Alexa Fuentes
“Was Feminism effective in changing society or was it ineffective?”
IB 12 HOTA- Internal Assessment
South Side High School
IB Candidate #:
Fall 2014
Mr. J
Word Count: 1,965
Plan of Investigation: 3
Summary of Evidence 4
Evaluation of Sources: 6
Analysis: 8
Conclusion: 10
List of Sources: 11
Plan of Investigation:
The research question that this project will investigate is if Feminism was effective in changing society or if it was ineffective? I will gather sources, summarizing them in order to show the different sides to feminism, feminism was successful or feminism failed. I will have two opposing sources with supportive quotes and evaluate the sources to help in this investigation. I will further analyze my sources; determine the winning side based on these sources. I will lastly conclude the investigation, providing examples from the counterargument of the winning side and summarize my findings. Two sources I believe will be helpful in this investigation are “The Paradox of Change: American Women in the 20th Century” by William Chafe and “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan.
Summary of Evidence
In her book, “The Feminine Mystique”, Betty Friedan believes feminism was effective in changing society and states the problems women face, but it being worthwhile because women ended up getting more rights. In her book, Friedan examines “the problem that has no name” through a series of chapters, stating the ways in which women felt frustrated and repressed. She shoots down any opposition towards feminism by supporting her ideas with facts. One of Friedan’s main arguments for feminism being effective is that the heroines of women’s magazine stories, ‘New Women’ who created a new identity for women, “There was an aura… of moving into a future that was going to be different from the past… as for their looks”, where before feminism, men thought women’s...