Feminism Feminism is the public support for or recommendation of women's rights on the grounds of

"The female doesn't really expect a lot from life. She's here as someone's keeper — her husband's or her children's." This quote from a young mother at the time of the 1960s describes the life of women in throughout era. Disgusted by their low quality of life, a plethora of women from all over the United States came together to fight the patriarchy and sexism that oppressed them on a daily basis. They fought to better the treatment of women nationwide and to create a country, and hopefully a world, that saw women as equal to men, not just as “the second sex.” The struggle for women’s rights is a continual issue even into modern times, and while the women of the 1960s didn’t solve all of the problems women faced, they were the spark that ignited the flame of feminism. When women started to fight for their rights, it changed everything from the way companies advertised to the way men thought of their wives, who were most likely at home. The ongoing battle for women’s rights influenced the nation in the 1960’s due to the struggle in women’s

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Feminism is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” Today there are millions of feminists, compared to the 1900's, where feminism was very seldom. During the early 1900’s, slavery and the domestication of women (no matter what race they were), was very common. Beginning in

Feminism, according to Merriam-Webster (2016) is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." Though this is the definition of the term,

The Merriam-Webster definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” In the past century, gender roles have been challenged because of feminism. The very idea has completely flipped households, workplaces, and the general community and changed it for the better. A plethora of women’s movements were initiated in the 1960’s, and it gave people a look at how powerful women are when we stand united. Feminism has gained many followers in the past thirty to forty years as more people are becoming aware of conflicts pertaining to discrimination. However, there are many that were hesitant both in the 1960’s and in the present day, but for very different reasons. Nevertheless, persistence seems to be a beacon in women’s rights movements, thanks to very strong and level-headed role models.

However, before they began to labor for activism, there was a time when they decided to devote their lives to feminism. Only one moment was needed to change Anthony’s career and the world. When at a temperance meeting, Anthony rose to speak but was told she was not allowed to, solely because she was a woman. Due to this injustice, she decided to begin petitioning for women’s rights, as well as temperance and abolition, which she also labored for. Similarly, Friedan had a direct cause to begin feminism, but unlike Anthony, it was a period of several years that inspired her. For a long time, Friedan was a housewife, with three children in the suburbs. These years, torturous for Friedan, showed her how women were expected to give up their careers in favor of cleaning house, and worse, were expected to be happy not bored, sewing and vacuuming all day. In fact, Friedan herself had been a journalist, but she was fired for asking for maternal leave- fired for being a woman. Likewise, Anthony was fired from her job as a teacher, in part because she complained about the fact that she made five times less than men in the same position- again, fired for her sex. Another similarity between the paths of these women was that neither was respected at first. Anthony was a laughingstock for wearing the “Bloomer outfit”, pants that rolled at the calves, and after Friedan wrote her bestselling book on

According to dictionary.com, feminism is the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. Throughout history and even in present time, women have been subject to unequal treatment by their male counterparts. For example, in the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve is born from Adam’s rib, showing that Adam is the dominant figure in the narrative. Even today, there exists in certain professions a gender pay gap. Similarly, the way in which women are depicted in Beloved by Toni Morrison and the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson indicates that women are able to thrive independently and take on masculine roles, while men are able to experience feminine attributes.

Feminism is the advocacy of the rights of women based on the theory of equality of the sexes (Oxford English Dictionary). It is built on the principle that women have innate worth, inalienable rights, and valuable ideas and talents to contribute to society. Feminists fight for equality in every dimension of society, for both equal rights with men and equal respect.

Feminism is a collection of movements that share a common goal; to define, establish and defend equal, economic, cultural and social rights for women. Feminist activist campaign for women's rights like contract law, voting and property, while at the same time promoting bodily integrity and autonomy and reproductive rights for women. Feminist work to protect women and girls for domestic violence, sexual harassment and sexual assault. Feminist also advocate for equal rights in the workplace in conjunction with maternity leave and equal pay.

The definition of “Feminism” is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men, or in other words, “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people too,” (Cheris Kramarae).Women have gone through periods of worship, to periods of worthlessness, to somewhere in between. Women, a vital component to humanity, are starting to be valued again.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feminism consists of “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”. The feminist movement emerged during the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries, when philosophers began to question the perception of women in society and the moral differences between the sexes (Tong and Williams). A demand for equality was explored, vindicated and raised to the authorities by early feminists, like Mary Wollstonecraft (Tong and Williams). Equality represents a fundamental issue that is still debated. By exploring the roots of the western culture regarding equality between the sexes, one may acknowledge the whole progress in pursuing justice, resulting from the fight of many generations.

Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes. This includes seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men. The lens in which I am focusing on is feminism. Feminism is a broad topic with many topics beneath the main topic.

Feminism can be traced back to the late 1800’s when the women’s rights association was formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton with the goal to achieve voting rights for women through a congressional amendment to the constitution. This was just the start of feminism, but back then it wasn’t called that. It wasn’t until the 1960’s and 70’s that the official feminist movement began. Their main focus was “dismantling workplace inequality, such as denial of access to

Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.

By definition, feminism is the ideology that women have the right to be perceived as equal to men in terms of politics, business, and economically. For the last couple of decades, feminism has helped shape our society and the way men perceive women. Because of feminism, women in the United States of America were allowed to vote by August of 1920. Women now have the right to do so many things that would have been considered a taboo back in the early 20th century. Women can own their own businesses, and they can also become more politically involved, such an example would be Margaret Thatcher, ex-prime minister of the United Kingdom. Feminism has gone through many stages throughout the years, these stages have been named “waves”, and they include first wave feminism, second wave feminism, third wave feminism, and the most recent coined term: fourth wave feminism.

A feminist is described as someone who is, “Advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.” Despite equal rights generally being regarded as a basic human right, it is not granted to all women today. Due to this unequal treatment of modern day women, feminists have come together to form feminist groups, in order to fight for these rights.