The most important issues facing women of the 1960s were inequality and sexual discrimination. Women were treated unfairly in the workplace; not given the opportunity to obtain jobs higher than clerical work. Men were paid more, so women were given no choice but to stay in the home and live as housewives. Furthermore, issues of sexual harrasment in the workplace were common and rape was not a serious issue whatsoever. In comparison, the most important issue facing African-Americans in the civil rights movement was also inequality. They too sought equality with white males.

3. Compare the NOW “Bill of Rights” or “To the Women of the New Left” to the Black Panthers’ “Ten Point Platform.” How are they similar and dissimilar? What are their most and least radical demands? To what extent have each of their goals been realized?

Obviously, the NOW Bill of Rights and the Ten Point Platform are boh about equality. Both groups felt strongly enough about their belief in equality that they wrote up documents listing what they believed was just. The first thing I notice is that the Black Panthers were much more aggressive and assertive with their demands. The demands in some cases are completely unrealistic, such as releasing all blacks from jails. The NOW demands were all pretty much realistic, by today's standards, of course. Both parties addressed education as an important element, which goes to show that education itself is an important topic in any context. I personally feel that women today have more or less achieved what they were fighting for when the NOW Bill of Rights was drafted. Maybe this is due to the bill being realistic and less aggressive, (such as asking for day cares) and maybe it'd due to women being such a large part of the world community in the first place. In any case, the Panther's demands have not been as successful. I contribute this to their overly aggressive demands, and also that racism against Blacks is not something easily overcome. In reading these, I feel that whether or not these goals are reached, it's good to put them down in the way NOW and The Black Panther Party did. In the future, we can look back and see where we came from, and how far we've traveled.

The NOW's “Bill of Rights” and the Black Panthers' “Ten Point Platform” have some things in common. The two groups both demanded equal employment and the need for an equal education. The Black Panthers wanted full employment for their people in order for the African Americans to be treated in the same way as white Americans are treated in their jobs. Similar to this demand, the NOW emphasized the importance of womens' equality in their jobs. The group demanded that women should not be discriminated and that they should be treated equally with the men. Another similarity between the two groups is the emphasis on education. Both groups stressed that they should be equally educated and that they learn to their full potential. One of the radical demands from the Black Panthers' “Ten Point Platform” is the demand for freeing all black men held in jails. The purpose of this demand is to show that many innocent people are sent to jail without a fair trial. However, this particular demand is radical in its way because freeing “all black men" is impractical. Of course, among the prisoners, some might have been innocentand were unfortunately sent to jail due to racial inequality. However, some prisoners might have been the ones who are truly guilty. In this case, freeing the guilty people is definitely unnecessary so the demand should be more like “freeing the ones who are innocent.” Overall, both groups were successful in getting what they desired. Nowadays, it is a very common thing to see women getting the most education they can as possible and being successful in their careers. As for the Black Panther, their demands have also become to be real.

I think the most important issues women were facing in the 1960s were rooted in the inequality of men and women. Women felt oppressed and wanted to make their voice heard. I think a big issue was trying to break the stereotype of the stay at home mom or housewife. Women wanted to have careers like men, get paid the same, and have fair treatment in the workplace. It was not just a man’s world, women needed to have a way to support them as well. Another big issue was becoming more independent and not having to rely on men for everything. Like they once did. The times were changing. Women needed to feel like that actually had a voice and it wasn’t just through their husband or father. Just like women, members of the Civil Rights Movement were facing the same issues. African Americans wanted to feel like they had the right to express themselves and have a voice just like women. Both of these groups were struggling for their rights to be looked at as equal as the white man. They didn't want to be looked at as different or less of a human being.

Some of the most important issues of the Womens movement were the lack of jobs and respect available to women in the workplace, also issues addressing rape, domestic violence, sexual harrassment, social welfare, and sexual ignorance. Women were targeted individually instead of as a group, much like the civil rights movement where blacks were targeted to get more rights afforded to them. Although these issues were not seen as important as the other issues being debated about at the time, women's rights were. While blacks were seen as inferior by mass society, so were women. Like the student movement, not all women were involved in this movement but that still didn't make the issues any less important. That is what a movement is all about; To get your ideas and beliefs out to a group and fight for the rights you believe in. Women's rights are just as important as black's and student's rights and who is to say that one issue is more important than the next.

When they began talking about the oppression of women, they were criticized for getting "off-topic."The idea of women's only groups is very similar to the those groups that thought they should not allow whites to help them in the movement. Similarly, the women and groups in the CRM that didn't want whites both did this in order to show their power and not take the attention off of them. Some women believed that it was important to have women's only groups to prove they can take leadership and be successful without the help of men.

It is not very surprising that the Black Panther Platform and the NOW Bill of Rights have a couple things in common. First of all, they had a semi similar background in the sense that both of them were not allowed to exercise the rights that they were guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. Both of their “demands” included an equal education, equal jobs, as well as protection by the law. Up until this point, both women and African Americans had been discriminated against in all of those categories. However, the Black Panthers focused a lot more on law enforcement and violence in general, then again, they had to deal with a lot more violence from law enforcement as well as unfair trials and being forced to serve in the military. Women, on the other hand, wanted to work on financial benefits for children as well as the right to their own bodies.
The most radical demand by the Black Panthers is the demand to be exempt completely from the draft. The only people exempt from the draft are the ones that have excuses, so unless you have a good excuse, everyone should have to fight. The most radical demand by the women is the one about child care centers in public places because it is not practical to leave your kid at the library while you go to work. There should be private day care centers that are either low cost or covered by the company.
For the most part, all of the goals of both parties have been reached. Is there still a glass ceiling when it comes to women in the work place: yes, but it is disappearing more and more everyday. Is there still police brutality: yes, but it is being more publicized therefore becoming less easy for policemen to get away with. We are taking baby steps each day to help these groups of people be equal with their peers and the rest of the US.

I believe the most important issue facing women in the 1960s was equality. Whether in the jobplace or at a university, females were denied access to certain things such as fair wages and leadership roles. Women were not seen as being capable of holding roles of authority outside the house. So, many jobs available to women were secretarial in nature. In fact, women were paid 59 cents to every dollar men made and at certain universities, they were denied access to libraries because they were seen as potential "distractions" to male students. Like the womens movement, the civil rights movement faught for equality. The same issues were brought up such as employment and university acceptance. African Americans were often denied entrance to many universities due to their ethinicity. Jobs were also unfairly distributed. Positions of authority were generally reserved for white males only.

Both movements were trying to change long-time established believes and values held by many Americans. In the 60s, those involved in the movement were ready to change this.

When women began talking about their opression, they were met with out any sympathy. Men, being men, were not understanding, did not listen, and were very childlike. From a biological perspective, men are typically more immature than women. At this point in the movements, the people involved are all relatively young adults. Young adults are still developing, and often at different times. Perhaps the misunderstanding evolved because of a difference in maturity level. Women could understand what the problems were, while men were oblivious.
Women's only groups seem like the ideal solution. When the oppressors are deaf to criticism and suggestion, it is smart to separate and organize. Women knew they needed to collaborate to define thier "issues, methods and goals," only they could define the terms of their struggle (To the Women of the Left). This makes the separation from whites in the civil right movement more understandable. They separated for the same reasons.

The 1960s fostered revolutionary movements that have survived for decades -- the fight for equality and justice, the fight for expression and balance, and the fight for freedom -- all still exist today. The women's movement, namely, was a movement that went silent and largely undiscovered compared to the Civil Rights and Student movements. This is because most of the fight was written and not so much documented or protested. Women's rights were equally important in purpose and equally upheld in significance. The difference, I believe, is that women were less violent, less destructive and less public; issues were dominantly domestic and thought to be private. They were perceived as personal topics and were larely taboo--very different from movements of that decade. Other movements were perceived as outright injustice and were very public. They did, however, hold the same passion and the same intention as the other two movements -- to create a change and generate an awareness of a troubled time and a bias society. This was not at all new to the 1960s, and indeed another social movement was necessary to make a change. Similary, the Civil Rights and Student movements vibrated equality and change and still resonate into our society today.

The women's movement held many of the same basic ideas as the Black Panthers. Both groups felt they had suffered long-term oppression. Also, both groups felt that the only way to get results would be to seperate themselves from their oppressors. Women in SDS had attempted to use the SDS platform to publicize their topic; however, when they were met with even worse male chauvinism, they realized that they had to break away. Similarly, black men were tired of working with white men to further the civil rights cause because they felt that they were being undermined within the organization that was supposed to be helping them. The two organizations were seeking equality, and things that seem like they would be inherent rights. However, I think the Black Panthers' "Ten Point Platform" was much more extreme. Not only did they want equality for the future, but retribution for past suffering. While some of their demands are understandable, some seem outright crazy. For example, demanding that all black men should be freed from jails is totally ridiculous. Although many had received unfair trials, that does not mean that all black men are innocent of crime. Additionally, the Ten Commandments are more hostile and angry than the demands listed by the women's organization. The women's demands seem more rational, and less heated. They demand things like maternity leave and equal opportunity in the workforce. These are things that would not hurt anyone, and they would benefit women. Women's demands are more personally and domestically geared than the Black Panthers' commandments. It seems to me that it would be more likely for somebody who opposed the women's movement to consider their demands because they are not quite as extreme as the Black Panthers' demands.

The Black Panthers and NOW shared a common goal of fighting for freedom. They were interested in equality among all people, especially in the workplace and in schools. While women brought up the issue of childbirth, the Panthers discussed military service and police brutality. I feel that NOW's eight demands were far more realistic than the Black Panthers' Ten Point Platform. Women were essentially asking for the same things and, through the women's movement, were able to achieve almost all of them. However, some of the Black Panthers' requests were nearly impossible to fulfill. There was no way all African- Americans were going to be exempt from military service or released from prisons. The details supporting these demands however, give reasonable justification and were somewhat fulfilled. Blacks were not going to fight for a country that didn't support them and should not have been susceptible to jail time if they were not given a fair trial. In this way, the Black Panthers' platform was successful in receiving a response. The NOW Bill of Rights has become a reality for today's women. The past seems like an abstract thought because so many of these goals have become a reality. Through the demands of both NOW and the Black Panther party, these ideas became reality.

I think the most important issues that were facing the women's movement in the 1960's had to do with employment, abortion rights and marriage equality. These issues seemed to play the biggest role in the movement and had the most to do with the female's everyday life. Other groups from the civil rights movement were concerened also with human rights and oppression, however they were more concerned with these rights as they were applied to men. The women's movement took away the focus from the men and focused on special rights such as abortion and the women's right to choose. Where as the civil rights movement had nothing to do with this issue.
The Women's movement was a more specific movement focusing only on women's rights. This was very different from the civil rights movement because it excluded men. Tensions were most likely caused because of the fact that the men were excluded from this and felt that either a) the women would gain too much power that they did not deserve or b) that this movement would take away some of the push for the civil rights movement. These tensions between groups made it even harder for women to gain equality in society and most likely helped to push women to fight harder for equal rights.

I think the most important issues facing women in the 1960s were being equally compared to men and receiving close to equal wages for the same job. Women were sick of being considered the second gender and wanted to prove that they could do everything a man could do, if not better. They no longer wanted the role as a housewife and felt that they too could be the ones out in the workplace bringing home the bacon. There were many things a woman couldn't do without the help of a man and women wanted to change that and become more independent. The womens movement was very similar to the civil rights movement as they were both a matter of being treated fairly. Both groups were sick of being disrespected and not given the same rights as white males. African Americans, like women, felt they could do just as well as white males if given the same privledges. Both movements were a matter of being given the proper rights they were supposed to have.

I think that one of the most important issues facing women in the 1960's was the issue of equality. It is true that by this time women had the right to vote and that the civil rights movement technically helped out women but they were still not seen as equals, especially in the corporate world. Women during this time could not find the type of employment that a man could. They were rarely given the same opportunities as men and even if they did, they did not receive the compensation equal to their male coworkers. Other groups (namely the civil rights movement and the student movement) also had to deal with inequality in a sense. Obviously African-Americans had to deal with inequality in the form of racial prejudice. But college students had to deal with inequalilty because they were not given the same rights as everyone else. Specifically they were not allowed to pass out certain types of literature (which was protected by the first admendment to the Constitution). I believe that the Civil Rights Movement was far more important than either the women's movement or the student movement. My reasoning for this is because it was far more serious due to the many deaths which occurred as a result of the backlash. It is true that there were deaths at Kent State but this does not even come close to the number of deaths related to the Civil Right Movement.

Betty Friedan and the "underground feminist movement" became known when the group developed their own organization named NOW. These feminists wanted to go through the legal channels to achive their goals of the ERA, equal education, and child care facilites to name a few, all listed in the NOW Bill of Rights. Younger feminists of America felt that they needed to be more radical and be bigger and louder. A comparison for this from the student movement would be the radical organization of the Weathermen who broke away from the less boisterous SDS group. Some might also compare the groups to those from the civil rights movement such as SCLC versus the Black Panther Party. In every movement there will be the group that wants the most attention and quickest results which they feel come through different forms besides the long legal battles. And with all movements there are those who oppose the new ideals, in the women's movement, Phyllis Schlafly is just one of these people. She created the "Stop ERA" group. NAACP=SDS=NOW while Black Panthers=Weathermen=young American radical women. But as mentioned in all three units by different writers, without the rebel group or without the legal devotionists, no real changes could be obtained!

The most important issue facing the women's movement would have to be that of equality. They wanted to be totally equal with men in every aspect of life, and at the time that wasn't the case. One of the main aspects of this would have to be the difference in pay between men and women. Men were compensated far greater than women for practically the same jobs. Not only were the men compensated better but it was easier for them to get those jobs in the first place. So women were at a total disadvantage because of this. They were seen as just housewives who were supposed to cook and clean and then take care of the children. They needed to get rid of this image and gain the eqaulity they deserved.

This case of equality is something that the civil rights movement was well aware of. That was the main factor in the civil rights movement as well. The African Americans just wanted equality with the white people. They were treated as second class citizens when they should be on the same level as everyone else. Jobs were hard to come by for black people, at least good jobs which paid good money. Most things were just off limits to black people like excutive jobs, certain resturants and even certain water fountains. So these two movements are extremely similar to each other because they were both fighting for the same thing, equality. The women were fighting for equality from the men and the blacks were fighting for equalit from the whites.
Equality was the most important issue for both of these groups because with equality comes the quality of life that they are looking for. When your not equal to someone else you are treated worse and it makes your life worse. So gaining equality meant gaining a quality of life that these groups felt they deserved.