Break-Through: How the 1960s Changed the World for Women (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780750953733)

The 1960s are the decade that changed everything for women, sprouting a revolution--the echoes of which can still be felt today

Years ago, many people believed that women couldn't be engineers or read the news on television; that they should earn less than men; that nice girls shouldn't have sex before marriage (or, if they did, they should keep quiet about it); and that their primary role was to run a home and look after their husband and children. Then came the Pill, a glorious explosion of fashion and music, radical politics, broader education for women, and alternative lifestyles--and everything started to change. These 20 real-life stories, based on interviews with women who were there, take us through the events and developments in the 1960s, and the contradictions that sowed the seeds of a women's revolution that continues to reverberate today. The final chapter looks at the dilemmas and challenges facing younger women today, and asks if we have anything to learn from what was lost and what was gained in the decade that changed women's lives forever.