LSource 3 The Feminine Mystique was an account of the frustrations and unhappiness of educated American women unable, as ‘good wives and mothers’, to use their education and stretch their intelligence – ‘the problem that has no name’ – and a criticism of the way in which American society forced women into the role of home-keepers and carers … (Arthur Marwick, The Sixties [1998])
1. In Source 1, how does Debbie Reynolds in the Tender Trap see her role?
2. Why do the women in Source 2 feel stifled in their own homes?
3. Do the women written about in Source 2 see their role in the same way as Debbie Reynolds in Source 1?
4. What has provided ‘the meat of dozens of speeches made by troubled presidents of women’s colleges’ in Source 2?
5. What frustrations does The Feminine Mystique refer to in Source 3? 6. What is it criticising? 7. Which of these sources are primary and which are secondary?
8. How useful are they in helping you to understand the problems women faced in the early 1960s?
PROFILE – BETTY FRIEDAN
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Importance of Women’s Liberation Movement ●● Laws were changed to ban discrimination against women ●● Women were more aware of discrimination and were more prepared to challenge it
●● But issues in relation to promotion and pay were more difficult to overcome
Youth Culture and Revolution Prior to the 1960s, the role of youth
was to carry on the traditional culture of adults. This all changed in the late 1950s and especially the 1960s. By the 1960s, a youth market had
developed as young people availed of opportunities for part-time and full-time jobs in the growing western economies. A break occurred between youth and
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Do you agree that the women’s liberation movement was only important for middle class women but that poorer women did not benefit from it?
2Debate the importance of youth culture and the youth revolution
