The second wave of the women’s revolution came as a delayed outcome of the first one, but the two waves were quite different. The first-wave feminism was concentrated on reaching legal opportunities for women, such as the right to vote. Meanwhile, during several decades between the two periods, women realized that they were oppressed not only in their legal rights. The injustice in other spheres of life was equal if not more severe than in the legal dimension. The reason why the movement emerged in the 1960s was that females began to reconsider their position in the society that was established after the war.
The major reason why women initiated another movement was that they were dissatisfied with society’s decision to regard them as able only to look after the house and family. Females wanted to have the right to work in many spheres rather than just perform the function of caregivers. They wanted the men to know that women could also be successful in different professions, and they were not as helpless as a society used to see them. The second theory why the feminist movement entered its next stage was that women wanted to draw the public’s attention to their reproductive rights. One of the ways in which men oppressed women was the inability to use birth control.
Thus, women were practically compelled to have as many children as their husbands wanted. The women’s movement activists spread the information about birth control as the possibility to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. Apart from that, other advantages were promoted, such as the avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases and abortions. The third reason for the second wave of feminism was the rise of the question of domestic violence. Women did not want to accept men’s abusive behavior at home any longer. Therefore, they started discussing it and proving their right to be defended from the offensive treatment.
The theory that makes the most sense, as for me, is that the second wave of feminism was the reflection of women’s dissatisfaction with their role in society. Women’s abilities were unfairly underestimated, and females wanted to change the state of affairs dominating in the world. They wanted to demonstrate how talented and smart women were and how useful their work could be for society. It was obvious that females’ responsibilities had been treated rather one-sidedly for many centuries. The women who initiated and participated in the second wave of the feminist movement wanted to change that situation.
They wanted to show men that females could make decisions and manage work and that their responsibilities were not to be limited by household chores. I think that this theory gave life to other reasons why the movement was initiated, which is why it should be considered the main one. Women’s equality in work made it possible for them to speak about the inequality and abuse in family life. The more stability and independence females got in the society, the more freedom they felt to speak about the issues bothering them at home.
Therefore, I consider the desire to reach equality in society the major reason for women’s initiation of the second wave of feminism. Thus, the women’s movement helped them to gain the opportunities they had been deprived of for many centuries.