after, under Lyndon Johnson, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion and national origin. The category “sex” was included at the last minute in an attempt to kill the bill. But it was passed. With its passage, the Equal Opportunity Commission was established to investigate discrimination complaints and enforce the Act. These two laws provided the backdrop for the second wave of feminism.In 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique and the book became a best seller by 1964. It was based on a survey she had conducted for her twentieth college reunion. In the book, Friedan critiqued the limited roles allowed for women as wives and mothers. It inspired many women to become active outside their homes and married lives and look for fulfillment beyond the role of homemaker. Although Friedan’s book basically ignores the situation of minority, lower and working class women, who by necessity were already active outside of the home, the book is often looked at as the turning point for many middle class white women. These women were encouraged to examine and do something about their limited situations.Enough women were interested that by October 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) held its first formal meeting, with Betty Friedan as the organization’s first president. The group’s goal was to create equality between women and men, calling for “equal participation and treatment of women in employment, education, and government, for establishing new institutions to facilitate public roles for women, for true equality in marriage, and for destroying false images of women.” (Hole 77) NOW set up task forces several areas including employment, religion, the family, the mass media, politics, and female poverty.In preparation for the 1968 elections, NOW prepared a Bill of Rights that include...
