Upcoming Events

The Women's Revolution: How We Changed Your Life
Book Discussion & Signing with Author Muriel Fox
Thursday, June 20 at 7:00pm (Free to the Public)

Muriel Fox, former president of Rockland Center for the Arts, will speak at the Center at 7pm on June 20 about her new book, The Women’s Revolution: How We Changed Your Life. The book will be released by New Village Press on  June 18.

Kirkus Reviews calls it

Revealing, inspiring commentary on the struggles and successes of civil rights pioneers . . . An insider’s account of the women’s movement.

As a leader of the Feminist Movement’s Second Wave, Fox sets the record straight as she tells stories of the unsung heroes of the movement. In her book, Fox shares new stories to shed light on women who fought for equality for themselves and for future generations.

Fox co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, and was operations lieutenant to NOW president Betty Friedan, as well as head of public relations for NOW.  She played a crucial role in helping women gain equal rights so they could have the same opportunities as men. Friedan launched the modern movement with her world-changing book, THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE, which she wrote in her home in Grandview on Hudson.

“Of course, the First Wave was getting the vote,” Muriel explains. “But after that, we still had a long way to go, and people were still saying, ‘I don’t hire women. We don’t rent to women. We don’t allow women in here.’ This was legal and accepted, and it’s been that way for thousands of years. The Second Wave decided ‘Okay, finally, we’re going to change it,’ ”

When asked what inspired her to write this book, Fox explained,  “There wasn’t enough historical knowledge of the movement in the first place – and in some cases, the stories were wrong. Above all, people don’t recognize or remember many names that should be widely renowned for their contributions to the movement.”

She continued: “These people must be known, and each of them really worked so hard. All of us were so dedicated — that’s why our movement succeeded so fast, and, of course, in addition to these 30 whom I salute in the book, there were literally hundreds of thousands of people in their own way who were revolutionaries.”

But Fox also discovered that people were unfamiliar with the major leaders of the movement, namely Betty Friedan (an early leader at Rockland Center for the Arts).

And as far as I’m concerned, she was one of the great women not only of the 20th century but of the second millennium because she wrote The Feminine Mystique which awakened millions of people to the need for women to have equal partnership with men and to have recognition for their own value.  [When she became the president of NOW] She was our driving force. And I have to say I’m very dedicated to making . . . and helping the world understand how important she was. Everyone should know her name: Betty Friedan.

Fox also touched on how there were so many women who propelled the revolution because they fought their own battles and how people need to know their names and stories because of what they accomplished.

She added, “Every woman in her community worked against what made her mad. In her union, in her company, in her school, in her community – what injustice she wanted to right and she worked on it, and she changed everything. So, together, we have changed the world after thousands of years when women were just subsidiaries of men and mankind. Now we talk about humankind.”

She wants her book to show younger generations all that the Second Wave accomplished, and that they can and must take act for their future as well.

For more information call 845-358-0877, or visit www.rocklandartcenter.org