

a widespread rejection among young women of the sexual norms that had been prevalent in their

parents' generation.

In recent years, American culture has become more open to having frank conversations

about sexuality and living together outside of wedlock. Women were able to exert a greater

degree of control over the timing of their pregnancies and whether or not they would have

children as birth control became more readily available. The historic decision Roe v. Wade,

which was handed down by the Supreme Court in 1973, supported a woman's constitutional right

to terminate her pregnancy on the grounds that it violated her right to privacy.

Women historically had to choose between having a career and getting married; with

increased sexual and reproductive freedom, they now have more options. By the 1970s, many

marriages had two careers, as both the husband and the wife worked and increasingly shared

household responsibilities. This tendency, which had already been well established in the

decades following World War II, was accelerated during this time period. The number of

marriages that ended in divorce also increased, while the proportion of mothers who were sole

breadwinners increased. During this time period, a greater number of young women decided to

pursue careers in fields that were traditionally dominated by men, such as the law, medicine, and

business. In doing so, they loosened their traditional ties to the home and hearth, paving the way

for a new and larger generation of women to enter state and national politics.
 In a lot of places around the world in the 1960s, there was a lot of questioning of the

political, economic, and social status quo that was going on at the time. During this decade,

many individuals requested that the structure of society and its priorities be altered, and it was

known as the protest decade. In the midst of controversy surrounding issues such as civil rights,

the pill, marijuana, mandatory military service, and the Vietnam War, women launched a

movement to demand that their rights be recognised and that they be freed from the constraints

that were associated with their traditional role.

The movement eventually came to be known as the Women's Liberation Movement

(sometimes abbreviated as WLM), and it developed into a powerful force. It was not in the

1960s that the Women's Rights Movement got its start. What transpired in the 1960s was in

reality a second wave of activism that washed into the public consciousness. This second wave

of activism was washed into the public consciousness as a result of various events that seemed to

occur independently throughout that volatile decade. A distinct subset of the population was

recruited to join the movement as a result of each of these events.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of young women were participating in anti-war and

civil rights movements on college campuses around the country. At the very least, that was what

they intended. The efforts of many were being thwarted by males who believed that leadership of

these groups should be reserved exclusively for themselves and that women's responsibilities

should be limited to tasks such as preparing food and operating mimeograph machines. It didn't

take long before these young women started organising their own "women's liberation"

organisations in order to discuss their position and status inside these progressive movements as

well as within society in general.

 On a wide variety of fronts, these many components of the resurgent Women's Rights

Movement collaborated and operated independently to achieve their goals. Women's newspapers,

bookstores, and cafes were some of the grassroots organisations that were established thanks to

the efforts of small groups of women in hundreds of villages. In order to provide assistance to

people who had been the victims of sexual assault or domestic violence, they established shelters

for battered women and crisis hotlines for rape victims. They banded together to establish child

care centres in order to provide working opportunities for women outside the home. Women in

the medical field established women's clinics so that low-income women could receive

counselling on birth control and family planning, as well as access to abortion procedures. These

clinics provide a secure environment in which patients could discuss a wide variety of health

concerns and try out different kinds of alternative treatments.

Young women of today, who proudly name themselves "the third wave," are tackling

these and other difficult issues today. Few women would give up the legacy of increased

personal liberties and expanded possibilities that they have gained for themselves over the course

of the last 150 years, despite the fact that many women may still be reluctant to call themselves

"feminists" because of the ongoing reaction.

Regardless of the decisions we make regarding our own lives, the majority of us imagine

a world for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters in which all girls and women will have the

chance to cultivate their individual skills and abilities and pursue their dreams. This is the world

we want for ourselves.

Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988): 16–36.

Figures cited in Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1963): 16.
Myrna Oliver, “Maurine Neuberger; One of First Women in the Senate,” 24 February 2000, Los Angeles Times: A20.

Hope Chamberlin, A Minority of Members: Women in the U.S. Congress (New York: Praeger, 1973): 230.

Robert McG. Thomas Jr., “Coya Knutson, 82, Legislator; Husband Sought Her Defeat,” 12 October 1996, New York
Times: 52.

For more on the sexual revolution, see David J. Garrow’s Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making
of Roe v. Wade (New York: Macmillan Company, 1994).