Feminism And The First, Second, Or Third Wave

In order to understand the present day feminist movement, one must understand how feminism originated and the basic definition of feminism. What comes to mind when you hear the word feminism? For many, phrases like “man-hater” and “feminazi” have become equated with feminism. However, feminism is quite simply defined as “political, economic, and social equality of

The Third Wave was also seen as originating from the 1990’s post-feminist movement. The goals of the First movement were met, such as voting and property rights, as well as the Second Wave’s goals of equality in the workplace and reproductive rights. Thus, the goals of feminists were seemingly accomplished, and the movement was considered dead.(Page 64) This caused an increase in activity from people who still felt that there were injustices that needed to be surfaced, in regards to the interconnectivity of race, class, and sexuality with feminism. The feminist movement isn’t dead yet, but where its goals and aims will lead it into the future is unknown.

“First wave” of feminism in 1920 advocated women’s suffrage, whereas the “Second wave” targets the societal issues that women in the 21st century are facing. Betty Friedan wrote The Feminists Mystique after World War II exposing female repression and later founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) which ignited the second wave of the feminist movement. Consequently, it became noticeable that women were in multiple wars, as a result branches of feminists were formed (i.e. Liberalist, Marxist, and Socialist). Misogyny’s evolution has its own significant role in the feminist movement, stirring conversations today that affect feminist ideologies. However, in order to fully comprehend what affects second wave feminism along with the tactics utilized by feminists, one must first become acquainted with the many forms.

According to Kinser, while Second wave feminism inculcated women the gender equality and their liberations as citizens and individual human beings, Third wave feminism focused on more subjects related to social change. For example, more women of color stood up for changing of cultural and political separations. The first and second wave feminist fought, third wave and post feminists are living the present where women are treating “almost” equal to men. Equality for women was not given as how young generations are believing. I was also a young woman uneducated about feminism who had stereotypes for being feminist. I misunderstood that feminists are women who are arguing women superiority until I learned about it because I never questioned about

Third wave feminists, often called a slew of negative names, including; pigs, sjws, feminazis, cows, heifers, cunts, etc, are deemed psychotic, man-hating whores who want to be better than men. God forbid a woman wants to go outside and not be harassed or fear for her life. Forever will the modern feminist be in the shadow of first and second wave women's rights activists, but that does not mean that what they are supporting isnt worth it. Still, in a developed country promoting safety, 1 in 3 women will be a victim of sexual assault, 600 people are raped per day, only 97% of rapists receive no punishment, and 54% of rapes go unreported. Men account for 60-99% of all rapes that occur, and only 27% of rapists consider themselves rapists. This

Feminists from this wave pushed for reforms that created equal opportunity, as well as legislation protecting women against sexual harassment, and more awareness in society about the ever-so present gender discrimination. In the third wave of feminism, there was a discord of sorts with the previous waves that focused primarily on white middle class women as well as not focusing on the concerns that women of color, lesbians, and working class. The argument that the third wave had was aimed towards college students that believed in the fair treatment of women in all countries, not just America as well as other issues regarding the stance of the environment and the well-being of animal rights. I believe that feminism as an ideology is still needed in our society but not to an extent where it seems like its extreme feminism targeting men in specific

Feminism can be used to describe a cultural , political , or economic movement to establish legal protection and equal rights for women. Historians believe that the roots of feminism started in ancient Greece or during the medieval times, but we most recognize it from the movements throughout the 18th to 20th century. Feminism has evolved a lot since then and now are being told in three different waves. The third wave is the one we are currently living in today and should be told through the eyes of all people treated unfairly.

Second Wave Feminism’s began around the early 1960s and continued on in the 70s. This movement was defined by the radical new approaches and ideologies that womyn were taking at the time. With a more critical lense being used to look at the broader picture of womyn’s oppression and the complexities that came with different identities tied to being a womyn, second wave feminism can be defined by the fight against “women’s oppression in a society based on binary gender divisions and race and class hierarchies” (Enke, 2003). Although each wave of feminism had various different agendas, there was usually one that become the mainstream ideology in the historical context in which it was taking place, with that being said, “mainstream” feminist

The definitions of feminism according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is the idea that women and men both deserve equal rights in politics, economy and social status (Merriam-Webster). I noticed in some articles, breaking up the feminist movement in the U.S. into 4 distinctive waves. The first wave’s goal was to expand on the opportunities given to women and to specifically focus on women's suffrage during the late nineteenth and twentieth century. This is when they talk about women’s right to vote and right to political positions began(Martha Rampton). The ending of the first wave was marked by passing the “Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1919), granting women the right to vote in all states”(History and Theory).

The First-wave feminism was created by the industrial society and liberal politics of the 19th and 20 century in the US and Europe out of concern for women’s equality. The second wave feminism emerged in the 1960s to 1970s in postwar Western welfare societies when other “oppressed” groups such as Blacks and homosexuals were being defined in the new era of European American. The Third wave brought about activism for violence against women, trafficking, body surgery and self-mutilation. They strive to break barriers by proposing a different politics that challenges notions of universal womanhood and articulates ways in which groups of women confront complex intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and age-related concerns. All in all,

Feminism has been broken down into three waves, first, second, and third. First wave feminism had a focus on legal reform, these women were known as the suffragettes, they fought against legal, political, and structural discrimination toward women (Hewitt). Second wave feminism is defined as starting in the 1960’s, with its focus on white, middle class, housewives (Hewitt), and third wave feminism is seen as the bridge of the second wave and intersectinality (Hewitt). There is discussion on if the third wave is still continuing or if it has ended and a new wave of feminism is coming about. Each wave of feminism has had different ways of protesting their beliefs. First wave feminist usually used more of a legal way around discrimination, second

Prior to Loobeek’s paper, I did not know that there were three different forms or ‘waves’ of feminism, I thought it was one category. Now that I understand the three waves, I can more easily delineate between them. I remember learning in history class about Susan B. Anthony, a women’s rights advocate; her actions would be considered first-wave feminism. I remember talking about women’s right to get an abortion; which would be considered part of second-wave feminism. I also remember topics on the fight for lesbians to become welcome in society; which would be considered an important part of third-wave feminism. I think that it is in a way horrifying that Katniss is the head of her household and that she shows dominance over her mother. The reason

Feminism, the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men (Webster’s Thesaurus Dictionary). Feminist seek to find impartiality between the genders, in not only the work force, but many different aspects of their lives. Feminist are spectated to be individuals who believe in female domination, and that is not precise. Feminist believe that women and men should be treated equal to each other, neither sex defines who they are or makes them superior to the other.

The word feminism originated in the 1800’s from the French word “feminisme”. So what is feminism exactly? Feminism is usually defined as an active desire to change women’s position in society (Kolmar pg.27). There are many ways that feminism can be described as it is a number of theories, social movements, cultural and political movements. These movements are shedding light to the inequalities and equal rights for women and also equality for everyone. Feminism is a way for women to be heard and to fight for their right for equality. “It is feminism that recognizes individual diversity, and freedom, and equality, defined through and beyond north/ west and south / east dialogues” (Hooks pg.47). There are considered two waves of feminism or three according to who you talk to. The first-wave feminism focuses on power and women’s suffrage this wave of feminism also puts the focus on absolute rights. The second-wave feminism developed its own epistemological practices in the process of consciousness raising, a model for generating knowledge from the authority of individual women’s experience (Tong pg.55). Women in the second-wave also used their academic knowledge when discussing feminism to bring more knowledge about the topic of inequality. With the third-wave feminism I start to see more openness to allowing more women in these movements. I start to see how more lesbian women and women of color are more active in this wave. I however believe that third-wave

Throughout history all kinds of women across the globe have been viewed as objects and in some instances viewed as less human and men are viewed as the dominant subject. We are all part of creating the social difference between men and women weather we know it or not. Sexism is what promotes male privilege and refers to hierarchically ordered gender stereotyping and it can be seen everywhere. Each day more and more are expressing enculturation, which is the gradual acquisition of the characteristics and norms of a culture or group by a person. We can see this though the arrogant eye, which is all the different ways men exploit women in a male dominated culture. Standpoint theory is a feminist theoretical perspective that argues that knowledge stems from social position. Third wave feminism is a feminist group that focuses on the issues of race, racism, and the experiences of the nonwhite women in today's culture. In our culture today we see cultural racism so often that we may not even pick up on it because it is some common. I’ve personally seen this and I remember one day in the mall I was walking around and noticed that almost every ad had no person of color on them, I was stunned, out of the hundreds of ads on the walls the only ones that did were footlocker and other athletic stores, that is a perfect example of cultural racism. Another thing i’ve noticed when driving back home is that racial advantage is absolutely real, racial advantage is one race having better