StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Women's Liberation and Sixties Radicalism - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay presents the analysis of the paper "Nothing Distant About It: Women's liberation and Sixties Radicalism" written by Alice Echols which revolves around the liberation of women in the 1960s and the reasons behind it. It begins with the boycott on the Miss America Pageant…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.7% of users find it useful
Womens Liberation and Sixties Radicalism
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Women's Liberation and Sixties Radicalism"

"Nothing Distant About it: Women's liberation and Sixties Radicalism" -Alice Echols Introduction Nothing Distant about It: Women's liberation and Sixties Radicalism is written by Alice Echols and is available in the book “The Sixties” by David Faber. Summary:The essay revolves around the liberation of women in the 1960s and the reasons behind it. It begins with the boycott on the Miss America Pageant and the different ways used by the female demonstrators to interrupt the on-goings of the show.

It then speaks of the adversity that met these women as they continue to show their aggravated sentiment. Not only are they taunted and jeered at by men but their popularity is also compared to the “anti-war” movement. The latter bit of the essay goes on to talk of the cultivating factors behind the movement. This included the women’s taste of social and economic freedom. The new labor force shifted the need from labor to services, which could be easily accommodated by the new college-educated females.

Also, the financial needs of the house had increased with the introduction of technology and one earner could no longer fulfill the needs of the entire family. Echols then gives the main reason behind the success of the feminist movement: the presence of other oppositional movements (Black and Leftist protests). Along with this was the women’s ability to incorporate Marxist and other ideologies to better understand their own oppression.A brief tussle with NOW (National Organization for Women) over the introduction of personal life into the public sphere separated the feminists from the liberationists of NOW.

Capitalism was also a concept used to reveal the discrepancies between the male and female labor. There was also the call to change institutions that were unable to meet the demands of the radicals. This included newspapers and coffee houses as only new could replace the error of the old.The essay then continues with a history of how women finally reached their desired status in society. This included the acceptance of abortion in 1973 and the problems they faced in their quest to reconstruct old institutions.

However, in the end the united front of women from all races and classes allowed them to form the identity that helped conquer many biases against themAnalysisThe work by Alice Echols is written in a strong and objective tone that allows the reader to form a firm idea of what is being said. From the very beginning of the essay, the writer wins over her audience by mentioning incidents from feminist movements history that are sure to attract and interest the reader. For instance, the event at the Miss America Pageant and the detail with which it is presented is enough to leave any reader captivated to know more.

In the essay she states” They had wanted to burn the contents of the Freedom Trash Can but were prevented from doing so by a city ordinance that prohibited bonfires on the boardwalk” (Echol). This not only assists in adding a touch of humor to the essay but is also compelling as it shows how the feminists did not break any sort of law to prove a point. As the essay progresses the reader is told of the reasons that motivated these women to take action. It helps the reader understand the movement better and is precise in stating what exactly forced the women to stand against their male counterparts.

The most interesting part of the essay is the comparison of the feminist movement to that of the black and leftist movements and how these affected the protestors opinion “And many women’s liberationists (even radical feminists who rejected Marxist theorizing about women’s conditions) often tried to use Marxist ideology to understand women’s oppression.” Thus, with enough examples, Echols was able to prove how all the movements assisted each other in making their cases stronger.The end of the essay is a conclusion to the successes and failures of the movement.

It is a short analysis by the writer herself to better understand the reasons behind the achievements of the movement.The essay is convincing in all its forms and is pertinent in helping the reader understand the history and consequences of the women’s liberation movement.ReferencesEchols, A, Nothing Distant About it: Women's liberation and Sixties Radicalism, The Sixties, 1994, 149-168

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Women's Liberation and Sixties Radicalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Women's Liberation and Sixties Radicalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/history/1555623-womens-liberation-and-sixties-radicalism
(Women'S Liberation and Sixties Radicalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
Women'S Liberation and Sixties Radicalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/history/1555623-womens-liberation-and-sixties-radicalism.
“Women'S Liberation and Sixties Radicalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/history/1555623-womens-liberation-and-sixties-radicalism.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Women's Liberation and Sixties Radicalism

Anti-War Movement and Women Liberation Movement

Anti-War Movement & Women liberation Movement The antiwar movement arose out of America involvement in Vietnamese war.... Additionally, United States deemed National liberation Front as communist.... America had been prompted by several factors to the war.... First, the administration in America was against the spread of communism (King Web)....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Welfare Feminism in Britain

Thus the Welfare State is not just a set of services, it is also a set of ideas about women's role in society, in family, and not least important socially.... Welfare Feminism in Britain.... A welfare state has enabled us to define feminism while remaining in the boundaries of welfare policies, where we can see feminist in the form of wife, sister and daughter and above all a mother....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Spirit of 1968 Politicised Everyday Life

The year 1968 witnessed the unfurling of historical political events that somehow evoked long concealed angst in people all over the world and turned them into instant revolutionaries.... The US was struggling with a war that it had trouble controlling and winning, the former USSR… as busy keeping Czechoslovakia from shedding basic socialistic tenets and embracing the ways of democracies, and other countries all over the world were simply preoccupied trying to keep its citizenry calm down and off the streets....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

The Cult of True Womanhood

The paper "The Cult of True Womanhood" describes that through such women as Francis Willard and Catherine Beecher, women who subscribed fully to the concept of the True Woman were able to break the constraints of the True Woman ideal and come to an understanding of the issues.... hellip; Considered a prime spokesman for the domestic ideology, Beecher took the model of womanhood that restricted women to roles within the home or school thanks to the strong moral qualities that were exceptionally theirs and gave this role significant social importance....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Impact of the Womens Liberation Movement - 1960s to Present

This paper 'The Impact of the women's liberation Movement - 1960s to Present" focuses on the fact that two major publications affected the development of the women's liberation Movement in the 1960s.... To understand how the women's liberation Movement has affected American society since the 1960s, one must have an understanding of the theory of the 'True Woman' before going into how this has affected women's issues in the years since.... Barbara Welter's article exposed the constraining concept of the 'True Woman' and provided a context upon which women's issues could be discussed....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Political and Cultural Perspectives on the 1960s

Everything connected with the era somehow had a “leftist” taint, which has, over time, produced a kind of “sixties confusion” as to what the era was, meant, and how it is to be considered in a historical timeframe.... In the process of defining the era through its various groups and ideas prominent at the time, “it is important to note that problems, oppositions, conflicts, and ultimately struggle are what truly characterized the sixties”(Carter, para....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Radicalism in America

This paper ''radicalism in America'' tells that Many countries worldwide have a rich history regarding radicalism that has shaped their political, economic, and social landscapes for decades.... This paper will look into radicalism in America, radical movements and their influence on society, and their achievements and failures....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Understanding the Taliban and Insurgency in Afghanistan

… The paper "Understanding the Taliban and Insurgency in Afghanistan' is a perfect example of a term paper on history.... The Taliban refers to an Islamist political and militant organization that propelled itself to the seat of power and ruled almost the entire Afghanistan not leaving the capital, Kabul from September 1996....
13 Pages (3250 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us