Second Wave Feminism

Second Wave feminism refers to the feminist movement of the 1960s, which was characterized by the "personal is the political". It focused on promoting gender equality beyond suffrage, to guarantee women a more prominent place in society by changing cultural norms and legal barriers. Betty Friedan's 1963 The Feminine Mystique challenged the notion that women's role was the home and that she was fated to get married and raise children; Friedan gave women the language for the ill feelings and frustration women were having but could not contextualie or vocalize.

Second wave feminism is often criticized for leaving out women of color and lower classes; it was targeted toward middle and upper class educated white women, and it ignored the problems of women of color and lower socioeconomic status.