Feminism

**Feminism** is a social, political, and economic movement. It is about changing the way that people see male and female rights and campaigning for equal rights. A feminist is someone who follows feminism.

Feminism began in the 18th century with the Enlightenment. The controversy over gender differences led to the discussion of equality.

## History of feminism 
The word "feminism" comes from the French word "féminisme". This medical term was used to describe masculine women or men with feminized traits. When its use became popular in the United States of America, it was used to refer to groups of women who "asserted the uniqueness of women, the mystical experience of motherhood and women's special purity.

During the inter-war years, the feminist movement declined. Anti-feminism was on the rise, focusing on the issue of women and work. Women were being 'persuaded' to return to their traditional roles in the home and give up their war jobs. There were also issues within the organized ranks of feminism itself. The ideologies and priorities were changing. Some felt that equality with men had been reached and shifted their focus onto the needs of women as women, such as the subjects of birth control, family allowance, and protective legislature. This caused the split into the dominant groups of equality and new feminism. New feminists focused on the role of traditional women in the home and as mothers. Equality feminists encouraged women to look beyond the home and fought for equality with men in every aspect of life. Equality feminists opposed protective legislature, such as maternity leave.

The topic of protective legislature eventually led to the divide of first-wave feminism. Middle-class feminists tended to oppose protective legislature, whereas working class feminists largely supported it. This split between the previously dominant equality feminism and the rising new feminism marks the end of the first wave of feminism.

## Second wave (1960s-1980s) 
The rise of political concerns marks second-wave feminism. Where the first wave of feminism dealt with women in the workforce, as well as the right to own property and vote, the second wave of feminism lobbied for 'liberation' from a patriarchal society. The key to second-wave feminism was the struggle over the female body itself – how it was represented and the significance attached to the reality of biological differences.

The famous "One is not born, but rather becomes a woman" declaration by Simone de Beauvoir led to new thinking about gender as a construction rather than something inherent.

Second-wave feminism was also characterized by the problematization of equality. Questions arose about what gaining equality would achieve due to the societal roles men and women were still expected to fill. This led to the call for extreme change to revolutionize the very fabric of a patriarchal society. This was the beginning of the radical, Marxist, and socialist feminist groupings. It also marked a shift in the politics of liberal feminism, focusing more on 'sexual politics', such as the family, abortion, rape, domestic violence, and sexuality.

In the 21st century, online communities and support groups focused on masculinism discourse as a counterpart to the online presence of feminism, which is known as manosphere.  Masculinism fueled by primordialist ideologies have also resulted into an openly anti-feminist toxic culture known as "incels" (involuntarily celibate).

## Women in politics 
There have been women who have been involved in politics throughout history.

### Historical 
Esther, Lady Godiva, Bodicea, Queen Elizabeth, Lucrezia Borgia, Catherine the Great, Joan of Arc.

### Modern times 
Starting in 1960, many women have been elected to high positions of power, such as prime minister. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first, followed by Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Elisabeth Domitien and Margaret Thatcher. Dame Eugenia Charles lasted nearly 15 years in the post, a record.

## Types of feminism/feminist theories 
### Liberal feminism 
Liberal feminism drew its strength from the diversity of liberal thought following the Enlightenment. The basis of liberal feminism is the emphasis on the power of the individual. If everyone individually stands up for what is right, discriminatory practices will change. Liberals challenge societal norms. Liberal feminists acknowledge and support individual choices and preferences that are considered as 'traditional' gender placements (such as the home and the workplace) if they are a voluntary choice without coercion.

### Anti-feminism 
Writers such as Camille Paglia, Christina Hoff Sommers, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Daphne Patai oppose some forms of feminism, though they identify as feminists. They argue that feminism often promotes misandry (hatred of men) and the elevation of women's interests above men's and criticize radical feminist positions as harmful to both men and women. Daphne Patai and Noretta Koertge argue that the term "anti-feminist" is used to silence academic debate about defects of feminism like lack of intersectionality and visible separatism. They are anti-essentialists and reject tenets made by liberal feminists who make truth claims about who is a "real" women.

## Criticism 
Identified reasons why some people do not like feminism:
* People do not like feminism because they think that women are already equal or more important in the eyes of law. Philoandrists often say that society, in general, is not equal for men and a version of that is what women experience. Critics say basic tenets like equity and equality in outcome (egalitarian humanism) are a striving factor among men as it is with women.
* Binary thinking with wrong attributions is considered a factor. Some examples are women not being regarded as equal to men based on biological differences, the antithetical divide between women of different races (e.g., white vs. women of color), dismissing the existence of ableism (Privilege theory) among men as among women (e.g., Angela Merkel, Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Tarja Halonen, etc.), and viewing women as inherently weak and needing empowerment, etc. These are reinforced in social domains, such as the treatment and role of women in the military, denial of ordination of women in churches (Ephesians 5:21), and partisan policies rooted in history.
* Some people consider feminism to deny strength exhibited by females through maternal and care aspects or discourage these aspects by terming them closely to weakness or slavery.
* Some theorists consider that conscious and unconscious bias is rampant within human beings (Unconscious bias training); such a state of oppression is common, and an understanding to halt them in destructive forms is what equality should be about.
* Some people say feminism, from its supportive nature, is distorted and used for propaganda's like heterosexuality is confinement and distinct female sexuality is liberated only through celibacy, autoeroticism, or lesbianism.

## Related pages 
* Marie Stopes
* Valerie Solanas
* Sexism
* A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
* Abortion
* Gender equality
* Lesbian
* Sexual harassment
* Prostitution
* Women's rights
* Black feminism
* Fat feminism
* Marche mondiale des Femmes
* Women's liberation movement
* One Billion Rising
* Women Democratic Front

## References