The "second wave" of feminism spread across the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. By 1971, growing awareness of women's liberation was everywhere in the media and a part of many women's lives. Here are a few important events of feminism in 1971:
- Bella Abzug, elected in 1970, began serving as a U.S. Congresswoman. On her first day, she called for a withdrawal of the U.S. troops in Vietnam.
- Linda Nochlin’s essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” was published in ARTNews.
- The feminist art journal Women and Art began publication.
- Prominent feminists including Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus.
- A joint resolution of Congress established August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.
- The U.S. Supreme Court decided Reed v. Reed, which declared sex discrimination a violation of the 14th Amendment.
- The House of Representatives passed the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- President Nixon vetoed the Comprehensive Child Development Act, which would have established a national system of child care centers with free and sliding scale day care available.
- The New York chapter of the National Organization for Women, or NOW, formed a “Baby Carriage Brigade” to demonstrate in favor of a tax deduction for child care expenses.
- Three hundred prominent French women signed a manifesto declaring that they had had abortions.