Georgia Wertz, age 17, of Gadsden, Ala., for her question:

WHEN WAS 'NOW,' THE WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION, FOUNDED?

NOW ranks as the largest organization in the women's liberation movement. The National Organization for Women is the group's full name. NOW was founded in 1966 by an American author named Betty Friedan and 300 other leading American men and women.

NOW is a civil rights group that fights sexual discrimination in all areas of society. More than 50,000 members in the United States and other countries are in NOW.

One of the main goals of NOW is the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment states that every person, regardless of sex, has equal rights under the law.

NOW also works to obtain equal education opportunities for women. It criticizes educational policies that it feels discourage women from entering such "male" professions as medicine and law.

In addition, NOW fights to end all job discrimination against women. The group urges the Equal Employment Rights Act of 1964. This act prohibits job discrimination because of sex.

NOW also calls for better child care facilities that would free mothers for careers outside the home if they choose.

In 1971, NOW members helped organize the National Women's Political Caucus, which encourages women to seek public office. NOW calls for more women delegates at political conventions and additional female appointments to high level government positions.

NOW believes that women can achieve equality only if basic changes occur in society. For example, the organization believes that men and women should be equal partners in society and share all responsibilities of citizenship and family life.

Author Betty Friedan is actually considered the founder of the women's liberation movement in the United States. She first gained fame in 1963 with her book "The Feminine Mystique."

In "The Feminine Mystique," author Friedan protests that society puts pressure on women to be housewives only and not to seek careers outside the home.

Frisdan led a nationwide protest called the Women's Strike for Equality on August 26, 1970. That date marked the 50th anniversary of the granting of the vote to United States women.

In 1971, Friedan also helped form the National Women's Political Caucus.

Betty Naomi Goldstein Friedan was born in Peoria, I11., in 1921. She was graduated from Smith College in 1942.

Women today make up about 40 percent of the labor force in the United States and a bit less than this percentage in Canada. Despite the high percentage of working women, statistics show that few hold executive positions.

Things are improving, however. Today, more women than ever before graduate from professional schools and go on to careers in traditionally male fields.