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The Brooklyn Museum

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
Feminist Timeline: United States: 1980s




1980s: The Backlash Decade

This was the decade of the "power woman" with her shoulder pads and high ambitions. Television shows such as Murphy Brown, Who's The Boss, and Designing Women, and films such as 9 to 5 demonstrated women's entry into the mainstream workforce, her economic independence, and ambition, but also her intolerance for sexism.

Worldwide elections also showed women's increased rise to power. In the U.S., Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court and Geraldine Ferraro more

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To pan the timeline, click and drag your mouse along the date band above.
Having trouble seeing the timeline? A plain-text version is also available. Read more about the Feminist Art Timeline Project.