The 1960s was a decade when, inspired by African Americans' protests, almost every other American minority group began to demand equal rights. Native Americans, Hispanics, homosexuals, and others believed that they too should be guaranteed equal rights in housing, employment, and other areas. While women made up the majority in the United States, they continued to face gender discrimination through most of the decade. Although the counterculture was trying to change the world, attitudes toward women had changed little since the 1950s.

A large majority of American women in the 1960s were mothers and housewives. Many were active volunteers at churches, schools, the PTA, Girl Scouts, and various charities. In business and politics, however, women continued to find themselves in a world controlled almost exclusively by men. With a few notable exceptions, only a tiny percentage of women were doctors...