A Study Of The Two Great Branches Of The Second American Women's Movement

The American women's movement is an important part of American history. The content of the movement touched on many fields such as history, politics, economics, culture, etc, which has left great influences on the whole society, especially on the life of women.This thesis firstly gives a retrospect of American women's movement, especially the second wave of American women's movement. In reviewing the contemporary American feminist movement, the thesis analyzes the eruption of the movement in a detailed way, including ideological foundation, political atmosphere, social base, the foundation of feminist groups and direct causes. The main content of the thesis focuses on the two great branches of the second American women's movement which began in the 1960s and peaked in '70s. This part includes the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Moderate Feminism; the Women's Liberation Movement and the Radical Feminism. In the early years of the movement, the two branches went in different ways under dissimilar guidance. After years of development, the two branches began to understand and accept each other's ideas and finally worked together for the common aim.The thesis argues that the second American feminist movement occurred under the precondition of World WarⅡtogether with the wave of a series of social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, New Left Movement and Anti-War movement. Based on an analysis of the eruption of the movement, the author emphasized the influential power of the two great branches of the movement. During the movement, NOW (the National Organization for Women) and WLM (the Women's Liberation Movement), carried out a series of activities concerning various aspects of women's rights according to different understanding of the problems women faced in that era. Despite the many differences between the two great branches of the movement, they had always the same struggle point---- to fight against any discrimination against women and give women equal rights and freedom. Looking back on the struggling years of the second feminist movement, the author concluded that feminists'efforts have changed women's life greatly and left deep impacts on American society. Although an effort in 1970s to pass the Equal Rights Amendment failed, its aims had been largely achieved by other means by the end of the 20th century. Through a detailed and thorough research on the second American feminist movement from the angle of the two leading branches of the movement, the author hopes to give more insights into the understanding of the contemporary American society.