First Wave Feminism: The Movement That is

Taken For Granted

Posted on April 30, 2013 by J.A. Fisher

First wave feminists spent hundreds of years in activism, writing, protesting and working for the
betterment and equality of their sex and gender. First wave feminists worked not only for
suffrage, or the right to vote, but also for the right to an education, the right to work, the right to
work safely, the right to the money they earned when they worked, the right to a divorce, the
right to their children and the right to themselves and their own bodies.

Rights for women can be traced back to the Middle Ages in the Middle East when early reforms
under Islam gave women greater rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance. Women in other
cultures were not afforded such rights until centuries later. Further improvements of the status of
Arab women included things such as the prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing
womens full personhood.

The things mentioned above are necessary, and were necessary, and in some case, came at the
end of long efforts.

The earliest signs of feminism in the west came in the 14th century when women lead the
Peasants Revolt against British Serfdom. Notably was Johanna Ferrour who ordered the violent
beheading of Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury Simon of Sudbury. The women
who were involved in this rebellion had a stake in it, as the poll tax that was the center of the
rebellion was much tougher on married women. Unlike the poll tax you may be used to hearing
about in relation to voting, this poll tax was a tax to support the Hundred Year War and it tripled
from a groat, which was a currency at the time, to three groats in a period of three years.
In the 14th and 15th centuries women writers began to take up their pens in defense of their sex.
These writers include Simone de Beauvoir and Christine de Pizan. But what women were
advocating against was a mindset, an entire system of socialization, even then, and then (as some
would argue to this day), women were socialized, both in their minds and in the minds of men,
that their sole role in society was reproduction.

First wave feminists had to work against this impression, and they had to work against the
society that allowed an unmarried woman to be property of her father and a married woman to be
property of her husband.

The 17th century saw the continuance of feminist writers, including Marie de Gournay who
wrote The Equality of Men and Women. But probably the most popular 17th century writer and
advocate of female education as a means to not only equality, but to a better society, was Mary
Wollstonecraft with her treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

But being an educated woman was dangerous at the time, Anne Askew, a Quaker and a feminist,
was burned at the stake for heresy. It is said she died for her implicit or explicit challenge to the
patriarchal order.

The right not to be property, rights to their inheritance, rights to an education and to a religion
that was not patriarchal are all things that in a number of centuries women were trying to fight
for, and they continued to fight for more. European Feminists such as Marguerite de Navarre and
Anna Maria van Schurman attacked misogyny and promoted the education of women.

Then came the Victorian age in Europe. The Victorian age brought with it this obsession with
manners and etiquette and women were not spared as they were inundated with conduct books
such as The Angel in the House by Mrs. Beeton. Feminist writers of the time, however, such as
the Bronte sisters and Elizabeth Gaskell rejected this notion and published novels of their own
depicting womens misery and frustration.

In the 19th century there finally came political organization out of centuries of writing and
treatise. The First Womens Convention is held in Seneca Falls in New York in 1848. The
Married Womens Property Committee was started in 1855 by Bessie Rayner Parkes and Anna
Jameson. The Society for Promoting The Employment of Women was founded by Barbara Leigh
Smith in 1859. Dozens, if not hundreds of organizations of this nature were made to advocate for
education, property rights, working rights, voting rights, etc.

With colleges in England opening to women in the 1840s and 1850s and with women like
Elizabeth Blackwell being one of the first women in the US to graduate in medicine, rights in
education were being gained.

By the 1920s women were being given not only the right to vote, but the right to run for office.

The latter part of first wave feminism included Margaret Sangers efforts towards family
planning and abortion advocacy. As well as the effect of the two world wars on the womens
desire to work. While during the war they were allowed and expected to work to support the
people on the front, they were also expected to give up their jobs and thus their economic sense
of importance and independence, as soon as the men came back from war.

The first wave of feminism was the longest, and it is the most taken for granted. It is common
now to speak with women who do not identify as feminists who think that feminism is a dirty
word, who simultaneously pursue careers and an education, who exercise their right to vote, who
own property and benefit from the fruits of their labor. Understanding the history and the efforts
of feminism, understanding how much progress they made and how long it took them is
important both to those who think they are not feminists, and those who identify as feminists and
who live life trying to better the world by the feminist ideal.

First wave feminists of interest:

Mathilde Fibiger See Clara Raphael, Twelve Letters

Emmeline Pethwick Lawrence See Votes for Women

Olive Schreiner See Women and Labor

Marion Reid See A Plea for Women

Harriet Martineau See Society in America

William Thompson See Appeal of One Half of the Human Race

Josephine Butler See The Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious
Diseases Acts

Annie Besant and Charles Knowlton See Fruits of Philosphy

No Longer a Second Sex: A Brief Look
at Second-Wave Feminism
Posted on May 8, 2013 by J.A. Fisher

Being the second part in a series on different feminisms. The first part was:First Wave Feminism: The
Movement That is Taken For Granted
Second-wave feminism, sometimes referred to as Womens Liberation, was the continued advocacy
of womens rights from the 1960s to the 1980s. The activism of the second wave of feminism could
be said to be a direct continuation of the work of the first wave. Amongst the things advocated for
were equal pay, equal hiring opportunities and rights to contraception and abortions. They also
advocated for divorce, a right to property in the case of a divorce, and the right not to have an
incident of rape by their husband or partner be considered legal.

The second wave of feminism was inspired by and inspired such books as The Feminine Mystique,
such publications as Ms. Magazine and such organizations as the National Organization of Women.
This wave shows a growth in theory and feminist academia, as well as a carving out of womens
spaces (from The Feminist Womens Health Center, The Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective
and Virago Press, a British feminist press to the first Haven House, The American Coalition of Labor
Union Women and countless organizations for women of color The North American Indian
Womens Association, Comision Femenil Mexican Nacional, The Mexican-American Womens
National Association, The National Association of Cuban-American Women, The National Black
Feminist Organization and many more).

However, it can be questioned how successful some of the political successes of this time period
were. Roe V. Wade, Griswold V. Connecticut and Eisenstadt V. Baird were all successes in the
courts that advanced the rights of women to have control and say-so over their own bodies while
Schultz V. Wheaton Glass Co. and Pittsburgh Press Co. V. Pittsburgh Commission on Human
Relations were cases that fought for the equal employment opportunities of women.

But even by the most specific estimates (estimating by comparing a woman in one position to a man
in the same position) still leaves women earning 6.6 cents less than men (AAUW), which suggests a
lack of success (but not necessarily failure) from the passage of the Equal Pay Act, even fifty years
later. Other estimates suggest American women only earn 77 cents to every dollar an American male
makes (NWLC), while African American women working full time, year round were paid only 64
cents, Hispanic women only 55 cents, for every dollar paid to white, non-hispanic men and Asian
women working full time, year round were paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-
Hispanic men (Wal-Mart V. Dukes: New Hurdles For Women Employees Fact Sheet by NWLC).
Further 2010 data shows that white women earned 78.1 percent compared to white men, African
American women earned 89.9 percent compared to black men, Hispanic women earned 91.3
percent compared to Hispanic men, and Asian women earned 79.7 percent compared to Asian men
(AmericanProgress.Org).
Overall, amongst men and women, African Americans earned only 58.7 percent of what white non-
Hispanics earned, while Hispanics earned only 69.2 percent of what white, non-Hispanics earned
(AmericanProgress.org).
All that isnt to say that the second wave of feminism wasnt successful, the things it did for women in
twenty years was impressive, opening up colleges and fair education to women, opening up job
opportunities in everything from the military to sports and electing women to public office, even
having during this time Barbara Charline Jordan, a Congresswoman from Texas, who was the first
African-American woman keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention.
Michelle Arrow, an Australian Professor, sums up the hopes and goals of the second wave of
feminism, as well as feminism since then by having said, One project of second wave feminism was
to create positive images of women, to act as a counterweight to the dominant images circulating in
popular culture and to raise womens consciousness of their oppressions.

The second wave of feminism also started an important conversation still ongoing today that was to
be the end of it. With the founding of New York Radical Women by Shulamith Firestone and Pam
Allen and the protest of the 1968 Miss America Pageant led by Robin Morgan, the conversation on
sex, sexuality and pornography was brought to the forefront of feminism.

Some Second Wave Feminists of Interest:

Betty Friedan See The Feminine Mystique
Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin Pogrebin See Ms. Magazine

Kate Millett See Sexual Politics

Shulamith Firestone See The Dialectic of Sex ; Redstockings
Germaine Greer See The Female Eunuch
Sheila Rowbotham See Womens Liberation and the New Politics
Juliet Mitchell See Womans Estate
Susan Brownmiller See Against Our Will ; In Our Time ; Femininity
Susan Griffin See Pornography and Silence
Alice S. Rossi See Equality Between the Sexes: An Immodest Proposal
Valerie Solanas See SCUM Manifesto
Mary Daly See The Church and the Second Sex
Toni Cade Bambara See The Black Woman
Marsha Rowe and Rosie Boycott See Spare Rib

Nawal El-Saadawi See Women and Sex

Todays Feminism: A Brief Look at
Third-Wave Feminism
Posted on May 16, 2013 by J.A. Fisher

Being the third part in a series on different feminisms. The second part was:No Longer a Second
Sex: A Brief Look at Second-Wave Feminism
Beginning in the 1990s, after the end of second-wave feminism and the Feminist Sex Wars, third-
wave feminism began with a mixture of disgruntled and unsure feminists and feminists born into a
world where feminism had always existed. Third-wave feminism began in a world with punk rock,
and thus carved out the safe space of Riot Grrrl. Third-wave feminism may be the most diverse and
individualistic feminist wave to date.

The movement of third-wave feminism focused less on laws and the political process and more on
individual identity. The movement of third-wave feminism is said to have arisen out of the realization
that women are of many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds.

With this wave of feminism what can be seen is a desire to challenge or avoid the assumption that
there is a universal female identity and over-emphasizing of the experience of the upper-middle
class white woman. Cherrie Morago and Gloria E. Anzaldua in books such as This Bridge Called My
Back and All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black
Womens Studies critiqued second-wave feminism for its focus primarily on the problems and
political positions of white women.
Proponents of third-wave feminism claim that it allows women to define feminism for themselves by
incorporating their own identities into their belief system of what feminism is and what it can become.

Having the successes of the first two waves of feminism the right to vote, the right to work, a
greater right to ones own body, a greater right to education third-wave feminists felt a need for
further changes in the stereotypes against women and in the media portrayals of women as well as
in the language that is used to define women.

In this advocacy, feminists have argued that language has been used to create binaries (such as the
male/female or heterosexual/homosexual binaries). Post-structuralist feminists see these binaries as
artificial constructs created to maintain the power of dominant groups.

The roots of Intersectional Feminism can be said to be found in the roots of third-wave feminism,
which usually incorporates elements of queer theory, anti-racism and women of color, as well as
people of color, consciousness, womanism, girl power, post-colonial (anti-Imperialism) theory,
postmodernism, transnationalism, cyber feminism, ecofeminism, individualist feminism, new feminist
theory, Trans*gender politics and a rejection of the gender binary.

Another important part of this wave of feminism is sex-positivity, a celebration of sexuality as a

positive aspect of life, with a broader definition of what sex means and what oppression and
empowerment may imply in the context of sex. Though opinions of sex and sexuality are not
universal. The Feminist Sex Wars split feminists on the issue of sex and sexuality. Split into the anti-
porn and sex positive factions respectfully, these two factions disagreed on sexuality, pornography
and other forms of equal representation, prostitution, the role of trans*women in the lesbian
community as well as lesbian sexual practices and BDSM.
The anti-pornography faction argued that, Pederasty, pornography, sadomasochism and public sex
were about exploitation, violence or invasion of privacy and not sexual preference or orientation.
Meanwhile, the sex positive faction promotes personal, individualized views on the gender-related
issues focused on during the feminist sex wars, such as prostitution, pornography, and
sadomasochism. Additionally, many third-wave feminists challenge existing beliefs that participants
in pornography and sex work are always being exploited.

It has been suggested to both factions that rather than pass personal judgment of sexual acts, each
feminist camp should recognize the plasticity of sexual meaning. It is argued that this would enable
the feminist movement through shared education and mutual respect, to benefit from a greater
comprehension of the diverse sexual preferences that exist.

Further, third-wave feminists want to transform the traditional notions of sexuality and embrace an
exploration of womens feelings about sexuality that includes vagina-centered topics as diverse as
orgasm, birth and rape. Baumgardner and Richards, authors of Manifesta wrote, It is not feminisms
goal to control any womans fertility, only to free each woman to control her own.
Some feminists prefer to change the connotations of a word or words that are sexist rather than
censor it from speech. This idea of changing the connotation of a word inspired the first SlutWalk in
Toronto, Canada in 2011 in response to a Toronto police officer who stated, Women should avoid
dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.

As discussed in the second part of this series, No Longer a Second Sex, third wave feminists are
not finished fighting political battles, they face continuing pay inequality, a glass ceiling, sexual
harassment, unfair maternity leave policies, a lack of support for single mothers by means such as
welfare and child care and a lack of respect for working mothers and mothers who decide to leave
their careers to raise their children full-time as well as restrictions to Supreme Court decisions such
as Roe V. Wade (such restrictions come at the state and county levels and include restrictions such
as mandatory waiting periods, parental consent laws and spousal consent laws).

Third Wave Direct Action Corporation was founded by American feminists Rebecca Walker and
Shannon Liss as a multiracial, multicultural, multi-issue organization to support young activists. The
organizations initial mission was to fill a void in young womens leadership and to mobilize young
people to become more involved socially and politically in their communities.

To fully understand the past, present and future of feminism, as well as to reach a full understanding
of intersectionality, this series will next begin looking at various individual feminisms, of which there
are many.

Some Third-Wave Feminists of Note:

Joan W. Scott Deconstructing Equality-Versus-Difference: Or, the Uses of Poststructuralist Theory

for Feminism

Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards Manifesta

Rebecca Walker To Be Real
Gloria Anzaldua & Cherrie Moraga This Bridge Called My Back, All the Women Are White, All the
Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Womens Studies
Elizabeth Wurtzel Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women
Susan Faludi Backlash
Eve Ensler The Vagina Monologues