American Women's Organizations-A Booster For American Women's Political Participation In The Second Feminist Movement

Compared with the first feminist movement in the United States which granted American women the right to vote and started the prologue to American women's participation in electoral politics,the defining feature of the second one was the emergence of a great deal of women's organizations which also became a new campaign way.These organizations made visible contributions to promote women's political participation.This thesis will begin with introducing background of the second feminist movement in the United States,against which,all kinds of women's organizations sprung up.The second chapter,firstly,will discuss about the influential women's associations in the 1920 s and women's political participation from the 1920 s to the 1960 s.Then the thesis will analyze their role of a booster for political participation from the 1960 s to the 1980 s through analyzing women's organizations performance,effort and achievements.The more women served in the office,the more influence they might shed.Besides,they tended to fight together once they had the same goals,which produced stronger influence on decision-making.The last chapter will be about the limitations of women's organizations and some their rectification.The concerns of marginalized groups,like African-American women and lesbians,couldn't get equal attention because middle-class white women played a dominant role in the mainstream society.Among white women's organizations,there were also conflicts because of their different focus,goals and campaign ways.The limitations of women's organizations might weaken their political participations,but,to some certain degree,encouraged women to participate in politics,as well.In a word,women's organizations provided great momentum for women's political participation from the 1960 s to the 1980 s including the increasing number of women in office and the enlarged influence on decision-making.