The Western Post-War Era's Push For Social Transformation

The Western Post War Era’s Push for Social Transformation

World War ll left destruction, death, and the beginnings of change. After such conflict, citizens in the United States began to question the values and systems that had led to such devastation. This questioning paved the way for a new wave of thinking emphasizing social justice, equality, and human rights. During 1963-1991, Western society underwent a radical post-war social transformation. In the United States, this social transformation had numerous manifestations and a great deal of influence. This social transformation was driven by a combination of factors, including changing cultural attitudes toward social issues such as civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights. In addition,

As awareness of unfair social conditions arose people wanted to have a say in their own rights and started to speak up for unjust treatment. Due to this a general shift towards liberalism was seen in Western society. A series of nonviolent campaigns began where multiple groups of people joined together to address different inequalities in the nation. The Civil rights movement was one of these. A major driving force of civil rights efforts was diversity in the armed forces. As stated in Patterns of World History, “Recognition of African American participants in the armed forces along with repugnance towards Nazi radical policies, made segregation in the military increasingly untenable.”1 This quote showcases the way diversity in the armed forces accelerated civil rights efforts by exposing and challenging racial discrimination and segregation policies. As a result, President Truman desegregated the American military in 1947. Then In 1954, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier stand, not segregation and education in the Brown v Board of Education ruling. Overturning the 1896 Plessy v Ferguson decision that "separate but equal" were constitutional, the court now ruled that

Like the Civil Rights movement, the women's rights movement was caused by “sweeping” social change. Both World War ll and the Cold War advanced the movement for equality in gender relations further leading to feminism’s second wave. As stated in Patterns of World History, “1960s and 1970s are considered to mark the beginning of “second-wave feminism.”6 During this period American women were becoming dissatisfied with what they perceived as the sexism of other progressive organizations. In response they founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966.7 Women alike, in or outside of organizations fought for reproductive rights, equality in the workspace, and social freedoms. The push for reproductive rights resulted in the significant Supreme Court decision, Roe V. Wade, which protected a woman’s right to have an abortion. Simone de Beauvoir a French philosopher became an influential voice in the movement for women's freedoms. In her study, The Second Sex, Beauvoir addressed inequality in the societal norms faced by women. She challenged them to act on their own behalf to gain equality with their male counterparts.8 For example, she writes,“The girl is required to stay home; her outside activities are watched over: she is never encouraged to organize her own fun or pleasure.”9 This encapsulates women’s struggles, as often they were (still in many cases) expected to take care of