As NOW turns 50, feminists hail gains but ‘battle goes on’

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Fifty years ago, when a small group of activists founded the National Organization for Women, the immediate issue that motivated them was sex discrimination in employment. They were irate that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was refusing to ban “Help Wanted Male” and “Help Wanted Female” job advertising.

Typical were ads seeking a “well-groomed gal” for a job as a receptionist.

Flash forward to today: Women comprise close to 50 percent of enrollment in U.S. medical schools and law schools. One-third of federal judges are women, compared with just a handful in the 1960s. The U.S military is opening all combat jobs to women.

At NOW and elsewhere in the diverse ranks of the feminist movement, there’s deep pride in these changes, but also a consensus that the 50th anniversary – to be celebrated Thursday – is not an occasion to declare victory.

“The battle goes on,” said Eleanor Smeal, a former president of NOW who heads the Feminist Majority Foundation. “So many of the things we fought for have been achieved, but we still do not have full equality.”

Among the issues viewed as unfinished business: a wage gap that favors men over women, the persistent scourge of sexual assault and domestic violence and the push in many states to reduce access to legal abortion.

Once virtually alone as a national, multi-issue feminist group, NOW shares the activist stage today with a multitude of other players – ranging from youthful online organizers to groups focused on specific issues such as abortion rights, campus rape and workplace equity. NOW’s membership and revenues are down from its peak years, and some younger feminists wonder if it is losing some relevance.

It was different back in 1966. NOW’s founding was a pivotal moment in the rebuilding of a vibrant U.S. feminist movement after a period of relative dormancy in the 1940s and ’50s.

The so-called “second wave” of U.S. feminism gained momentum in part because of “The Feminine Mystique,” Betty Friedan’s 1963 book that gave a voice to women frustrated by the gender inequities of the status quo. Friedan was among NOW’s co-founders and was chosen as its first president at an organizing conference in October 1966.

She also wrote the Statement of Purpose adopted by NOW at that conference. It vowed “to break through the silken curtain of prejudice and discrimination against women” in every field of importance in American society.

Fifty years later, only patches of that silken curtain remain, and Hillary Clinton hopes to add the ultimate breakthrough by becoming the first woman elected president. NOW has eagerly endorsed her.