Gender equality

The Second wave of feminist movement was linked mainly with the political movements of the sixties and seventies in the twentieth century. It developed in the context of left-wing student protests in Europe, the anti-war movement in the U.S., but also in the movement for equal rights for ethnic and cultural minorities. All these elements can be identified within the feminist movement itself, which began to branch out: feminists articulated specific requirements for "black" feminism, "lesbian" feminism and "post-colonial" feminism. Besides many requests, which persisted from the time of the first wave of feminism (political and economic equality, equal pay and access to paid work and education), the second wave formulated other ones, resulting from contemporary contexts. Those were particularly the need for reproductive rights, equality in marriage relationships, elimination of Gender-based violence, equality for non-heterosexual persons, etc. In terms of the theoretical definition, the second wave of feminism contributed to the development of theories on Gender, as they were presented above.

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Gloria Steinem

American second wave feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. She was a columnist for New York magazine and co-founded Ms. magazine. In 1969, she published an article, "After Black Power, Women's Liberation", which, along with her early support of abortion rights, catapulted her to national fame as a feminist leader. Steinem brought other notable feminists to the fore and toured the country with child-welfare pioneer Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and National Black Feminist Organization founder Margaret Sloan-Hunter. In 1970 Gloria Steinem established herself as a leader of the Women's Movement with her impassioned Senate testimony in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment and her essay on an utopia of equality, "What It Would Be Like If Women Win", in Time magazine. Steinem worked alongside Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan to co-found the Women's Media Center, an organization that works to amplify the voices of women in the media through advocacy, media and leadership training, and the creation of original content.