The Second Wave Of Feminism

The word feminism is defined as referring to political, cultural, and economic movements seeking greater rights and participation in society for women and girls. This word goes hand in hand with the feminist movement, which is aimed at equal rights for women. The feminist movement has had three distinct waves. The first wave took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and granted women the right to vote and practice birth control. The second wave achieved legal equality for women and began in the 1960’s and continued into the 90’s . The third wave of the feminist movement strove for social reform and began in the mid-90’s and some say it is still continuing today, or perhaps it died out

Women were denied this basic right until 1920. Without this right, women had no say in the laws that were passed and officials that were elected. The women’s suffrage movement faced a long road with many trials and setbacks. The first major setback was the wording of the 14th amendment to the constitution. This amendment was designed to ensure African American men would be recognized as citizens, and as such would be able to vote. Women had for a long time worked together with the civil rights movement in their struggle for equal rights. The authors of the 14th amendment did not want to upset the “natural order” of things too much, and thus added the specifying word “male” to the amendment to maintain that women could not vote. The leaders of the civil rights movement touted the 14th amendment as a victory which caused a rift between them and women’s rights activists. In the late 1800s a strong anti-suffrage movement came into being. They believed suffrage had a direct connection to “promiscuity, looseness, and neglect of children” (Brinkley 575). While this claim seems ridiculous, many Americans, including women, supported it. After years of protesting and demonstrating, success finally began to find the suffrage movement. In 1910 Washington granted women the right to vote. By 1918 California, Illinois, New York, and Michigan had also granted women the right to vote. The success culminated in the ratification of the

The culture classifies the society by a person's gender and sex, those two in which have many differences. The Feminist Movement resulted in the three waves of the women's rights movement. Additionally, the role of women was viewed differently by funtionalism, conflict theory, and feminist theory.

Betty Friedan, feminist author of The Feminine Mystique, wrote, "The problem lay buried, unspoken for many years in the minds of…women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century… Each suburban housewife struggled with it alone… she was afraid to even ask of herself the silent question – ‘Is this all?’” Authors such as Betty Friedan wrote about their struggles in novels and articles in the early 1960s which were popularized in the late 1960s which led to the start of a new revolution – the second wave of feminism. The Canadian second wave of feminism started in 1967, with many feminists rising up and forming groups and organizations to bring awareness to their issues. This caused a huge uproar within society, women all over the nation found a voice and spoke up about their issues, leading to wide-media coverage and to changes in society, politics, the economy, and much more. The suffragist movement led to huge changes within society in the 1980s, thus changed life for women and changed life for the rest of Canada by reshaping the social structure.

The women’s movement has been going on for at least the last two centuries. The first wave of feminism focused on voting rights, property rights, equal education, and recognition under the law for women. It started in the United States with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was an American social activist and abolitionist. In 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention a declaration of Sentiments was composed that focused on important issues for women at the time. The declaration demanded women’s voting rights, the right divorce, property rights, the right to birth control, and many others important issues of the time. Stanton believed that women were equal to men and deserved equal political rights. The convention at Seneca Falls was one of the first steps towards women’s rights.

Throughout the twentieth century feminist movements changed the first world dramatically, but during the second half the twentieth century the views and goals of what women wanted in life changed from simply asking for fair pay and equal rights to jobs to wanting their lifestyle changed. The impact of the second and third wave of feminists held a positive sphere around the fact that women had a bigger voice in politics and economics, but socially feminism was almost purely negative. Feminist groups, mostly in the late second wave and the entirety of the third wave, consisted almost entirely of misandrists.

What is feminism? What makes someone a feminist? In today’s society, a common answer might be “an angry lesbian that hates men.” However, feminism as defined by the OED, is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Simply put, a feminist is someone who believes that women and men should be treated equally, regardless of gender. The rise in feminism is due in part to the multiple waves of feminist movements that have raised awareness concerning gender inequalities and women’s experiences. In this essay, we will aim to explore second-wave feminism, how second-wave feminist poets used poetry to bring gender equality to the forefront of the discussion, and its ever-lasting impact on our society.

"[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

Beginning in the early 1960’s, the movement continued all the way through to the early 1980’s, the second wave of feminism brought together women in a fight for equality. During the first wave of the women’s movement, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, women accomplished social and political growth when they achieved the right to vote in the United States; but in society and in their home lives, women were still treated as second-class citizens. While the first wave of feminism focused on suffrage, the second wave of feminism focused on other areas: gender roles, family, employment discrimination, reproductive rights, social inequalities, and education. The foundation of the second wave of feminism was born out the United

Feminism is the fight for equality among the sexes. It can be dated back to the mid-19th century with women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The first wave feminist procured the right to vote for American women. The following second and third waves built upon what the founding feminists created. The second wave of feminism was set off by the disenchantment women across America were experiencing. This disenchantment was caused by the nuclear family, and the roles that the women in the 1950s were thrust into. The second wave is said to have lasted from the 1960s-1980s. Sometime after the 1980s, most likely the early to mid-1990s, third wave feminists began to rear their heads. The third wave build on the advancements made by the first and second waves. There has been controversy regarding the thought that the third wave is actually just an extension of the second. This paper will explore the second and third waves of feminism as well as their relationship between themselves.

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.

Alice lived during a time when the second wave of feminism was going on. Alice was very affected by this and as she was slowly gaining freedom, she was losing herself. Alice along with every other woman in this time period, dealt with some very unfair situations and circumstances. One of the main issues with the second wave of feminism was abortions, women could not get them at some point. It was not up to them if they wanted to get an abortion, rather up to the government. If anyone did end up getting pregnant, they would either have to live with having a baby, even if they weren’t ready, or they had to get an abortion on the side, which was not always said to be safe. So, for example, if Alice ended up getting pregnant, she would have no

The Second Wave of feminism was interrupted with the oncoming turn of the century, the 80s. In the political sphere you see the election of President Ronald Reagan who passed policy that discriminates against the middle class, minorities and women. During his presidency, it sparked the ongoing trend of anti-feminism which we still see in politics today. At the same time you see Hollywood becoming a larger more streamlined entity that narrows its focus to broader themed movies that don’t necessarily carry important messages as well as showing shallow themes. Hollywood at this point was looking to make blockbuster films that appealed to the greatest amount of audiences, and that means abandoning any sort of heavily political rhetoric.

The first and second wave feminist movements have led to a revaluation of the dominant patriarchal values perpetuated by the media, which is evident as ‘representations of women have changed greatly in the last 20 years alone to accommodate the changing role of women in society.’ This chapter seeks to explore the validity of this statement through content analysis of top-grossing feature films from the 1950s to the present day to determine whether ideals surrounding love and gender roles have been deconstructed in film over time.