Feminism And The Second Wave

The history of feminism can be divided into three waves, with some people claiming that today’s generation has become the fourth wave. Martha Rampton, PhD., explains these waves in an article titled “Four Waves of Feminism” written for the Center for Gender Equality at Pacific University. She explains how, in the last two centuries, there have been three waves of feminism. The first wave, which came during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, focused on opening up opportunities for women, specifically focused on suffrage. The second wave began in the 1960’s, and was more theoretical, as it focused on criticizing the male-dominated society and the gender roles placed on women that forced them to focus on their responsibilities only as wives and mothers. This second wave was more diverse, as it finally included women of color and lower class. The third wave of feminism began in the mid 1990’s. It focused on self-empowerment, and removing the power of the sexist patriarchy; feminists of the 90’s defined feminine beauty for themselves and refused to be objectified by males. The fourth wave of feminism, which is occurring today, is bringing what have traditionally been considered “women’s issues” to national and international attention. These issues include, but are not limited to: sexual abuse, rape, violence against women, unequal pay, slut-shaming, and body-shaming. The Millennial generation took the traditional ideas of feminism and is looking at them in a modern context that will hopefully facilitate major change for the future of

When thinking about feminism in today’s society we tend to direct our minds and thoughts to a more radical and powerful train of thought. Feminism has been going on for centuries, with two main ideologies at the forefront; liberal and cultural feminism. Someone who identifies as a liberal feminist is someone who believes that women and men are a like and equal in most respects and deserve equal roles and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). And cultural feminism is someone who identifies as someone who believes that men and women are fundamentally differently; you have different rights, role and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). The women’s rights movement can be understood and broken down into three “waves”.

Feminism began way back in the early 1800’s with a realization that gender roles limited the sexes. From the very start, there have been many male feminists, even if they are not spoken of often. In the 1830’s, William Lloyd Garrison emerged as one of the first men to openly believe in women participating in the abolition movement and other political issues. During that time, it took mounds of courage for a male to stand up and say that women could do something just as well as men. Fast forward over many years of history, and even in modern day America, men are still looked at strangely when they say they are feminists. One male feminist shared on CNN.com in 2013, “My feminism is a simple belief in equality. I’m a feminist because I believe that men and women are and should be equal, but we’re not treated equally right now” (Brougher 1). He shared his ideas of all the reasons women need to be given equal rights, but

Because women come from all races, social classes, and age, they have been an important instrument in shaping western ideology and the world. Feminism is a broad term encompassing the entirety of the historical movement in the nineteenth century and the philosophical thought leading into the twentieth century (Zophy and Kavenik 206). Although the term wasn’t popularized until the 1950’s and 60’s, it represents the ideology into the modern era. With Woman’s History being a major thread of United States history, it is important we understand the progression of women’s rights, freedoms, and feminism throughout the Colonial Era, the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, and the rise of second and third wave

This essay examines the question, “To what extent was the second wave of feminism (in the 1960’s and 1970’s) successful in achieving equality for women?” The essay is introduced by describing why the second wave of feminism developed and the aims of this second wave of feminist. The essay is broken into two parts. The first part of the essay discusses the impact of women 's rights activist on legislation. It is argued that the second wave feminist were unsuccessful in gaining equality in terms of obtaining equal wages and opportunities for women in the workplace. They however were successful in obtaining equal rights laws and reproductive laws for women. The feminist of the 1960’s and 70’s were victorious in securing for many american women the right to have easy access to contraceptives and abortion. The second part of the essay focuses on the extent that the second wave feminist were successful in changing the mindset of Americans. These feminist wanted the view of women to be one that portrayed women less as only a housewife and more as a women who can lead a life that could involve a career in any field. Success ranged in this area. On one side there was women becoming more independent and free as they embarked the sexual revolution while in other regards such as film and music women still held an inferior role to men. The second wave of feminism achieved great success in attaining equality for women however this success was not as far ranging as these mid 20th century

Towards the end of the twentieth century, feminist women in America faced an underlying conflict to find their purpose and true meaning in life. “Is this all?” was often a question whose answer was sought after by numerous women reaching deeper into their minds and souls to find what was missing from their life. The ideal second-wave feminist was defined as a women who puts all of her time into cleaning her home, loving her husband, and caring for her children, but such a belief caused these women to not only lose their identity within her family but society as well. The emotions that feminist women were feeling at this time was the internal conflict that caused for social steps to be taken in hopes of

at the time. Friedan sparked a fervor in women that is unparalleled in the realm of women’s rights. In a society dominated by men and their age old ideals, Friedan was their voice, campaigning for women to stop

Feminism is often used as an umbrella term describing many different strains of similar ideologies and movements. It classifies the Suffragette movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique, to today’s initiatives for equal pay. Considering what “feminism” has represented throughout many different moments in history, it is easy to understand why feminists often disagree about what the ideology actually represents. What is the nature of sexism? What qualifies as injustice against women? What is the most effective method of bringing about social change? To better understand these questions, some scholars classify feminism into several “waves”, representing the main goals of feminists relative to the time period.

Although the first two waves of feminism in the United States, the first from 1848 to the 1920s and the second from the 1960s to the 1980s, had similar causes, the other influences in society and politics at the time gave the two women’s movements different motives, leading to different effects and accomplishments from each wave. Simply put, first-wave feminism and second-wave feminism have similar causes but differ based on their motives and effects. According to several sources, including Robinson1, Stanton2, Zinn6, and a mathematical analysis of the causes of social movements by several professors9, first-wave feminism was caused by women being introduced to the workforce with the Industrial Revolution, and the effects of World War I. Similarly,

After studying the first unit of the class, I learned about different feminisms. I now know about liberal feminists, who “campaigned for equal rights of citizenship and for the end of discrimination,” (); socialist feminists, who “attributed women’s oppression to capitalism and focused on women’s economic exploitation,” (); and radical feminists, who “identified male power or patriarchy as the source of female subordination,” (). These forms of feminism developed new attitudes and goals throughout the different waves of feminism in the past two centuries.

The definition of feminism as stated on Dictionary.com is: The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. This definition is meant to include every woman - no matter her outward appearance or her essence. Yet, women of all ethnicities are degraded and pushed to be mentally lower than the male species. Earth has become a hierarchy of inequality.

The closest working definition feminism holds states: feminism is a social and political movement that seeks equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of gender; and when there is no equality of outcome, feminists wonder why. However, not everyone is aware of

The word feminism consists of social, cultural, political movement and philosophies which address the oppression of women in comparison to men. The Oxford English Dictionary defines feminism as:

Throughout the twentieth century, feminism became a common topic of discussion, especially among relatively young women, and today has not proven any different. Feminism is divided into three time periods or “waves.” The first wave began in the early twentieth century as women began fighting for the right to vote, while the second wave began nearly half a century later and targeted other equality issues, such as discrimination. The world is currently in the middle of the third wave of feminism, which has become more personal and responsive to the failures of the second wave. Though many people still fight for the equivalency of rights between men and women, feminism has changed greatly since the first wave, and the third wave’s differences are now negatively impacting the female minds of today.

Feminism is defined by Bell Hooks as a movement and ideology intended to end sexist oppression. The recession and intensification is classified as occurring in waves, and this characterization parallels the wave feminist movements tend to crash over society. For the scope of this paper, the focus will be centered on American feminism and the conditions associated with and imposed upon the participants. Although the first wave of feminism was considered complete with the granting of women’s suffrage, feminism has evolved with the times to encapsulate the issues facing the women of the time. While the fundamental premise of each feminist wave is the desire to overcome sexist oppression and gender-based inequalities, intergenerational conflicts exist between the “new” and “old” feminists. Feminism is plagued by opposing values as opponents believe it is too extreme, yet advocates believe it is not extreme enough. The internal and external strife leads to an aversion among the younger generation when assuming the identity. These conflicts are counterproductive to the renunciation of misogyny as they divide the movement meant to unify women. Deborah Siegel’s Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild examines the chasms present in the intergenerational debate of feminism as they defined the feminist movement.