Feminism
Feminism involves various movements and philosophies whose main objective is to define, institute, and defend equal social, economic, and political rights of women. Following the outbreak of various feminist movements, a number of scholars developed various models to explain the same. The theory of feminism was developed in the attempt to cognize the kind of inequalities faced by women (Hewitt, 34). Feminism ideologies emerged in reaction to the nature of lifestyles that women were facing, and it occurred in three major waves.
With time, various women, starting with Christine de Pisan, started for advocating for fair treatment of women in the society. Christine de Pisan challenged the attitudes that the society had against women. She was of the opinion that women should be educated and treated with better rights, just like their male counterparts (Scott, 61). Various other critics joined her and published issues that advocated for better treatment of women in the society. They urged women to stand up for their rights of liberty and equality. In the United States, specifically, activists who advocated for feminism, wanted to relate the issues of equality and freedom to political and social matters. These activities paved way for the emergence of waves that supported women in their liberation. It brought about movements that supported women and fought for their rights (Kroløkke and Ann, 13).
The first-wave of feminism spans from the 19th century to the 20th century. It is argued that the first-wave of feminism originated from the United States and the United Kingdom starting from the 19th century. The main objective of feminists at this period was fighting for officially mandated inequalities. Some of the pioneers of the first-wave of feminism include Lucy Stone, Susan B. Antony, Mary Wollstonecraft, Helen Pitts, and many more (Keetley and John, 101). It is believed that this first-wave came to an end following the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, allowing women to enjoy various rights most importantly the right to participate in the voting process. The first-wave also brought about reforms in the workplace and professions, in education, and healthcare. However, still there remained more to be fought for, which led to the emergence of the second-wave of feminism.
The first-wave laid a monumental foundation of the second-wave feminism activists. The second-wave feminism was formerly known as the Women’s Liberation Movement that saw its way to the early parts of the 1980s. This movement drew counties from across the world especially Europe and Asia. The second-wave feminism movement mostly advocated for rights such as family, sexuality, reproductive rights, legal inequalities, just to mention but a few (Kroløkke and Ann, 15). It also focused on encountering violence with plans that would advocate for laws on marital rape, building up shelters for women who had been involved in rape cases or assaulted. They also fought for adjustments on the laws against custody and divorce. This movement became effective when women started getting jobs in professional sectors such as the military, media, sports and so on. It brought about equality in the workplace and equal pay. Much credit was given to Betty Friedan, an author who wrote about the injustices experienced by women, and urged all women to fight for their rights and advocate for equality (Kroløkke and Ann, 23).
The second-wave feminism of was faced with a lot of criticism from all parts of the world. Many argued that women were not fit to be given these rights. They also faced the challenge of discrimination against minority. The minority people in the community did not receive an audience as compared to the majority. Therefore their advocacy for their rights was quite difficult. The white feminists were more vigilant as they were perceived educated and had more chances of being heard. The other communities for instance the blacks or Hispanic faced challenges of recognition (Hollows and Spare, 269).
There was also discrimination against the low-income earners during the advocacy for the movement. They did not receive much recognition as people thought they were not influential enough to fight for the rights. Another challenge that emerges is that women were really undermined by their men counterparts due to the fact that men had always been in charge of the most influential positions in the community. Women were isolated from decision making regardless of the efforts to fight for political mandates. This would hinder women from getting their way in most sectors. In addition to this, there was the issue of homosexuality among the women. This act was not acceptable and thus received a lot of criticism (Tandon, 17).
This particular wave is well-known for advocating for women's rights in terms of equality. However, in the second-wave the feminists pushed too far and this was alarming. The main controversy within the movement was that the wave would have disrupted basic relations between men and women. This would have affected the way they interact in that women wanted to be treated equal to men and this would have affected the way viewed each other. As the saying goes two bulls cannot stay in one shed (Hannam, 111). This controversy was solved in such a way that women had to drop some of their activities and comply with patriotic work. They had to settle for lower positions for a better existence. Although, their participation was highly encouraged as they would be very conscious of what was happening.
The third-wave of feminism emerged in 1990s, and it is continuing to-date. Most today’s activists feel that there is still more that was not achieved during the first and second waves of feminism. Moreover, the third-wave emerged in reaction to the criticism against inventiveness and movements that were developed, unexpectedly, by the second-wave. Specifically, it is focusing on challenging how femininity was defined in the second-wave, which seemed to assume a general female identity as well as over-emphasizing the encounters of the white women upper-middle-class (Creager, 14). Most celebrity current celebrity women have played a major role in promoting the third-wave, especially in transforming the minds of the young generations. Some of the issues that are being addressed by the third-wave include economic hardships, academics, technology, and the media. For instance, the third-wave feminists are of the opinion that more changes are yet to be realized particularly with regard to how women are portrayed in the media, and the language applied in defining women. Thus, this particular wave concentrates on a more post-structuralist explanation of gender and sexuality (Tandon, 29).
In conclusion, feminism movements developed in three major phases, commonly known as the three waves of feminism. The first-wave, which emerged in the United States and United Kingdom, started in 19th century. The objective of this wave was fighting for the recognition of female rights in a male dominated society. The second-wave started in 1980s, and attracted women from various parts of the world especially from Asia and Europe. It mostly advocated for rights such as family, sexuality, reproductive rights, legal inequalities, just to mention but a few. Lastly, the third-wave started in 1990s-to-date. The third-wave emerged in reaction to the criticism against inventiveness and movements that were developed, unexpectedly, by the second-wave.
Works Cited
Creager, Angela N. H. Feminism in Twentieth-Century Science, Technology, and Medicine. Chicago, Ill. [u.a.: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2001. Print.
Hannam, June. Feminism. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman, 2007. Internet resource.
Hewitt, Nancy A. No Permanent Waves: Recasting Histories of U.s. Feminism. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 2010. Print.
Hollows, Jenifer. Spare Rib , Second-Wave Feminism and the Politics of Consumption. Feminist Media Studies, 2013, 13 (2), 268-287.
Keetley, Dawn E, and John Pettegrew. Public Women, Public Words: A Documentary History of American Feminism. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield publishers, 2002. Print.
Kroløkke, Charlotte, and Ann S. Sørensen. Gender Communication Theories & Analyses: From Silence to Performance. Thousand Oaks, Calif. [u.a.: Sage, 2006. Print.
Scott, Joan W. Feminism and History. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2006. Print
Tandon, Neeru. Feminism: A Paradigm Shift. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2008. Print.
Zack, Naomi. Inclusive Feminism: A Third Wave Theory of Women's Commonality. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Print.
