National Organization for Women. The first formal organization of the late twentieth‐century feminist movement, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in 1966 by reformers frustrated by the government's failure to enforce Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited sex discrimination in employment.Most founders were professional women, union activists, or members of state commissions on the status of women. Under the leadership of president Betty Friedan and board chair Kathryn Clarenbach, and with support from the United Automobile Workers union, NOW set out “to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society in truly equal partnership with men.” Seven initial task forces focused action on employment, education, religion, family, mass media, politics, and poverty.
A national membership organization with state and local chapters, NOW grew from 1,000 members in 1967 to 220,000 in 1982. Internal conflicts arose over the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA),
abortion, lesbian rights, and the organization's bureaucratic structure. By the late 1970s, facing growing national opposition to feminist gains, NOW concentrated on working for ratification of the ERA, defending abortion rights, and increasing its involvement in electoral politics. Subsequently, NOW targeted violence against women,
racism, homophobia, and economic inequity as priority issues. “To eliminate sexism and end all oppression” became NOW's expanded purpose. By 1998, with 250,000 members in 550 chapters, NOW was the nation's largest feminist membership organization, a key partner in a women's policy lobby, and an important forum for the ongoing development of feminist ideas.
See also
Civil Rights Legislation;
Domestic Violence;
Feminine Mystique, The;
Feminism;
Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement;
Women in the Labor Force;
Women's Rights Movements.
Bibliography
Winifred D. Wandersee , On the Move: American Women in the 1970s, 1988.
Myra Marx Ferree and and Beth B. Hess , Controversy and Coalition: The New Feminist Movement across Three Decades of Change, rev. ed., 1994.
Joyce C. Follet
