Sunday, November 18, 2007
First Wave Feminism
Definition of Feminism
Feminism – comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. (Wikipedia)
Feminism - Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, the movement organized around this belief. (American Heritage Dictionary)
First Wave of Feminism
The first wave of American feminism began in the early 1800’s and proceeded through the 1920’s. The first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls in July of 1848 by Elizabeth Stanton, there she presented the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments which included eleven resolutions demanding social and political equality for all women, including it’s primarily demand, the right to vote.
In 1854, women such as Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony also began a women’s rights campaign to promote New York’s Married Women’s Property Law of 1848, which passed in 1860. The law gave married women the right to own property, manage their own business, wages and income. It also gave women the right to sue, to divorce and the right of custody of their own children. This was a change in women’s lives that many waited for years; women were no longer at the mercy of their husbands.
The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) believed they would achieve women’s rights by congressional amendment to the constitution as where The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) believed they would achieve women’s rights by amending individual state constitutions. Regardless of their beliefs, they all had the same goal and in 1890 both associations merged to form The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Carrie Chapman Catt was a coordinator of The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and played an important part in its victorious campaign to win voting rights for women.
Because the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) did not allow colored women to join the association, in 1896 The National Association of Colored Women is formed and led by Mary Church Terrell.
In 1913 Alice Paul and Lucy Burns form The National Women’s Party who picket in front of the White House, demanding the passage of a federal amendment to give women the right to vote.
The first U.S. birth control clinic is opened in Brooklyn, New York by Margaret Sanger in 1916. Sanger is arrested and the clinic is closed down. After obtaining support from the courts, she opens another birth control clinic in New York City in 1923.
The federal woman suffrage amendment, originally presented and written by Susan B. Anthony, becomes the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting the right to women to vote in August of 1920.
Many women believed that Suffrage was the most successful way to amend the unfair system. While it did not produce the rapid results many women and its followers hoped for it did lay the foundation for future women to fight for their rights. It was definitely a stepping stone to the Second Wave of Feminism.
Sources
Battle for Suffrage, 1848-1920,
People & Events
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/peopleevents/pande09.html
By Popular Demand, “Votes for Women” Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920
The Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/vfwhtml/vfwhome.html
Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.
Timeline of Key Events in the American Women's Rights Movement http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
Not For Ourselves Alone,
The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/
Feminism – comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. (Wikipedia)
Feminism - Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, the movement organized around this belief. (American Heritage Dictionary)
First Wave of Feminism
The first wave of American feminism began in the early 1800’s and proceeded through the 1920’s. The first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls in July of 1848 by Elizabeth Stanton, there she presented the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments which included eleven resolutions demanding social and political equality for all women, including it’s primarily demand, the right to vote.
In 1854, women such as Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony also began a women’s rights campaign to promote New York’s Married Women’s Property Law of 1848, which passed in 1860. The law gave married women the right to own property, manage their own business, wages and income. It also gave women the right to sue, to divorce and the right of custody of their own children. This was a change in women’s lives that many waited for years; women were no longer at the mercy of their husbands.
The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) believed they would achieve women’s rights by congressional amendment to the constitution as where The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) believed they would achieve women’s rights by amending individual state constitutions. Regardless of their beliefs, they all had the same goal and in 1890 both associations merged to form The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Carrie Chapman Catt was a coordinator of The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and played an important part in its victorious campaign to win voting rights for women.
Because the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) did not allow colored women to join the association, in 1896 The National Association of Colored Women is formed and led by Mary Church Terrell.
In 1913 Alice Paul and Lucy Burns form The National Women’s Party who picket in front of the White House, demanding the passage of a federal amendment to give women the right to vote.
The first U.S. birth control clinic is opened in Brooklyn, New York by Margaret Sanger in 1916. Sanger is arrested and the clinic is closed down. After obtaining support from the courts, she opens another birth control clinic in New York City in 1923.
The federal woman suffrage amendment, originally presented and written by Susan B. Anthony, becomes the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting the right to women to vote in August of 1920.
Many women believed that Suffrage was the most successful way to amend the unfair system. While it did not produce the rapid results many women and its followers hoped for it did lay the foundation for future women to fight for their rights. It was definitely a stepping stone to the Second Wave of Feminism.
Sources
Battle for Suffrage, 1848-1920,
People & Events
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/peopleevents/pande09.html
By Popular Demand, “Votes for Women” Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920
The Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/vfwhtml/vfwhome.html
Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.
Timeline of Key Events in the American Women's Rights Movement http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
Not For Ourselves Alone,
The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/
Second Wave Feminism
Second Wave Feminism
The second wave feminists wanted social equality. They wanted to earn and have the equal rights as a male would. They wanted to be part of the male dominant work force and get paid equally as a male would. When World War II came, men had to leave and the women stepped up and filled the positions of the men. However, when the men returned back home from the war, the positions that the women were working was were taken away.
After the war, feminists started to protest for equal rights and opportunities in the work environment. (McElroy 173). When congressed passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, it required for women and men who performed equal work. Also, it meant that they were banned discrimination based on sex. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, which prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, religion and national origin was introduced (McElroy 174).Women were happy because this meant that they were close to what they want to achieve. Both these acts were important to not only the white women, but also colored women and people of different religions.
During the second wave feminist’s movement, women established women’s newspapers, bookstores, and magazines. They wanted to express their feminist issues and thoughts in their newspapers and magazines. Also, they established cafes. Another thing that they did was established a battered women’s shelters, rape crisis hotlines, daycares and many more. Creating daycares were great because it gave a great opportunity for women to go and work.
In 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed by a group of active women funded. After NOW the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, was passed which was first proposed in 1923 (McElroy 226). Women were drafted into the army service. However, ERA died in 1982 because of lack of adequate support at the state level.
The second wave feminists wanted social equality. They wanted to earn and have the equal rights as a male would. They wanted to be part of the male dominant work force and get paid equally as a male would. When World War II came, men had to leave and the women stepped up and filled the positions of the men. However, when the men returned back home from the war, the positions that the women were working was were taken away.
After the war, feminists started to protest for equal rights and opportunities in the work environment. (McElroy 173). When congressed passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, it required for women and men who performed equal work. Also, it meant that they were banned discrimination based on sex. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, which prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, religion and national origin was introduced (McElroy 174).Women were happy because this meant that they were close to what they want to achieve. Both these acts were important to not only the white women, but also colored women and people of different religions.
During the second wave feminist’s movement, women established women’s newspapers, bookstores, and magazines. They wanted to express their feminist issues and thoughts in their newspapers and magazines. Also, they established cafes. Another thing that they did was established a battered women’s shelters, rape crisis hotlines, daycares and many more. Creating daycares were great because it gave a great opportunity for women to go and work.
In 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed by a group of active women funded. After NOW the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, was passed which was first proposed in 1923 (McElroy 226). Women were drafted into the army service. However, ERA died in 1982 because of lack of adequate support at the state level.
Third Wave Feminism
Third Wave Feminism
When ERA died, feminism continued to evolve. The third wave of feminism began in 1980s and still continues today. The third wave feminists may be viewed differently than the founders were, but they approach their activism with similar principles. Since their founders did all the hard work, the third wave feminists are not fighting for political equality, but they are fighting for social changes. The main social change that they are fighting for is to stop the current war that we are in now.
There were so many accomplishments, and because of these accomplishments, the third wave feminists are fortunate to not have to deal with the oppression of women. Third wavers of the women’s movement have taken more of a social perspective than the previous wavers. Feminists would like to put an end to what bell hooks calls a feminist struggle. She proposes that this “struggle be viewed as a component of an overall movement to end violence” (hooks 63). She says that men and women should work together to “eliminate” violence. However, many other people, such as Barbara Epstein argue that the women’s movement no longer continues. Epstein states “the wind has gone out of the sails, not only of the women’s movement but also of the progressive movement as a whole in the United States generally” (Epstein 2). She suggests that the movement no longer subsists.
I believe that the women’s movement will never die, until we have solved all the problems in the world. As hooks states, “Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who we are-to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace”. If the women’s movement did not exist, women would not have come as far as they have and we would be living in a male centralized country.
Understanding its origins and the reasons feminists created women’s movements gives us a better understanding of the movements. We should understand the origins of feminism and actively get involved in such things. As a woman, I am fortunate to live in a time where women are allowed to vote, get higher pays, work next to men, and even become their bosses and many more. We should respect and appreciate all the work that the women did from the beginning of time. It is hard to what to state something without any acknowledgment. They made it easy for us to adopt to our privileges.
Sources
Epstein, Barbara. “The Successes and Failures of Feminism.” Journal of Women’s
History Bloomington: Summer 2002. Vol. 14, Iss.2, p.118-125.
Hooks, Bell. Feminism is for Everybody. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000.
When ERA died, feminism continued to evolve. The third wave of feminism began in 1980s and still continues today. The third wave feminists may be viewed differently than the founders were, but they approach their activism with similar principles. Since their founders did all the hard work, the third wave feminists are not fighting for political equality, but they are fighting for social changes. The main social change that they are fighting for is to stop the current war that we are in now.
There were so many accomplishments, and because of these accomplishments, the third wave feminists are fortunate to not have to deal with the oppression of women. Third wavers of the women’s movement have taken more of a social perspective than the previous wavers. Feminists would like to put an end to what bell hooks calls a feminist struggle. She proposes that this “struggle be viewed as a component of an overall movement to end violence” (hooks 63). She says that men and women should work together to “eliminate” violence. However, many other people, such as Barbara Epstein argue that the women’s movement no longer continues. Epstein states “the wind has gone out of the sails, not only of the women’s movement but also of the progressive movement as a whole in the United States generally” (Epstein 2). She suggests that the movement no longer subsists.
I believe that the women’s movement will never die, until we have solved all the problems in the world. As hooks states, “Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who we are-to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace”. If the women’s movement did not exist, women would not have come as far as they have and we would be living in a male centralized country.
Understanding its origins and the reasons feminists created women’s movements gives us a better understanding of the movements. We should understand the origins of feminism and actively get involved in such things. As a woman, I am fortunate to live in a time where women are allowed to vote, get higher pays, work next to men, and even become their bosses and many more. We should respect and appreciate all the work that the women did from the beginning of time. It is hard to what to state something without any acknowledgment. They made it easy for us to adopt to our privileges.
Sources
Epstein, Barbara. “The Successes and Failures of Feminism.” Journal of Women’s
History Bloomington: Summer 2002. Vol. 14, Iss.2, p.118-125.
Hooks, Bell. Feminism is for Everybody. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000.
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