ABOUT NOW
Vision Statement
Since its founding in 1966, NOW's goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.
NOW Herstory
NOW was conceived in a conversation and born at a women’s conference with a paper napkin serving as its birth certificate. It all started when Pauli Murray, an African American Feminist and Episcopalian minister, suggested to Feminine Mystique author Betty Freidan that women needed a group to advocate on their behalf, much as the NAACP advocated for African Americans.Then in June of 1966 at the Third National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women, which was held in Washington, D.C., 27 women and one man, including Freidan and Murray, established the National Organization for Women. NOW’s official statement of purpose, which Freidan scribbled on a napkin, remains the same today: “to take action to bring women into the full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men.”
In the last 30 years, NOW has adopted more than a dozen resolutions and stances on an array of issues, including women in poverty, the Equal Rights Amendment and lesbian rights. NOW has evolved into a diverse organization that continues to combine grassroots activism and national lobbying.
From Ms. Magazine July/August 1996
Used with permission
Gayle Forman is a freelance writer living in New York City
Facts About NOW
