Wednesday 26 February 2014

NOW - National Organisation for Women

Website - http://now.org/


"As the grassroots arm of the women’s movement, the National Organization for Women is dedicated to its multi-issue and multi-strategy approach to women’s rights. NOW is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of contributing members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia." - NOW website. 


Founded in 1966, NOW have been actively aiming to bring equality for all women, and claims to be a leader, not a follower of public opinion. Co-founder Betty Friedan was one of the first women to create a backlash at the adverts at the time, which promoted the idea of women staying at home and working in the kitchen. She felt this domesticated way of life was not all there was for a woman to aim for, so she went on to create the "second-wave" of feminism as her way to demonstrate that a woman can aim to be whatever she pleases, and that women could do the jobs just as well as men could. 

NOW hold events and campaigns to highlight the issues they feel are in society. One of the big issues they discuss on the website is that of body image. Under the tab "Love your body", they discuss how there is a lot of pressure for women to look a certain way, and have a certain body type. They feel that this is ridiculous, and that these pressures in society cause a lot of harm to individuals who go to extreme lengths to reach these ideals. NOW promote the idea that the female body is beautiful in all forms, and aim to remove the pressures from society, most particularly in the media. 


NOW claim to be a multi-issue and multi-strategy organisation. They prioritise winning economic equality and equal rights for women, and hope to secure this by amendment to the U.S Constitution. They also aim to work on abortion rights, reproductive freedom and women's health issues, opposing racism and fighting bigotry against lesbians and gays; and ending violence against women.

The website is an interesting one, as it gives the option to donate to the foundation. The website includes a blog called "Say It Sister!", which I found interesting as I felt it encouraged a kind of sisterhood between all woman, uniting them all together under this cause. By giving this sense of community, it encourages more people to get involved with their campaigns, which therefore in turn means that they can accomplish more and have a larger voice in society and can make a bigger change. 




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