Which movement attacked the 'cult of domesticity' and argued middle-class society limited women?

Which movement attacked the 'cult of domesticity' and argued middle-class society limited women?

• A. First Wave Feminism
• B. Second Wave Feminism
• C. Civil Rights Movement
• D. Black Lives Matter

Answer: (B)

Second Wave Feminism broadened feminism from securing legal rights to challenging everyday social norms that kept women in limited roles. A central critique was that the culture of middle-class life—the expectation that a woman’s place is in the home as wife and mother—unnecessarily restricted women’s opportunities in education, work, and public life. This movement argued that such domestic ideals are not natural truths but social constructs that shape access to jobs, pay, and political power. By advocating for reproductive rights, equal pay, childcare access, and broader career and educational opportunities, they showed how institutions and cultural expectations across society constrained women, not just in one area but across many aspects of life. While earlier waves fought for rights and legal status, the emphasis here is on transforming the everyday norms that the middle class used to keep women out of the public sphere.