 There were many influences contributing to the rise of NOW.Such influences included the President's Commission on the Status of Women, Betty Friedan's book "The Feminine Mystique", and passage and lack of enforcement of the Civil Right Act of 1964 (prohibiting sexual discrimination).The President's Commission on the Status of Women was established in 1961 by John F. Kennedy, in hopes of providing a solution to female discrimination in education, work force, and Social Security.