Critical Analysis of Friedans Testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee

Critical Analysis of Friedans Testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee

Betty Friedan is one of the pioneers of the second wave of feminism. She is one of the prominent figures who openly opposed the systemic sexism that kept women in the United States marginalized and significantly disadvantaged against men. One of her memorable actions was her testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee in 1970. In this speech, Friedman opposed the Supreme Court appointment of Judge G. Harrold Carswell, who openly attacked and neglected women’s rights issues in his court decisions.

About Betty Friedan

Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was an American and human rights activist. She is remembered as a leader in the second wave of the human rights movement that started in 1963. Her influence on feminism started when she wrote a book titled “The Feminist Mystique” in 1963. This book emphasized the importance of giving women equal opportunities to men in society (Horowitz 15). “The Feminist Mystique” is believed to have sparked the second wave of feminism. Friedan also made other significant impacts in the fight for the rights of women in the 20^th Century. She was the first president of the National Organization of Women. In 1970, she organized a nationwide women’s strike in an effort to fight for equality on August 26^th, the anniversary of the day women were constitutionally granted the right to vote. This national strike was successful in expanding the feminist movement, leading to more successful efforts in achieving equality for women in the United States (54). Friedan was also a believer in the intersectionality of the feminist movement. Aside from women’s rights, she was also an open supporter of equal human rights. She openly spoke against the discrimination of African Americans in the United States. Her testimony to the Senate Judicial Committee was delivered in her capacity as the national president of the National Organization for Women, mainly speaking against sex and racial discrimination.

Analysis

The purpose of Friedan’s testimony was to prevent the appointment of Judge Carswell to the Supreme Court. She explained, “I am here to testify before this committee to oppose Judge Carswell’s appointment to the Supreme Court.” Her basis for this opposition was because of the judge’s insensitivity to the problems of women in the United States. In particular, Judge Carswell had a series of rulings that violated the rights of women. One particular ruling that Friedman focuses on in her testimony was the judge’s support of the discrimination of women because they were mothers. This testimony occurred just six years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This policy prohibits employers from discriminating against people based on several characteristics, including sex. This policy being relatively new meant that there was a lot of ambiguity surrounding some of the aspects of the law. One of the issues that was ambiguous was understanding what constitutes sexual discrimination.

On October 13, 1969, Judge Carswell made an unusual decision allowing employers to refuse to hire women who had children. This decision is defined as unusual by Friedan because it is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers were allowed to refuse to hire women or fire them on the basis of having pre-school-aged children. On the other hand, men were allowed to work regardless of the status of their fatherhood or the age of their children. Denying work to mothers with children under the age of 6 years was discrimination based on their sex, according to Friedan’s explanation. Friedan explained, “It is the fact of the person being a mother — i.e., a woman — not the age of the children, which denies employment opportunity to a woman which is open to men.” This explains the reason why the judge’s ruling is against the requirements of the Civil Rights Act.

The success of Friedan’s request to decline the appointment of Judge Carswell would have significant implications for women. In particular, a lot of women in the workforce had been directly impacted by the actions of this judge. 25% of mothers with children under the age of 6 years were in the workforce at the time. A majority of these women were working to cater to the lives of their children. Therefore, the ruling was a significant blow to their livelihood, knowing that they could now be fired from their jobs based solely on the fact that they were mothers of young children. It was important that the Senate Judicial Committee listened to Friedan’s request to protect women from the possible discriminative decisions that he would make as a member of the Supreme Court of Justice.

How the Contextual, Biographical, and Historical Elements of the Women’s Liberation Movement affect Friedan’s Speech

The Women’s Liberation Movement that emerged between the 1960s and the 1980s was an alignment between feminist intellectualism and politics. The movement was a significant influencing factor in the significant political and cultural changes that occurred in favor of women’s rights around the world (Freeman 793). Friedan’s speech to the Senate is directly influenced by the Women’s Liberation Movement. Her speech was delivered at the beginning of the second wave of the feminist movement, which influenced the development of the liberation movement.

The context of the Women’s Liberation Movement is the primary basis of Friedan’s testimony to the Senate Judicial Committee. Her main motivation for the speech was the gross political, economic, and social violation of women’s rights. The power structures that make men and women unequal were very evident at the time. There was cultural and systemic marginalization of women that purposely prevented their development in society. Women were culturally and politically forced to be highly dependent on men for survival. The men were the workers, and the women were the caretakers of their homes. However, the more women depended on men, the less likely they were to gain enough power to be equal to men. The dependence on men also placed women at the risk of abuse with no other option to take care of themselves. Women gradually started to join the workforce, but the patriarchal structures still made it hard for them to access equal opportunities to the men (792-811). The Women’s Liberation Movement grew out of struggles with women’s rights. The movement was created to challenge the patriarchal system. The system challenged the longstanding beliefs about the power structures that placed men at an advantage over women. Friedan’s speech is an example of the many actions that she and other members of the Liberation Movement took to create a power balance between men and women. By openly opposing the appointment of a Supreme Court Judge who was against gender equality, she presented the creation of further legal and political barriers to the development of an equal society. To achieve an equal society, it was important to have people who supported equality in power.

Conclusion

The second wave of feminism has some of the biggest effects on the world’s cultural, economic, and political power structures with respect to sex and gender. Friedan’s speech presents an example of the radical actions that the significant figures in the movement had to take to campaign for equality. She openly opposed a Supreme Court judge nominee to prevent the appointment of leaders who would not be in support of women.

Works Cited

Freeman, Jo. “The origins of the women’s liberation movement.” American Journal of Sociology 78.4 (1973): 792-811.

Friedan, Betty. “Judge Carswell and The “Sex Plus” Doctrine: Testimony Before The Senate Judicial Committee” (1970)

Horowitz, Daniel. Betty Friedan and the making of The Feminine Mystique: The American Left, the Cold War, and modern feminism culture, politics, and the Cold War. Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press, (1998).

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After reading/listening to Chisholm’s speech before Congress on the ERA and Friedan’s testimony before the Senate judicial committee, choose ONE and evaluate it using various critical analysis modes.

Consider theoretical, definitional, evidential, OR implication questions (go back to these questions in the Critical Analysis review) to respond to with your critique. Additionally, how do contextual, biographical, and historical elements of the women’s liberation movement affect your chosen speech?

Critical Analysis of Friedans Testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee

Optionally, employ up to two (2) outside sources in your essay to identify the efforts of the women’s movement amongst the various factions of organizations attempting to push these ideas to the forefront of the American consciousness.

This essay must be typed in MLA format, 1200 words MINIMUM, and turned in online to Canvas. You will submit rough drafts to Canvas by the above-listed date and then complete the peer-review workshop by the above-listed date. You will need to provide a word count at the end of your final draft, as well as a Works Cited page.