Final answer:
The Second Wave of the women’s movement emphasized establishing equal rights and opportunities for women, advocating for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and challenging societal and economic discrimination. It was marked by key events such as the publication of 'The Feminine Mystique' and the fight against workplace discrimination.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Second Wave of the women’s movement, which is commonly associated with the activism in the late 1950s through the 1970s, focused on challenging lasting inequalities that persisted despite the elimination of legal barriers achieved by the First Wave. The Second Wave sought to establish and defend equal rights and opportunities for women, focusing on issues like bodily freedoms, safety in personal relationships, and discrimination in the workplace.
One major part of the Second Wave was the push for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which sought to guarantee equal treatment of men and women under the law and was passed by Congress in 1972. However, it ultimately failed to be ratified by enough states by the extended deadline of 1982, due in part to organized opposition. Another milestone was the publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan in 1963, which sold millions of copies and highlighted the systemic sexism that kept women in domestic roles.
Furthermore, Second Wave activists fought for the passage of laws such as the amendments to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which aimed to eliminate wage discrimination based on sex and ban discrimination in the workplace.