Feminism

**This stub is being edited by Colleen Cavanagh**

Definition

Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

History of Feminism

Scholars have divided the feminist movement's history into three waves: (1) women's suffrage movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, (2) ideas and actions associated with the women's liberation movement beginning in the 1960s, and (3) a continuation of, and a reaction to the perceived failures of, second-wave feminism, beginning in the 1990s. Each of these waves united women in the United States and globally to stand up for their rights as women, in order to obtain equality to men.

First Wave Feminism

The end goal of the first wave feminist movement was to create opportunities, particularly suffrage for women, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This wave officially started in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention, when men and women called for reforms and equality for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was at the heart of this movement when she outlined the movement's ideology and political strategies in the Seneca Falls Declaration. This wave ultimately led to women's suffrage in 1920.

Second Wave Feminism

This wave began in the 1960s and lasted until the 1990s, with a focus on sexuality and reproductive rights. It rose from civil rights and anti-war movements, as well as a growing sense of self-consciousness in minority groups. Much of this wave's energy was focused on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed equality, regardless of sex. It began with protests of the Miss America Pageant in 1968 and 1968, where groups parodied the pageant as a "cattle parade," and even crowned a sheep as Miss America. As a result of this wave, sex and gender were regarded as separate entities and it created an effort to rid society of sexism in all facets of life - from children's cartoons to the highest levels of government.

Third Wave Feminism

Third wave feminism began in the mid-1990s. Many social constructs were reexamined and eventually thrown out, including notions like "universal womanhood," body, gender, sexuality and heteronormativity. The Internet became an extremely large tool for third wave feminists, as it creates an opportunity for users to be ambiguous about their sex or gender, promoting ideals of experimentation and creative thought. Third wave feminists broke boundaries in that their perception of reality is conceived not so much in terms of fixed structures and power relations, but in terms of performance within contingencies.

Feminism Movements

Feminists fights for equal rights for women continues still today. A recent movement in feminism has been the revival of the Equal Rights Act as recently as 2015 that would protect women's right and prohibit discrimination based on sex. It was first introduced in 1923, and the last time the U.S. tried to ratify it ended in 1982 when it failed to garner enough state ratifications. Bettina Hager, the D.C. Director of the ERA Coalition, has led the way in reintroducing and educating the population on the importance of equal rights for all.