Women and girls nowadays are leaders, have strong voices, and empowered roles in developed societies, however, this hasn’t always been the case. Women have come a long way in their struggle against gender discrimination. Feminist movements have been the main force in this struggle - they have indeed advanced women's rights and status in many societies.
However, nowadays feminism has gained a stained reputation and many avoid identifying with the movement. Because the origins of the word feminism come from the Latin word Femina, meaning “woman,” many wrongly assume that it benefits only women. Nevertheless, at its core Feminism is the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. Emphasis on women in the term is the result of the fact that women were the ones discriminated against throughout history so they had to be supported and raised upward to achieve equal rights for both sexes.
Feminism doesn’t strive for the superiority of women, but instead, it tries to deconstruct the gender roles which have been constraining both sexes for years. This allows people to live free and empowered lives without being tied down by stereotypical views. In other words, feminism benefits women as well as men. For instance, while it advocates that women must be free to earn, it also advocates that men don’t have to be the main breadwinners in the family. As a result, it tries to give freedom to all.
Feminism in Ancient and Medieval Times
In fact, women were fighting for their rights and against injustice long before the emergence of the feminist movement. We encounter one of the earliest examples of this struggle in the 3rd century BCE Rome. In an attempt to overcome the Second Punic War crisis, Consul Marcus Cato suggested restricting the luxury and extravagance of women to save money for the public treasury. These restrictions included how much gold women were allowed to wear and what they wore; they were no longer permitted to dress in multi-colored garments. These restrictions were discriminatory against women because only women were limited from luxury, there were no such restrictions for men. To protest, Roman women filled the Capitoline Hill and blocked every entrance to the Forum when consul Marcus Porcius Cato resisted attempts to repeal laws restricting women. The growing mass of women filling the Forum applied sufficient pressure to cause fear in the Senate and the restrictions were successfully revoked - these women were able to overpower the Senate with collaboration.
The first feminist philosopher, Christine de Pisan, living in late 14th-century France challenged prevailing attitudes toward women with a bold call for female education. Her mantle was taken up later in the century by Laura Cereta, a 15th-century Venetian woman who published “Personal Letters”, a volume of letters concerning a panoply of women’s complaints, from denial of education and marital oppression to the frivolity of women’s attire and by this expressing for their willingness to make a change.
First Wave of Feminism
One of the most influential events in the history of feminism, marking the beginning of the First Wave Feminism, is Seneca Falls Convention. The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention was the very first women's rights convention in the United States, starting a decades-long struggle for gender equality. The traditional gender roles of the 19th century were the root cause for women’s limited rights. Men dominated the public sphere by working, voting, or participating in politics, while women stayed home to cook, clean, and raise children. There were restrictions in many states on women voting, owning property, and having control of their own income.
One woman who advocated for women's rights in the 19th century was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a homemaker in Seneca Falls, New York. Born into a progressive family, Stanton grew up highly educated and enjoyed an active social and political life before settling down with a family. But Stanton felt stifled as only a wife and mother to seven children, longing for a life outside the home. She soon found it in a local group of women who embraced equality, community, and activism. They invited her to a small social gathering, a tea party, which included an activist named Lucretia Mott. Mott and Stanton had met years before at an anti-slavery convention in London, but they were denied entry due to their gender. It was during the Tea Party that Stanton lamented the injustice of a women's unequal status in society. Her words resonated with the others. So the women decided to hold a gathering that would call attention to the social, civil, and religious rights of women — the first of its kind in the United States. It became known as the Seneca Falls Convention, taking place in 1848 with over 300 people in attendance.
At the convention, they read the Declaration of Sentiments, a document drafted by Stanton and modeled after the Declaration of Independence declaring “we hold these truths to be self-evident... that all men and women are created equal.” The sentiments outlined the civil and political rights denied to American women, which included education, property ownership, child custody in the event of a divorce, and most importantly, the right to vote. On the second day of the convention, 12 resolutions were passed and signed by 68 women and 32 men. The Seneca Falls Convention was the first time that American women demanded a change on a national scale and it caused quite a stir around the country. People who participated in this event were publicly mocked and shamed, however, it didn't stop the movement-the impact and promise of the Seneca Falls Convention was undeniable. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton felt a renewed sense of purpose and threw themselves headlong into the fight for equal rights. The Seneca Falls Convention signaled the birth of the women's rights movement. One particular resolution in the Declaration of Sentiments evolved into the demand for women's suffrage. Decades of political organizing, marches, and protests ultimately resulted in the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote — something that couldn't have happened without the Seneca Falls Convention.
Entering the twentieth century, women around the world mobilized in ever greater numbers to campaign for gender equality. Women started taking historic leadership positions in government. Women began to enter the workplace in greater numbers following the Great Depression, when many male breadwinners lost their jobs, forcing women to find “women’s work” in lower-paying but more stable careers like housework, teaching, and secretarial roles. During World War II, many women actively participated in the military or found work in industries previously reserved for men. After the formation of the UN in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For all the world to hear she and other advocates underlined the importance of women's rights on the international level. Following the Civil Rights Movement, women sought greater participation in the workplace, with equal pay at the forefront of their efforts. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was among the first efforts to confront this still-relevant issue.
Second Wave of Feminism
The Second Wave of feminism is usually demarcated from the 1960s to the late 1980s. As men returned from the Second World War to their families, women had to return to their traditional roles as housewives and mothers. Besides, the newly won freedom of women to work in previously male-dominated jobs was lost, and they had to return to traditionally women's work. As women were returning to their previous lifestyle, cultural obstacles reemerged. The Second Wave of Feminism was a reaction to this situation. It mainly focused on social and economical equality in society in the post-Second World War period. With the 1963 publication of “The Feminine Mystique”, Betty Friedan — who later co-founded the National Organization for Women — argued that women were still relegated to unfulfilling roles in homemaking and child care. In 1971, feminist Gloria Steinem joined Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug in founding the National Women’s Political Caucus. Steinem’s Ms. Magazine became the first magazine to feature feminism as a subject on its cover in 1976.
Check out the historical miniseries about these fascinating women — Mrs. America!
Third and Fourth Waves of Feminism
The third wave of feminism emerged in the mid-1990s that was led by Generation Xers, born in the 1960s and ’70s. Influenced by the postmodernist movement in the academy, third-wave feminists sought to question, reclaim, and redefine the ideas, words, and media that have transmitted ideas about womanhood, gender, beauty, sexuality, femininity, and masculinity. Third Wave Feminism was greatly focused on reproductive rights for women. Feminists advocated for a woman's right to make her own choices about her body and stated that it was a basic right to have access to birth control and abortion. They claimed that the feminist movement, especially the second wave, was largely limited to white, college-educated women and that feminism had failed to address the concerns of women of color, of nontraditional sexuality, immigrants, and religious minorities, so they tried to be more inclusive and open to diversity.
Achievements of the third wave feminism include:
equal access to education
opening public discussion about the abuse and rape of women
access to contraception and other reproductive services
legalization of abortion
creation and enforcement of sexual harassment policies for women in the workplace
the creation of domestic abuse shelters for women and children
educational funding for young women, and women's studies programs
More recently, Fourth Wave Feminism has emerged focusing on the empowerment of women using digital space and social media to encourage and put female achievements under the spotlight. The most notable movement of this era has been the #MeToo movement that campaigned to tackle historical sexual abuse of women.
In spite of all the progress, in the 21st century, there are still fights to win for gender equality. Even in developed societies we still meet stereotypes, taboos, and expectations based on gender that hinder women and men from being confident and realizing themselves fully in society. There are still challenges like unequal payment, unequal possibilities for career development, unequal opportunities for education, arranged marriage, rigid family gender roles, etc. In some countries, the situation is even worse, especially in Third World Countries. The achievements of these three feminist movements are largely limited to developed Western societies, and these fights still need to be won in Third World countries. Because of these unsolved issues, feminism is still relevant today, especially in developing countries. Equal rights need to be guaranteed by law, but the most important mission of these feminist movements is to change the mindset of people and achieve equality not just on paper but in the real world.
Author: Tiko Dolidze
Translator: Sophio Khonelia
Editor: Mariam Beshidze
Comments