Before You Ask

Blue edges and blue text on a white background. A drawing of a man with brown hair, wearing a green suit is pulling a woman in brown hair, in a red dress. Red lines are used to show the ground. 

During the Second World War, women showed their bravery on the home front and became an integral part of the war effort for their respective countries. Their tireless participation in the workforce opened the door to new rights and a renewed interest in feminism in the aftermath of the war. In 1944, French women gained the right to vote, and soon after, American women would set a second wave of feminism in motion with the hopes of attaining equality.

To be on the same playing field as men when it came to culture and politics, women from the mid-twentieth century were calling the sexist power structure into question. They began to heavily challenge the notion that women were to strictly be wives and mothers confined to the home. They also pushed back against restrictive reproductive laws and protested for equal pay. At this time, women even established themselves as men’s equals when it came to romantic relationships and avoided being grossly submissive to their partners. Women, just like men, would have an equal say in their partnerships, and for some, that meant putting their foot down when it came to assertive pursuers.