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Sarah Weddington
3m 33s
Sarah Weddington was a the attorney in Roe v Wade. Learn more about the landmark case.
Chart the last five years of the women’s movement and its re-energized, intersectional fight for equality. Activists, journalists, entertainers, athletes, and politicians report from the frontlines of the feminist tidal wave.
Video description: Makers: Women in Space traces the history of women pioneers in the U.S. space program. Some, like aviators Wally Funk and Jerrie Cobb, passed the same grueling tests as male astronauts, only to be dismissed by NASA, the military, and even Lyndon Johnson, as a distraction. It wasn’t until 1995 that Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a spacecraft.
Sarah Weddington was a the attorney in Roe v Wade. Learn more about the landmark case.
In 1967 Kathrine Switzer ran in the Boston Marathon, and had to enter under her initials as women were not allowed in the race. By proving that women could finish the race she changed the sport of running forever.
Most middle class women of the 1950s became homemakers. Many women felt dissatisfied.
Flight attendants had a very short career for at 32 they were forcible retired. They were the first case for the Equal Opportunity Commission.
In 1963 Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique, and exposed he happy homemaker myth. Many women wanted the opportunity of a career of their own.
The Equal Rights Amendment passed both houses of congress in 1972 leaving only ratification before the law was adopted. 30 states ratified it in the first year but the culture war was just starting.
Phyllis Schlafly leads the protest against the ERA and focuses on the possibility of women being exposed to the military draft
Lorena Weeks applied for a job within Southern Bell and was told the job was reserved for men.
Billie Jean King's work on behalf of women’s opportunity and equality in competition came together when she beat former men's champion Bobby Riggs in 1973’s famous “Battle of the Sexes” match.
African American women saw little in the Women's Movement that resonated with their lives. They had to work to support their families and saw little in common with the women of NOW.
MAKERS: Women Who Make America tells the story of how women have helped shape America over the last 50 years through one of the most sweeping social revolutions in our country’s history, in pursuit of their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity and personal autonomy. Airs on PBS Feb. 26 at 8pm
The fight to ratify the ERA ran into a changing political climate, and effective opponents.
In 1980, Susan Love became the first female General Surgeon on the staff of Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital. Realizing that women were not getting the best care in the treatment of breast cancer she decided to specialize and has drastically altered the equations surrounding the disease. 1990’s Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book is now in it's fifth edition.
During the 1980's women were stepping into boardrooms and knocking down barriers in many fields.
Abby Pogrebin, the daughter of MS co-founder, Letty Pogrebin grew up during the women's movement. While proud of her mother and the work of the movement, she was unprepared for trying to balance work life and family.
While huge strides have been made the fight for women is not over. Many women are refocusing the movement on women around the world, not just in the United States.