Feminism

{{Bronze}}
[[File:Alfred T. Palmer bolt cutting.jpg|thumb|right|225px|[[African-American]] women Martha Bryant and Eulalie Hampden doing "man's work" during [[World War Two]].]]
{{gender}}{{cquote|I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.|||{{wpl|Rebecca West||,}} 1913<ref>[http://web.stanford.edu/class/fs101/quotes.html Some definitions of feminism], Stanford 101</ref>}}
{{cquote|But what's the alternative? What's the alternative to pumping out a unit every nine months? Pointless careerism? Pointless careerism, putting on a man-tailored suit and shoulder pads and imitating all the worst behavior of men? Is this the noblest thing that women can think of? To take a job in a criminal corporation that's poisoning the environment and robbing customers out of their money? This is the worthiest thing they can think of? Isn't there something nobler they can do to be helping this planet heal? You don't hear much about that from these middle-class women. I've noticed that most of these feminists are white middle-class women. They don't give a shit about black women's problems. They don't care about Latino women. All they're interested in is their own reproductive freedom...and their pocketbooks. |||George Carlin in his 1990 HBO Special <i>Doin' It Again</i>}}
'''Feminism''' refers to any ideology that seeks equality in rights for women, usually through improving their status. Feminism is rooted in ending [[men]]'s historical power over [[women]]. Recrudescences in feminist theory particularly focus on issues that disproportionately hurt females, such as ending [[gender pay gap]]s, enacting female voting and political rights, and reassessing what is considered "female" and "male".

While modern feminist thought is largely rooted in the Western intellectual tradition, the ideology is gaining currency throughout the whole world. In many cases, the feminist goal of equality for women has helped push movements around the world to change the entire way private [[society]] is viewed, and in some cases even helped topple [[authoritarian]] governments.<ref>[http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/rej/article/viewFile/636/563 Three] [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search?form_name=quicksearch&ie=%E0%A5%B0&option1=tka&value1=Women%27s+Role+in+Arab+Spring] [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/opinion/sunday/women-fight-to-define-the-arab-spring.html?_r=0 articles] on women's roles in the [[Arab Spring]]</ref> One of the greatest vindications of feminism is the power women in [[Liberia]] showed when, with some assistance from the international community, they {{wpl|Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace|ended the civil war}} and subsequently replaced the chaotic, unabashedly corrupt, and genocidal [[dictatorship]] with a reasonably functional [[democracy]].

Feminism can be studied from the perspectives of the actual movements for equality or from the writings of both observer, commentator and participant addressing the underlying issues of why women have not been and are not seen as equal. 

==History==

===Precursors to feminism===
{{cquote|It is not women's inferiority that has determined their historical insignificance: it is their historical insignificance that has doomed them to inferiority.|||Simone de Beauvoir<ref>[https://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/simone_de_beauvoir.html Simone de Beauvoir], Sonoma State University</ref>}}
Women's roles in [[society]] have long been debated. [[Plato]]'s ''Republic'' suggests that in a true [[utopia]] women would be [[education|educated]] and would work beside men equally. [[Jesus]], especially in [[Gospel of Thomas|extra biblical writings]], appears to demand that women be allowed to study with him beside the men. 

However, most of this discussion was carried out by men. Feminism has the distinction of being a movement "of, by, and for women," though somewhat [[ironic]]ally, the term was coined by [[French]] philosopher Charles Fourier.

===Beginnings===
In the [[United States]] and [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]], feminism began with the demand for [[legal]] autonomy, such as the right to be seen as more than a man's wife or daughter, the right to hold property, or the right to have one's [[marriage|choice of husband]]. Later, women demanded to be allowed access to [[political]] systems, ''e.g.'' by being given the vote. Once women saw what that agency brought, they began to demand further measures of equality. Finally, once these measures of equality had been accepted (in theory, at least), some feminists broadened the scope of their challenges to systems on a civilizational scale.

The history of feminism is conventionally divided into three waves, each echoing a broader political movement of its era: the first wave reflecting the rise of [[liberalism]], progressivism, and (towards the end) [[communism]]; the second, the [[Civil rights movement|Civil Rights Movement]] and the [[New Left]]; the third, [[identity politics]] in general.

===The first wave: legal agency (19<sup>th</sup>–early 20<sup>th</sup> c.)===
[[File:Suffragettes meeting, Rue Montmartre, Paris, 1914.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Suffragette meeting in Paris, 1914.]]
<choose><option>{{cquote|Ain't I a woman?|||Sojourner Truth}}</option><option>{{cquote|Sir, everyone seems to agree upon the necessity of putting a stop to suffragist outrages; but no one seems certain how to do so. There are two, and only two, ways in which this can be done. Both will be effectual. 1. Kill every woman in the United Kingdom. 2. Give women the vote.|||Bertha Brewster to the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', 1913<ref>[https://twitter.com/LettersOfNote/status/400669773207326720 Letters of Note]</ref>}}</option></choose>At the beginning of the 19th century in the UK and US, the agency of women was restricted on two different fronts: legal autonomy and the right to vote. In most countries women were considered property of their fathers or husbands. They were generally unable to enter into contracts or own land, and were legally seen in much the same way [[children]] are today.

Also, at the time, voting was largely by household, with only householders able to cast a vote. Hence, although there were comparatively few ''direct'' prohibitions on women voting, the restrictions on women owning property kept most of them disenfranchised. Later in the 19th century, when property qualifications for voting were eliminated, women became explicitly excluded from the franchise.

Because there were no other waves at the time, first wave feminism did not describe it self as such. In fact, the term feminism was not coined until decades after first wave feminism ended.  Second wave feminists retroactively dubbed the suffragettes first wave feminism to clarify their continuity with but divergence from that earlier movement.

Hence, the feminists of the first wave set out to extend to women the assertion of Thomas Rainsborough during the Putney Debates: "I think it's clear, that every man that is to live under a [[government]] ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government."<ref>[http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/second-civil-war/putney-debates The Putney Debates, 1647], British Civil War Project (Similarly, in [http://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/constitutional-law/constitutional-law-keyed-to-stone/equality-and-the-constitution/romer-v-evans-3/ ''Romer v. Edwards''], the majority opinion found that there can be no claim to equality and liberty if you cannot be part of the system that is controlling you.)</ref>

First-wave feminists often joined other social movements, including [[abolition]]ism, the [[temperance]] movement (the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]], for example, was headed for many years by a feminist, Frances Willard), the [[Trade union|labor movement]], and the anti-war movement in regards to World War I.

Some famous feminists from this era are Mary Wollstonecraft, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul, Emmeline Pankhurst, [[Margaret Sanger]], and [[Emma Goldman]].

{{anchor|Second wave}}
===The second wave: the women's liberation movement (1960s–1970s)===
[[File:We Can Do It!.jpg|thumb|right|165px|"And I can put THIS up your ass if you get in my way."]]
{{cquote|One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.|||Simone de Beauvoir<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/beauvoir/ Simone de Beauvoir (1908—1986)], Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy</ref>}}
{{cquote|Feminism is the radical idea that women are people.|||Marie Shear<ref>reviewing Kramarae and Treichler's A Feminist Dictionary in the news journal New Directions for Women (1986)</ref>}}

During the two [[WWI|world]] [[WWII|wars]], with so many men leaving nations' workforces to fight, the demands of {{wpl | total war}} required putting women into jobs previously reserved for men.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z9bf9j6 What did World War One really do for women?], BBC</ref><ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/09/world-war-ii-women-at-war/100145/ World War II: Women at War], ''The Atlantic''</ref> Women quickly proved themselves more than capable of doing virtually all "men's work"; but when the wars ended, someone or something pressured women to leave their new jobs to make room for the returning veterans.<ref>
Compare: [http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/at-a-glance/women-in-ww2.html Women in World War II at a Glance], National World War II Museum: "At the war's end, even though a majority of women surveyed reported wanted to keep their jobs, many were forced out by men returning home and by the downturn in demand for war materials." 
</ref>
[[File:The Auxiliary Territorial Service at An Anti-aircraft Gun Site in Britain, December 1942 TR453.jpg|thumb|right|250px|British female anti-aircraft spotter, 1942.]]
However, many women had found that they greatly preferred employment to the [[Traditional values|traditional female role]] of rattling pots and pans, changing diapers, and having to beg their husbands for pin-money; thus was born what became called the "feminist movement", or second-wave feminism.

While first-wave feminism had focused on removing the most overt legal disabilities for women and making women equal to men before the law, second-wave feminism tackled a wider range of social restrictions, advocating for women's full and equal participation in the larger social world.

Issues tackled by the second-wave feminists included:

* Access to [[birth control]]. In the U.S., the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] legalized [[contraception]] in 1965 in ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]''; eight years later, in 1973, [[abortion]] became legal through ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''.
* Workplace [[discrimination]], whether this meant excluding women from certain jobs altogether, or paying them less than a man doing the same work. In the U.S., Title VII of the [[Civil Rights Act]] of 1964 banned [[sex]] discrimination in employment. Of course, it was added to the bill in order to kill it,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/women/1964-civil-rights-act |title=Women’s Rights and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 |last=Fisher |first=Allen | website=U.S. National Archives and Records Administration}}</ref> but nonetheless it became binding law that had to be enforced.
* [[Domestic violence|Spousal abuse]]. Second-wave feminists engaged in a good deal of legal advocacy on behalf of battered wives and started many women's shelters as safe refuges.
* [[Marital rape]], which was legal throughout the U.S. until [[Nebraska]] passed a law against it in 1975<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=historydiss |title=Making Marital Rape Visible: A History of American Legal and Social Movements Criminalizing Rape in Marriage |last=Ross |first=Joann M. |date=2015 |website=University of Nebraska}}</ref>, and was not criminalized in all states until the 1990s.

Like the first-wave feminists before them, second-wave feminists participated extensively in contemporary political movements, most notably in the [[anti-war]] movement of the [[Vietnam War|1960s]].

Famous second-wave feminists included Helen Brown, Susan Brownmiller, [[Andrea Dworkin]] (unfortunately), Betty Friedan (National Organization for Women), [[Germaine Greer]], and Gloria Steinem.

{{anchor|Third wave}}
===The third wave: clashes of values (1980s–present)===
[[File:Womensmarch austin texas img 4198 (32427292776).jpg|thumb|right|300px|Women's March in [[Texas]], 2017.]]
{{cquote|I’m glad she didn’t want me to take ''her'' name.|||[[Nelson Mandela]] on why he didn't care when his wife, Graça Machel, kept her surname<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/mandela-my-countryman Mandela, My Countryman], ''The New Yorker''</ref>}}

Like the first- and second-wave feminists before them, third-wave feminists have taken on numerous core concepts of the societies they live in; and accordingly, like the first- and second-wave feminists before them, have earned the label [[radical feminism |"radical"]]. However, some people sometimes regard third-wave feminism as ''more'' radical than the waves preceding it: for example, where in the first wave Sojourner Truth asked "Ain't I a woman?" as a ''[[rhetoric]]al'' question, one major question in third-wave feminism is, "What ''is'' a 'woman'?"

To wit: third-wave feminism is intellectually informed by [[postmodernism]] and post-structuralism,<ref>{{wpa | Post-structuralism}}</ref> both of which challenge feminism to re-evaluate (and sometimes redefine) societal concepts including the notion of [[gender]] itself. Third-wavers de-emphasize attacking women's second-class status directly in favor of attacking [[Systems thinking |systems]] of religion, government, education, [[media]], and even the [[family]], all of which (they believe) have roles in reinforcing women's second-class status.

Third-wave feminism challenges not only the ''status quo'' of women's roles within these systems, but the systems themselves, making the ism largely overlap with and feed into the [[social justice]] movement.<ref>[http://www.law.columbia.edu/media_inquiries/news_events/2011/october2011/Intersectionality Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies Established], Columbia Law School</ref><ref>Gita Mehrotra. [http://aff.sagepub.com/content/25/4/417.short Toward a Continuum of Intersectionality Theorizing for Feminist Social Work Scholarship.]. ''Affilia''. November 2010 25: 417-430.</ref> This sometimes makes people who fully support the goals of second-wave feminism uncomfortable with the third-wave variety. Sex-negative feminism has also diminished in prominence within third-wave feminism, while there is a much stronger [[Sex-positivity |sex-positive]] element, as seen through works like ''[[The Vagina Monologues]]'' (1996). However, accusations of "sex-negative feminism" are routinely used as a [[snarl word]] to dismiss points of view which are not necessarily sex-negative - such as criticism of the [[porn]] industry and of the [[sexual objectification| objectification]] of women in the media and popular culture.

In many ways third-wave feminism, a far more intellectual and academic form of feminism, is less relevant to the average woman on the street than its predecessors — far more women are receptive to the idea of getting an honest day's pay for an honest day's work than are receptive to the idea of overthrowing [[capitalism]] or other huge systems designated as tools of [[patriarchy]] — but in other ways it is actually ''more'' relevant to many women. In its specifics, it contains numerous legacies of the struggles that gave it birth: third-wave feminists explicitly attempt to treat women's issues as larger than those of [[WASP| upper-class white women]], highlighting the similar but distinct experiences of minorities in the First World, as well as the existence of women in other countries where different traditional roles have led to different kinds of discrimination that Western-style feminism may not adequately tackle. For example, number of [[Africa]]n feminists regard [[female genital mutilation]] — a hot-button issue in Western feminism — as a less pressing issue, especially considering the history of [[colonialism|colonial]] opposition to the practice (seriously).

Feminism is ultimately about women's empowerment,{{cn}} and about their right to make the choices that work for them,{{cn}} even when those choices may seem to conflict with basic ideals of equality. Thus, at least one modern feminist source has argued that [[Sarah Palin]] and [[Michele Bachmann]] are feminists, although the pair rail against things most 
sane people
 feminists hold dear, particularly the right to have an abortion.<ref>[http://thefeministwire.com/2011/09/palin-bachmann-and-the-political-feminism-of-the-right/ Palin, Bachmann, and the political feminism of the right], ''The Feminist Wire''</ref>

Second-wavers express great gratitude to third-wavers for having provided feminism with a framework for thinking about [[intersectionality]].{{cn}} The term was coined in 1989 by black third-wave feminist Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10572435/Intersectional-feminism.-What-the-hell-is-it-And-why-you-should-care.html 'Intersectional feminism'. What the hell is it? (And why you should care)], by Ava Vidal. ''The Daily Telegraph'', 15 January 2014.</ref>

Feminism, just like any other philosophy, has its vocal fanatics too.<ref>
For example, [[Cathy Brennan]].
</ref>

==Current status==
{{cquote|Feminism is the struggle to end [[Sexism|sexist oppression]].|||{{wpl|bell hooks}}<ref name="Intro">''Introducing Feminism: A Graphic Guide'', Icon Books, 2013, ISBN: 978-184831-121-3, page 3</ref>}}
{{cquote|There is something sexy about women in power. I like when you can see that a person believes in him/herself that much.|||''Borgen'''s Mikael Birkkjær}}
As with most movements against discrimination and inequality, feminism is still a long way from achieving its goals, with many prejudices and much bias persisting. Women still get paid less than men, mostly because of society's expectations of women pushing them into less lucrative jobs, and of course direct discrimination.<ref>[https://www.glassdoor.com/research/demystifying-the-gender-pay-gap/]</ref>

But, on the bright side, the situation of women in general has been consistently improving, at least in the First World. The proportion of wealth held by women has risen significantly enough to prompt speculation as to the effect that the continuation of this trend would have on the economy,<ref>[http://www.odec.umd.edu/CD/CLASS/Mundy.pdf How Women's Wealth is Changing Society], ''Time''</ref> and although large wage gaps remain in specific professions, in the general case the income gap is now almost nonexistent among the younger generation of women, especially in urban areas. These developments led Hanna Rosin of ''The Atlantic'' to remark: "Yes, the U.S. still has a wage gap, one that can be convincingly explained — at least in part — by discrimination. Yes, women still do most of the child care. And yes, the upper reaches of society are still dominated by men. But given the power of the forces pushing at the economy, this setup feels like the last gasp of a dying age rather than the permanent establishment."<ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-of-men/8135/ The End of Men?], ''The Atlantic''</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://leftycartoons.com/the-wage-gap-and-womens-choices/ |title=The Wage Gap And Women’s Choices |author=Barry Deutsch}}</ref> That may be overly optimistic, but if feminist (and labor and small-d democratic) momentum keeps building, it doesn't have to be.

Domestic violence has decreased dramatically in the United States since the launching of second-wave feminism. The problem was rampant in the 1960s and 1970s. It still happens plenty, but it's rare by comparison to earlier periods, yet another example of the success of the feminist movement. Though the problem continues, rates of incest have declined significantly as well; you can thank feminism for that too.

==Criticism and backlash==
{{main|Antifeminism}}
Since its inception, the feminist movement has faced significant backlash, from varying opponents and with varying reasons. Gamers and "rational skeptic" edgelords oppose the third wave, nutty boomers oppose the second wave, and the most [[misogynist]]ic even oppose the first wave.

<big>'''Criticism geared toward Feminism comes in 3 varieties:'''</big>

{{sbs|title=1|Current wave|Criticism}}

{{sbs|1= <big>First wave : [[Women's suffrage|Suffrage]]</big>|2= All it comes down to is women's independence. Most of the people who hate the first wave often oppose the idea of voting rights for women.}}

{{sbs|1= <big>Second wave : Tackling [[Patriarchy]]</big>|2= The criticism deems that women are [[equality|not equal]] to men and, therefore, not apt to undergo military service nor work within specific workplaces. Boomers often oppose the second wave because they believe women are too weak for the army and/or not competent enough for male-dominant jobs.}}

{{sbs|1= <big>Third wave : [[Identity politics]]</big>|2= The criticism is often geared toward the most radical parts of the Feminist movement such as [[TERF]]s, RadFems and a few cranks. In itself, the criticism often comes down to complaints of [[Misandry]], [[Transphobia]], [[science]] [[denial]], [[Gamergate|bad ethics]] or [[censorship]] within the movement. The criticism is very often subject to either [[overgeneralization]] since critics can't tell apart a sane Feminist from a TERF or misconception since many critics don't actually listen to what Feminists have to say. Some of the most eccentric criticism alleges that Feminists want to institute a Matriarchy or reverse the gender roles.}}

==See also==
*[[Individualist feminism]]
*[[Radical feminism]]
*[[Futurism#Cyberfeminism and postgenderism|Cyberfeminism]]
*[[Misogyny]]
*[[Domestic violence]]
*[[Feminist glossary]]

==External links==
*A good overview on the [http://web.archive.org/web/20100619113515/http://feminism.suite101.com/article.cfm/types_of_feminism types of feminism]
*[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StrawFeminist Straw Feminist], TV Tropes
*[http://blogs.plos.org/blog/2011/02/11/let%E2%80%99s-say-good-bye-to-the-straw-feminist/ Let's Say Good-Bye to the Straw Feminist], PLOS 
*Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-approaches/ Approaches to Feminism], [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-topics/ Topics in Feminism]
*[http://www.cracked.com/article_19785_5-ways-modern-men-are-trained-to-hate-women.html?wa_user1=5&wa_user2=Sex&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=companion 5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women], ''[[Cracked]]''

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

[[Category:Feminism| ]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Identity politics]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Social justice]]

Categories: Feminism, Human rights, Identity politics, Political terms, Culture, Social justice