Feminism

What is it?
The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes.
When did it start?
Rights for women first became prominent during the French and American revolutions in
the late 18th century, however in Britain it wasn’t until the suffragette movement in the late
19th century. A ‘second wave’ of feminism arose in the 1960s with an emphasis of unity and
sisterhood. A ‘third wave’ was identified in the late 1980s and 1990s as a reaction against
the perceived lack of focus on class and race issues in earlier movements.
What are its core beliefs?

 Women have less rights then men and that we live in a patriarchal society
 Everyone deserves to have the same rights no matter your gender, race, and
religion.
 Contains ideas and beliefs about how culture can be and should be different – goals,
ideals,visions.
 Feminist advocacy is mainly focused on women’s, some feminists argue for the
inclusion of men’s liberation within its aims because they believe that men are
harmed by traditional gender roles.
 Some form of feminism have been criticized for taking into account only white,
middle class and college educated perspectives

Who are the key activists and thinkers within this movement?

 Audre Lorde – A Caribbean-American writer and self describes as ‘black , lesbian

,warrior ,mother ,poet’
o Dedicated her life to confronting issues of racism, sexism, and
homophobia.
o Lorde’s writing helped to raise awareness about the ways these kinds of
identity prejudices play out in daily life, and she encouraged her readers
to react against it.
 Bell Hooks - Gloria Jean Watkins – A postmodern feminist thinker and writer whose
work focused mainly on issues of capitalism, race and gender.
o She deviates from the traditional academic format in an effort to be
more inclusive to a broader audience.
o Discusses the ways that mainstream feminism lacks diversity, a
critique hat has ultimately caused a new wave of feminism to take
form.
 Emmeline Pankhurst – A leading British women’s rights activist, who led the
movement to win the right for women to vote.
o 1889 she founded the Women’s Franchise League, which fought to allow
married women to vote in local elections
o In 1903 she helped found the more militant Women’s Social and Political
Union - an organisation that gained much notoriety for its activities and
whose members were the first to be christened ‘suffragettes’
o 1913 – Emily Davis (member of the suffragettes) was killed when she
threw herself under the king’s horse at the Derby to protest the
governments continued failure to grant women the right to vote.
o Arrested on a number of occasions and went on a hunger strike.
o The period of militancy was ended on the outbreak of war in 1914.
o Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30.
o Emmeline died on 14th June 1928

 Eleanor Roosevelt – First Lady and wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President of
the United States)
o She redefined the role of first lady as she advocated for human and women’s
rights, held press conferences and penned her own column.
o Died in 1962
o Worked for the American Red Cross during WW1
o Focused on helping the countries poor, stood against racial discrimination
and travelled abroad to visit U.S troops.
o Became chair of the U.N ‘s Human Rights Commission and helped write the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 Millicent Fawcett – Primarily known for her work as a campaigner for women to
have the right to vote
o A suffragist- concentrated most of her energy on the struggle to improve
women’s opportunities for higher education.
o Became president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies
o She distanced herself from the militant and violent activities of Syffragettes
like the Pankhurst’s
o She believed their actions were harming women’s chances of gaining the
vote instead of helping.
o Had 3 books – including a textbook ‘Political Economy for Beginners’ which
went to 10 editions, sparked two novels and was reproduced in many
languages.
 Nina Simone – An American singer, songwriter and activist in the Civil Rights
Movement.
o Recorded more than 40 albums – fused gospel and pop with classical music
and accompanied expressive, jazz like singing.
 o Civil Rights was a common thread in her recording repertoire and became a
part of her live performances
o Released a lot of civil rights music.

 Van Zoonen – believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this
behaviour reinforces societal views
 3 ways of feminism: Liberal, socialist and radical.
Radical feminists see society as patriarchal and all men are assumed to dominant
and oppress women and women’s position in society.
Liberal feminists see more equal gender relations being brought about by equal
opportunities policies and affirmative action programs.

1960s abortion
o Abortion/ terminating a pregnancy was illegal until the 1967 Abortion Act became
law.
o Many campaigns were created for pro-choice and about legalising the right to
terminate an unwanted pregnancy, however there were some like pro-life that
disagreed with the legalisation and still to this day want abortion illegal.