You should be happy being a wife and mother! This was the message American women heard constantly until the early 1960s. But growing numbers of women felt that being a wife and mother was not fulfilling or stimulating enough. Something had to change. Women like Betty Freidan, Martha Griffiths, Pauli Murray, Esther Peterson, Gloria Steinem, Frances Beal, and Bella Abzug dedicated themselves to securing equal rights and opportunities for women in the workplace, in education, and under the law. The work of those involved with what became known as the "women's liberation movement" in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s permanently changed attitudes in American society.
