Third Waves Of Feminism

The second wave of the feminist movement began in the late 1960’s and continues to the present day.

Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms. However, there are many different kinds of feminism. So some have found it useful to think of the women's movement in the US as occurring in "waves" . On the wave model, the struggle to achieve basic political rights during the period from the mid-19th century until the 1920's counts as "first wave" feminism waned between the two world wars, to be "revived" in the late 1960's and early 1970's as "second wave" feminism. The concept of 'waves' is not meant to imply that organised feminism disappeared in the

In the early 1960s and the late 1980s, the second wave occurred in the United Kingdom and United States, like the first wave. The second wave was focused on equality. In 1966, the quote “Women’s Liberation,” was first printed in public. These feminist in this period went as far as bra burning to tell the world that woman and men should have equal rights.

Women now were educated, voting, and even aiding their states during war times. In the U.S. many activists were fighting for similar issues addressed by the predecessors, however they were able to take things further, since there was a precedent. Instead of just gaining access to higher education, Second-Wavers were pushing for Women’s Studies classes and departments, and for prominent historical women to be included in academia. Women in the U.S. were also beginning the enduring battle of saving the environment. “Second-Wave feminists brought internal attention to the problems caused by violence against women and by poor environmental practices.”

The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).

Second wave feminism first emerged in the wake of World War II in the late 1940’s. It originated as a response to the post war boom. After World War II, the United States’ economy flourished, the population soared, capitalism emerged more triumphant than ever, and suburbia expanded like never before. The socio-economic state of the U.S. at this time lent itself spectacularly to middle-class familial expansion. During this time there was also a marked and, many would argue, a conscious effort to return to the patriarchal gender roles in place prior to World War II. That is to say, the nuclear family was in its glory days with the man being the undeniable head of house, and the woman his subservient housewife. The social movement toward female domesticity was heavily advocated through media propaganda which depicted the woman as a wife and mother exclusively, in the closed sphere of the home. We have previously seen with the emergence of first wave feminism the rise of feminist agenda that comes out of woman’s subordination at the hand of her husband, and misogynistic government policy and paradigm. It is this same sentiment that triggered the need for another wave of feminism, that is to say, the second wave. (Brownmiller, 36-38.)

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.

The first wave of feminism arose in the United States and lasted from ca. 1848 till 1940. The peak of the first wave was in the period 1890 till 1920 when the contention for the women’s suffrage.

However, that was not the case during the Second Wave of Feminism. White feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on the struggles of middle class white women. Moreover, it fails to address the distinct forms of oppression faced by women of color and women lacking other privileges that these women have. This type of feminism is regarded by some to be in opposition to intersectionality and black feminism. White women had an easier time fighting for the rights they sought and didn’t face as many adversaries as women of color and especially Black women.

Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.

The second wave of feminism began in the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, women

The First Wave of Feminism initially targeted at getting equal rights of property and child however by the end of the nineteenth century, it started focusing on issues like

When referring to the history of feminism in the manner of the first, second, or third wave, one is undermining the experiences that were ongoing during, in middle of, and before those waves that history defines. What ideologies of oppression were being spoken of to raise awareness and whose experience was being excluded/diminished? The articulation of feminism in using the metaphor of waves to describe how the ideologies peaked and rescinded, is incorrect because it focuses only on the voices of those who were able to bring their problems to the surface and excludes those who had a different experience or may have brought awareness in a quieter manner. There are many feminisms and each interpretation is defined by the collective oppression, rather than looking at the situation in an individual perception, which is what creates disagreements and division between feminists. Many definitions of feminism, feminisms, exist simultaneously because it is evolving as fast (or, well, as slow) as the world is changing and if one group of people are to speak of others experience of oppression (or lack of) in place of them, the result can be the glossing over of experiences and therefore, undermine experiences of others.

The main goal of the first wave of feminism was to get women the right to vote. There were a few reason why this was so important to them. The first was that they wanted to be represented because it was a basic right. They were upset that they never got any say in who the president was and what issues were dealt with. Another reason they wanted the vote was to help workers safety. They often worked in sweatshops and needed a way to make sure they would be better protected by the law. They also wanted to help mine safety because so many of their husbands worked in very dangerous conditions there. Ending child labor was important to them as well.

In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system,