Feminism has roots in the earliest eras of human civilization. It is a belief in the political, economic and cultural equality of women. Historically there are three waves of feminism: dealing with property rights and the right to vote was known as the first wave feminism.
Focusing on equality and anti-discrimination was known as the second wave feminism, while the third wave feminism was a backlash to the second wave’s perceived privileging of white, straight women which started in the 1990s.
Early Feminists:
Plato advocated that women possess “natural capacities” equal to men for governing and defending ancient Greece in his classic Republic though not everyone agreed with Plato.
Roman consul Marcus Porcius Cato argued, “As soon as they begin to be your equals, they will have become your superiors!”, when the women of ancient Rome staged a massive protest over the Oppian Law, which restricted women’s access to gold and other goods.
15th-century writer Christine de Pizan protested misogyny and the role of women in the Middle Ages in The Book of the City of Ladies.
Years later, writers and philosophers like Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, during the Enlightenment, argued vigorously for greater equality for women.
Abigail Adams, specifically saw access to education, property and the ballot as critical to women’s equality, she was the first lady to President John Adams.
Abigail Adams warned, “If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice,” in letters to her husband John Adams.
Calls for greater freedom for women joined with voices demanding the end of slavery in 19th century by the "Rebellion" who threatened Adams. Many women leaders of the abolitionist movement found an unsettling irony in advocating for African Americans rights that they themselves could not enjoy.
First Wave Feminism: Women’s Suffrage and The Seneca Falls Convention:
Abolitionists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, in their now-famous Declaration of Sentiments boldly proclaimed that “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.”
Controversially, the feminists demanded “their sacred right to the elective franchise,” or the right to vote.
Many attendees were swayed when Frederick Douglass argued that he could not accept the right to vote as a Black man if women could not also claim that right as they thought voting rights for women were beyond the pale.
The women’s suffrage movement began in earnest when the resolution got passed, and dominated much of feminism for several decades. The 19th Amendment: Suffragettes began to claim some slow successes in the matter of Women's Right to Vote.
Australia in 1902 and Finland in 1906 followed New Zealand who were the first sovereign state giving women right to vote in 1893. The United Kingdom granted suffrage to women over 30 in 1918 which was seen as a limited victory.
Women’s participation in World War I in the United States proved to many that they were deserving of equal representation. The 19th Amendment got passed in 1920 thanks largely to the work of suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt.
The right to vote was finally earned by the American Women. Feminists embarked on what some scholars refer to as the “second wave” of feminism after securing these rights.
Women And Work:
Following the Great Depression Women began to enter the workplace in greater numbers. It was a time when women were forced to find “women’s work” in lower paying but more stable careers like housework, teaching and secretarial roles as many male breadwinners lost their jobs.
Making Rosie the Riveter a feminist icon many women actively participated in the military or found work in industries previously reserved for men, During World War II.
Women sought greater participation in the workplace, following the civil rights movement with equal pay at the forefront of their efforts. This still-relevant issue was firstly confronted by the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
Second Wave Feminism: Women's Liberation:
The Feminine Mystique published in 1963 argued that women were still relegated to unfulfilling roles in homemaking and child care. Betty Friedan who wrote this book later co-founded the National Organization for Women.
“Women’s liberation” was the term which was referred by many people for the feminism by this time. Feminist Gloria Steinem joined Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug in founding the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971.
The first magazine to feature feminism as a subject on its cover was Steinem's Ms. Magazine in 1976.
The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972 (but, following a conservative backlash, was never ratified by enough states to become law), which sought legal equality for women and banned discrimination on the basis of sex.
One year later, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a woman’s right to choose an abortion, this decision of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade was hugely celebrated by the feminists.
Third Wave Feminism: Who Benefits From the Feminist Movement?
The benefits of the second wave of feminism movements were largely limited to white, college-educated women according to some critics. As they also added that second wave of feminism also failed to address the concerns of women of color, lesbians, immigrants and religious minorities.
#MeToo and Women’s Marches:
By the 2010s, feminists pointed out that emblematic of the work still to be done in combating misogyny and ensuring women have equal rights with the rise of prominent cases of sexual assault and “rape culture."
The New York Times published a damning investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against influential film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017 after which the #MeToo movement gained new prominence.
Many other powerful men including former American President Donald Trump came under the heavy allegations which were made against them as more women came forward with their horrifying stories.
On January 21, 2017, hundreds of thousands of people joined the Women’s March on Washington in D.C. on the first full day of Trump’s presidency.
The new administration and the perceived threat it represented to reproductive, civil and human rights for aimed with a massive protest with a lot of support from around the world.
In cities around the world over 3 million people held simultaneous demonstrations, providing feminists with a high-profile platforms for advocating on behalf of full rights for all women worldwide as it wasn't just limited to Washington.
Written by: Gourav Chowdhury
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