The Second-Wave Feminism In The Late 19th Century

For decades’ women worked in supportive home oriented role within workplace and society. The departure of men for war the in the 1940’s, the black civil rights movement, and the need to fill employment vacancy’s greatly influenced social change for human and women’s rights to meet the demands for the

The severity of World War II directly impacted the future of American women by forcing them into positions of importance - a stark contrast to their traditional role as simple housewives. Without the jolting force of World War II shoving women into the somewhat uncomfortable position as the backbone of the nation’s labor force, traditions would have been perpetuated for decades longer. Because their wartime acts gave women nationwide a sense of self-confidence, they pushed for more rights in the proceeding decades with the rise of second-wave

The Women's Rights Movement was a significant crusade for women that began in the late nineteenth century and flourished throughout Europe and the United States for the rest of the twentieth century. Advocates for women's rights initiated this movement as they yearned for equality and equal participation and representation in society. Throughout all of history, the jobs of women ranged from housewives to factory workers, yet oppression by society, particularly men, accompanied them in their everyday lives. Not until the end of the nineteenth century did women begin to voice their frustrations about the inequalities among men and women, and these new proclamations would be the basis for a society with opportunities starting to open for

The period 1940-1975 represented a time of trouble within the United States and overseas. As World War II ended in 1945, many Cold war conflicts erupted shortly after that, increasing social controversy among teenagers, minorities and especially women. During this time period, gender inequality was ongoing in many aspects of life. Women were tired of constantly staying home engaging in domestic activities and were dissatisfied in their roles as “housewives”. The rise of the women’s rights movement was spurred by the growth of women joining the workforce, resentment of being treated as inferior to men, and the rise of unity among women.

One way women battled the discrimination was by asserting their working rights. During the industrialization era “managers deskilled production,” therefore “the ranks of factory workers [included] more and more women” who were paid low wages (Henretta, 553). However, women faced criticism of men who argued that they belong at home. Despite the opposition,”woman vigorously defended their right to work”(Henretta, 553). They also participated in the strikes to gain “higher wages and shorter hours” for their long, hard work (Drehle, 86). In general the importance of women working and participating in the

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the early feminists’ focal concern was women’s suffrage. During this time, most women in the United States did not have many economic and political rights. Back then priorities of women were to take care of their homes, families, and husbands. These earlier feminists, also known as the first wave feminists, simply wanted a voice and this led to the women’s suffrage movement. By 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment finally passed and gave women the right to vote (Kotef). This successful movement influenced women everywhere in the world and continued to powerfully inspire women throughout the 20th century (Kotef). By the latter half of the century, the second wave of feminism arose. It included the voice of African-American women because this wave occurred during the civil rights movement. Second wave feminism also included important issues such as sexual and reproductive rights, legal abortions, birth control pills, and the passing of the Equal Pay Act (1963). All feminists live to create ideologies and movements that support the equality of women, but it is clear that second wave feminists were substantially different in their aims than earlier feminists (Gizberg). The goal of this paper is to analyze the main elements of second wave feminism and compare it to the works of earlier feminists. This will show the multifaceted development of second wave feminism.

Other than the obvious time differences between first and second wave feminism, the real contrasts are found in what it was the women, and men in some cases, were fighting for. First-Wave feminists mainly fought for suffrage, while their Second-Wave sisters fought for a wider range of women’s rights.

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

Before Civil War a new wave of feminism is raised in America and soon spread out all over the world because in that time women of America was self-employed and they did jobs, face different problems. Therefore, we say the next wave of feminism is the feminism’s second wave.In this wave, they raised topics according to situation of that time but we see it is co incident that these are the same issues that world faced in todays too. These issues are sexuality regarding family and workplace environment, rights of reproduction, inequalities whether it belongs to de facto sideor from official or from legal side (Jacobs, 1861).

Second wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, in conjunction with other social movements, built a foundation for much of the activist and intellectual work that followed. However, there was an assumption of whiteness in the second wave feminist movement as well as a prominence of heteronormativity, which blinded most of the populace to activist work done by women of color and lesbians. For example, there was a whole strata of work in lesbian and gay scholarship which date from the early 1970s which came out of the gay liberation movement. Lesbians (often in association with Jewish women) led the way among white women in articulating a politic that accounted for white women’s position as both oppressed and oppressor.

“You cannot be a humanist unless you are a feminist. You either advocate equality for all or you are a misanthrope” (Michael A. Sherlock). From women’s suffrage to abortion laws feminism has evolved with contemporary battles and a variety of approaches. The

"[Stella] backs out of sight. He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out."(Williams 3.165-8) To Stella, this is attractive. Williams ' A Streetcar Named Desire, published 1947 between the first wave of feminism and the second wave of feminism, portrays two polar opposite ideologies regarding feminism and masculinity. Stanley represents what a man was supposed to be prior to the re-evaluation of masculinity by the first wave of feminism; men were supposed to be assertive, aggressive, and the kings of their homes. Stella, his wife, is meant to serve as an example of how women were supposed to act and ignore the behavior of their husbands. Mitch is the polar opposite of Stanley 's type of masculinity; he is

In the mid- to late-1900s, a hegemonic feminism dominated by white, middle class women was prevalent in many feminist movements. However, lesbians, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and black/ African Americans were all necessary to the progression of feminism. The 1970s attested to women of color working with white-dominated feminist groups; forming women’s caucuses in existing mixed-gender organizations; and developing autonomous Black, Latina, and Native American feminist organizations. These autonomous organizations were imperative to the furthering of the plight of each minority group because each group has a distinct culture, shares a common heritage, and has developed a common identity within a larger society that subordinates them.

The origin of this philosophy is from France in the 19th century known as the first-wave feminism that focused on the rights of women to gain political power including the right to vote. The second-wave of feminism was largely concerned about workplace, education, sexuality and reproductively rights. As a response to perceived failures of the second-wave, the third-wave of feminism arose in the early 1990s and continuing to present. It seeks to challenge the second-wave’s paradigm which over-emphasises the upper-class white women and ignoring the lower-class women and minorities. Thus, the third-wave focuses on to expand feminism to include women with a diverse set of identities: colours, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural

The second wave of feminism started in the 1960’s right around the ending of World War II. The second wave focused more on sexual and reproductive rights, as well as equal opportunity in education and the workplace. The end of World War II showed that men had full capability of their jobs when they came back from battle. These women felt like their time was wasted and they fought hard for nothing, they thought they were freed from their traditional roles as house wives. Not only was it hard to find work outside the home but when they finally found a job, they had to deal with being harassed and being devalued. This behavior was so common that it became a part of the U.S culture, and this issue was rarely discussed. Women, who wanted to be involved in the social movement for peace and justice, soon enough become what they called themselves as “women’s liberation”. “Women’s liberation” were groups of women from all over who came together to fight for the “changes in the political, social, and economic institutions of our society” (pg.558).