The first wave of feminism has been a revolutionary social movement in terms of that it could lead to an overcoming of the previous social order (Newman, 2012 p. 487) through its social agents and create, through this, a new social ordering of time and space. Moreover, through reaching their previously described aims, the first wave of feminism has been able to literally “overthrow the entire system itself, (…) in order to replace it with another one.” (Skocpol, 1979, as cited in Newman 2012, p. 487). Thereby, one can even state that a new ordering of time and space by which routines and routinised behaviour has been challenged as well as changed took place. The interactions influenced the way how societies work today. (Allan, 2013, p. 323). …show more content…
5). The first wave feminists are regarded as the ‘godmothers’ of feminism because they claimed for controversial and critical changes, which then became part of women’s lives (Baumgardner & Richards, 2000; Henry, 2004; Heywood, 2006, as cited in Ewig & Ferree, 2013, p. 448). They laid the ground for further following feminists’ waves and movements, as for example the second wave of feminism (1960s – 1970s). Intersectionality was one of the ground-breaking differences in comparison to the first wave of feminism. The second wave feminists included a variety of women, other than just the white-bourgeoisie western women. Therefore, the inclusion of ‘oppressed’ groups, such as women of colour, with different sexualities beyond heterosexuality, of different economic backgrounds and further aspects took place, to a large extent, throughout the second wave of feminism (Krolokke & Sorensen, 2005, p. 1). Women all over the globe fought for their rights in as well as outside the labour market (ibid., p. 8). Several outcomes emerged through the waves of feminism and feminist movements. Not only could they, as social agents, lead to a new form of
The problem with the “wave metaphor” is, when these periods of feminist history are viewed through an intersectional lens, we see that most of early feminist history was only the activity of economically privileged white women, or women whose intersectionality was favored by the American patriarchy. The marginalization of other women, whose intersectionalities were not favored in the past, leads to a whitewashed view of historical progress. However, women of color had recognized opinions among their own coalitions, but their opinions were simply not recognized by white upper-class feminist movements. Further analysis of feminist movements around the world, when viewed through an intersectional lens, allows us to see that the “wave metaphor” hardly holds it’s water.
A Brief History 2nd wave feminism motivated
The women’s suffrage movement was a long and strenuous process. Women desired the right to vote alongside men. This matter was first voiced in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. However, this was only to counteract the African-American votes being placed at the time. Women supporting the cause became known as suffragettes, and there was much controversy.
The 20th century saw a major increase in women’s rights, getting a step nearer to gender equality. It is defined as the act of treating men and women equally, having the same access to right and opportunities no matter the gender. Although it is not a reality in our world, we do have advanced in comparison to the last century. At the begging of the 20th century women still were considered the weak gender. Their education consisted on learning practical skills such as sewing, cooking, and using the new domestic inventions of the era; unfortunately, this “formal training offered women little advantage in the struggle for stable work at a liveable wage” (1).
During the revolution women were responsible for managing the household. Such as making clothes, cleaning the house and taking care of the kids. The women of the era were considered to have no moral ranking. The men were asked to fight wars, there were a lot of different women such as Abigail Adams, Molly Pitcher and Martha Washington and many more. There were also those who would hide their gender in order to fight.
In America, feminism as a literary theory first became popular around the 19th and early 20th centuries when women’s right to vote became a popular political issue. Then, from around the 1960s to the 1980s, after World War Two was over, a second wave of feminism came when women started to push back against the aforementioned female stereotypes like the motherly role, rejecting traditionally feminine clothes as a sign of resistance. Then, beginning in about the 1990s, a third wave of feminism came when women started to question societal assumptions about sex and gender, celebrating their femininity rather than rejecting it (Harry Potter and Feminism, slide 3). These movements had a strong political basis, but also had roots in literature. While the dates and some core values of each of these waves are more specific to politics and literature in the United States and the American woman’s experience, there were global causes and effects of each of the three waves.
The first wave feminists may have been classified as ‘Wowsers’ by some, due to people’s perceptions in the way they used the ideas of society, and behaviour of men, during the late 19th to early 20th century to oppose their exclusion from social and political life, and to improve society’s views of women and women’s rights. This essay will argue that the first wave feminists were not ‘Wowsers’, and that the women’s movement needed to act against the behaviour of men and society’s ideologies to improve women’s rights. This will be demonstrated by examining the social construction of gender role expectations and masculinity. While also focusing on societies views of sexuality and sexual morality and the impact this had on women and young girls
The Progressive Era, lasting from about 1890 to 1920, was a period of social reform and adaptation to the new technologies and advancements of the Gilded Age. With the increase of railroads and other means of transportation, people in the Progressive Era had access to more goods and information than ever before. Society was adapting to new industries that required less man power and more machine power, and domestic life was no different. The technologies introduced into the homes of white middle-class women meant that the workload they adopted was much lighter. Women of this era arguably felt some of the most significant changes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Women in early mid-1800s started to fight for equal rights more than ever. Since American males have been granted more rights since the American independence, women started to question the reasons behind why they are not getting the same rights as men. This started a generations of women fighting for their equal rights. From the arguments presented by first wave feminists for women’s right and the evidence against inclusion by their detractors, the first wave feminists for women’s right had a better convincing argument because they did not over exaggerate their arguments and evidence to the arguments that they made.
Moreover, it challenged the compulsory heterosexuality, a woman can only be successful in society if she is married to a man and be a good ‘housewife,’ which consolidates patriarchy. Radical Feminism challenged many social ideas from reproductive rights to workplace which inevitably led them to examine the traditional gender roles. Finally, Third Wave Feminism, or Transversal Feminism, ultimately seeks to overthrow essentialism, that there exists a single definition of man-ness and woman-ness. Instead, gender is a spectrum of
“On the one hand there was liberal feminism; on the other hand, there was women’s liberation. People also sometimes talked about that wing as comprised of radical feminism and socialist feminism, with radical feminists regarding women’s oppression as the root of all oppression and socialist feminism placing women’s oppression within the other context of other forms of oppression, particularly race and class” (Finsterbusch, 2013, p.147). Epstein goes on to suggest that the women’s movement currently has narrowed its politics and as the women’s movement has aged it has become vulnerable to absorbing the current trends within its own class and as a result this has led to the movement not taking center stage. Epstein concludes that we need to “return to a sort of revised version of radical feminism and place feminism within the demand of an egalitarian society and a demand for a society that respects human connection and communities and promotes them rather than destroying them” (Finsterbusch, 2013,
It’s important to remember our history as American women. The Women’s Reform Movement was crucial in the U.S. because it was a precursor to women being able to vote. Some of the key leaders were Susan B Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw, Carrie Chapman Catt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone. They used various strategies such as lectures, pamphlets, lobbying for better education, women’s labor unions, speeches, and conventions. Speeches, particularly the one made by Susan B. Anthony, were influential in affecting the way people viewed the rights of women.
Third Wave Feminism Essay Doralee is a secretary for her boss who is a man named Mr.Hart. Doralee is a full figured women who takes good care of herself and isn’t ashamed to show off her body type. She wears appropriate figure flattering clothing, and does her hair and make every day to look professional. She is a well put together women. Mr.Hart chose her based on her looks trying to get closer to her.
I think the feminist criticism would be the best lens to the novel, "The Awakening". It always focus on the women's feelings and behaviors, also, shows Edna to against sexual discrimination at that time. Edna is a brave woman who dares to face and express the real feeling to Robert. It is a specific image who is different from any woman around her like Adele, a totally mother - woman. Women might be like this "They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels."
Jennifer Drake’s Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing feminism (1997) talks about third wave agenda, feminists who were born between the years 1964 and 1973 talks about the achievements and the failures of the past and planning about the future. The numerous writers of this book are the young women and men who were activists, teachers, cultural critics, artists and journalists. They differentiate themselves from other feminists who only criticize about the second wave feminism but also talks about the coming generation of feminism. Similarly Shelly Budgeon’s Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Gender in the Late Modernity (2011) assesses the third wave feminist where she talks about the feminist politics. According to her, the main concern of postfeminist is of gender order i.e. to focus on the context where gender equality served as the mainstream and feminism has been