Women's Strike for Equality facts for kids
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The Women's Strike for Equality was a big protest that happened in the United States on August 26, 1970. It celebrated 50 years since American women got the right to vote, thanks to the Nineteenth Amendment. The protest was supported by the National Organization for Women (NOW). About 50,000 women protested in New York City, and many more joined across the country. This was the largest protest for women's rights in the U.S. at that time. The strike was led by Betty Friedan. Its main goals were to get equal opportunity for women at work and free childcare. It also pushed for other important changes like more political rights and social equality in relationships, such as marriage.
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Why Did Women Strike for Equality?
At the time of the protest, women did not have many of the same rights and freedoms as men. Even though the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed, which said men and women should be paid the same for the same job, women still earned much less. For every dollar a man made, a woman earned only 59 cents for similar work.
Limited Choices for Women
Women also faced limits in getting a good education. For example, Harvard University did not let women attend until 1977. No matter how much education they had, women were often pushed into only a few jobs. These were usually secretarial work, nursing, teaching, or being a mother.
Even very smart women faced these problems. Sandra Day O'Connor, who later became the first female Supreme Court Justice, finished at the top of her class at Stanford Law School. But law firms in Los Angeles only offered her secretarial jobs.
Daily Life Challenges for Women
In many states, there were laws that limited how many hours women could work. They also had rules about how much weight women could lift. Some feminists pointed out that the limit was often 25 pounds, which is about the weight of a toddler. In many states, women could not get credit cards, make a will, or own property without their husband's permission. Some states even stopped women from serving on a jury.
How the Strike Was Planned
The idea for the strike came from a letter sent by Betty Jameson Armistead to Betty Friedan. Betty Friedan, who wrote the famous book The Feminine Mystique, was a key leader in the women's rights movement. She planned the protest to mark the anniversary of women getting the right to vote. She also wanted to highlight the problems women still faced. Friedan said the movement needed "something big" to get national attention.
Getting Support for the Protest
Friedan first suggested the strike to the National Organization for Women (NOW), an organization she helped start. But some members were worried. They feared the protest might not work and could make their movement look silly.
Despite these worries, Friedan kept planning for months. The first planning meeting was small and a bit messy. But as the plans continued, some disagreements arose. In the last month before the event, the group was split. There were younger, more "radical" members and the "bourgeoisie" founders.
In the end, Friedan managed to bring everyone together. She got both women and men, liberals and conservatives, to join. Friedan even asked New York City for permission to close Fifth Avenue for the protest. The city said no.
The Day of the Strike
Even though the city refused to close the street, women gathered anyway. They started protesting around 5 pm. This time was chosen so that working women could attend after their jobs. The protest in New York included chanting, speeches by important figures like Friedan, and many signs.
A Huge Crowd in New York
Estimates say that between 10,000 and 20,000 people, mostly women, gathered on Fifth Avenue. Police tried to keep the crowd to just one lane of traffic. But there were so many people that they spread across the entire street, from sidewalk to sidewalk.
Many signs in the crowd were funny and powerful. The most famous slogan was "Don't iron while the strike is hot." Other signs included: "I Am Not a Barbie Doll," "Storks Fly – Why Can't Mothers," and "We are the 51% minority." Speeches were given to excite the crowd and inform people watching. Friedan spoke about women's strength and their ability to overcome unfair treatment. The strike's main goals were to make the women's rights movement well-known and to show the unfairness women faced.
Protests Across the Nation
Besides the big protest in New York City, people and groups all over the country held their own protests.
- In Boston, about 5,000 women gathered in Boston Common. Then 1,000 marched into downtown Boston.
- In San Francisco, a rally drew about 2,000 people in Union Square.
- About 125 women marched on City Hall in Syracuse, New York.
- In Manhasset, New York, women collected signatures for a petition. This petition asked the Senate to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
Other creative protests happened too:
- In Detroit, women held a sit-in in a men's restroom. They were protesting that there were not enough facilities for women staff.
- In Pittsburgh, four women threw eggs at a radio host. He had dared them to show their "liberation."
- One thousand women in Washington, D.C., marched down Connecticut Avenue. Their banner read "We Demand Equality."
- In Washington, D.C., government workers held a peaceful protest and a "teach-in." This taught people about the unfairness women faced. They were careful because government workers were not allowed to strike.
- In Minneapolis, women performed guerrilla theater. They acted out common roles of women in American society. They showed women as mothers and wives, doing dishes, raising children, and doting on their husbands. They wore heels and aprons while doing this.
- About 100 women also marched in Saint Louis.
Striking from Work and Chores
Another part of the protest was a one-day strike from work. Betty Friedan asked that "the women who are doing menial chores in the offices as secretaries put the covers on their typewriters." She also asked "the waitresses stop waiting, cleaning women stop cleaning." She wanted "everyone who is doing a job for which a man would be paid more stop [working]." This work strike aimed to show how unfair pay and limited job choices were for women.
Women were also asked to stop doing household chores that day. By refusing to cook or clean, they wanted to show how unevenly household work was shared between men and women. It is hard to know how many women participated in this part of the strike, as it involved unpaid work.
Despite the challenges, Friedan said the event was a big success. She said, "It exceeded my wildest dreams. It's now a political movement and the message is clear."
How People and Media Reacted
The strike got a lot of attention from local and national news. Some reactions were positive, but some were negative.
Negative Reactions
Some women disagreed with the strike. They called for a "National Celebration of Womanhood." On this day, they suggested women dress in "frilly" clothes, sing while doing laundry, and cook breakfast in bed for their husbands. Other women simply watched the protest, not sure what it was all about. One woman was quoted saying, "I don't know what these women are thinking of. I love the idea of looking delectable and having men whistle at me."
Many news outlets questioned if the protest was important. CBS news said a poll found that two-thirds of American women did not feel they were treated unfairly. News anchor Eric Sevareid compared the women's movement to a sickness. He ended his report by calling the women "a band of braless bubbleheads."
Many feminists were upset by how major news outlets talked about their movement. They felt the reporting was unfair and rude. They said the news focused on the women's anger instead of their main message. ABC added to this anger when reporter Howard K. Smith spoke against the movement. He said it wasn't believable and lacked proof. The women's movement then fought back against the media. They boycotted four big companies whose ads and shows they found offensive. ABC later took back Smith's statement. Smith then said he didn't support women's liberation because, in his view, women were already free. He claimed, "Women dominate our elections; they probably own most of the nation's capital wealth; any man who thinks he, and not his wife, runs his family is dreaming."
Positive Reactions
Not all media attention was negative. President Richard Nixon made a statement recognizing the movement's importance. He named the anniversary of women getting the right to vote "Women's Equality Day." This was asked for by House Representative Bella Abzug. Time Magazine also supported the cause. It published articles that highlighted the issues the movement cared about.
Supporters of the protest felt it was very important. Feminists and experts said the strike was a big moment for the second wave feminism movement. This was because it got so much attention from the media and across the country.
