A Kinda Brief History of Feminism

We often refer to feminism as a singularly united ideology in our everyday vocabulary, but the reality and history of the movement are much more complicated. While everyone who calls themselves a feminist shares the common desire to end gender-based discrimination, they may have very different ideas about what that discrimination looks like, its origins, and how to solve it best. Feminism can be better understood as a historical political and social movement that advocates for the equality of the sexes, something that many people continue to fight for today. To know what feminism looks like today, we must first learn what it looked like in the past. While we could never describe the entire history of the movement in just one article, a brief overview can help us learn more about this commonly misunderstood topic.

Protofeminism
We divide feminism using the metaphors of three or four "waves" spread across time (or more, depending on who you ask). The first wave started in the 19th century. Still, before the term “Feminism” was coined by male French philosopher Charles Fourier in 1837, many writers had already advocated for women's equality. These thinkers are called “proto-feminists,” like the 14th-century female philosopher Christine de Pisan. Protofeminsts like her were discontent with the treatment of women in Medieval Europe since women could not own property, be educated or participate in public life.

While Enlightenment thinkers wrote about ideas like liberty, equality, and natural rights, they were never extended to women. Female intellectuals like Olympe de Gouges’ and Mary Wollstonecraft were quick to point out the hypocrisy. They wrote two extremely important political works demanding that women were equal to men and should be granted the same opportunities.

First Wave Feminism
In the late 19th century, these political ideas grew into a larger political activist movement: First Wave Feminism. In the United States and England, white female abolitionists began to apply the concepts of freedom and equality to their own lives. In 1848, these women gathered in the small town of Seneca Falls and came up with a list of rights that they wanted for women—most importantly, the right to vote. While this issue was the main focus of this era, there were other feminist thinkers like Emma Goldman and Charlotte Perkins Gilman who thought it would take a lot more than voting for women to become free from sexism. They criticized mainstream feminist leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who usually only focused on upper-class white women’s rights. For instance, Susan B. Anthony refused to support the working class trade union movement and refused to help fight against Jim Crow segregation. The suffragist movement struggled for 70 years until activist Alice Paul adopted a more radical approach inspired by the British suffragists and organized mass demonstrations, parades, and confrontations with the police. In 1920, the 19th amendment was passed, and women in the United States won the right to vote.

Second Wave Feminism
After suffrage was won, feminists lost a clear direction in their activism. It wasn’t until the 1960s and 70s that the Second Wave began, inspired by the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War protests. Feminists, this time, wanted institutional and cultural change and asked for equal pay, job opportunities, and childcare services. Other groups campaigned for broader issues, such as sit-ins and marches against sexism in literature and academia. Women’s studies departments were established in universities, and people started to open up rape crisis centers. Major victories of this era were the Pay Act of 1963 and Roe V. Wade in 1973.

Feminists of this wave spent a lot of time discussing and debating different theoretical ideas. They thought a lot about where women’s oppression came from and what it even meant to be a woman in the first place! Three main types of feminism came from these debates: Mainstream/liberal feminism focused on changing sexist laws and wanted more women to take positions of power in society. Radical feminism didn’t think that putting women into positions of power would be enough to end gender discrimination. They believed society was inherently sexist and women could only be freed by an entire societal restructuring. Cultural feminism taught that men and women were inherently different and thought it was best to celebrate the traits usually associated with women, like being naturally nurturing and caring. They felt mainstream feminism’s attempt to integrate women into the male sphere was bad because it would make women worse and more like men. Second-wave feminism was still primarily led by middle-class white women who rarely included women of other classes and races in their thinking and activism. Still, notable Black feminists of this era, like Audre Lorde and Alice Walker, wrote very influential books/articles on the ties between racism and sexism.

Third Wave Feminism
Because of the many victories of second-wave feminism, women in the 90s enjoyed more rights and power than ever before! Feminists of this era wanted to redefine and reclaim sexist words and symbols to shape their own idea about what it meant to be a woman. They emphasized individuality with the deep belief that a woman should get to choose how she lives her life. Many cultural milestones, like “The Vagina Monologues,” the Guerilla Girls, and punk rock riot grrrls, defined this era. While Second wave feminists often felt pressured to present as more masculine to be respected and sometimes viewed traditional femininity as limiting, Third Wave Feminists didn’t see a reason why being “girly” couldn’t be just as respectable. Third Wave feminism also became more inclusive and aware of race. In 1989, Kimberle Crenshaw coined the phrase “intersectionality,” which refers to how different kinds of oppression, like sexism and racism, intersect with one another. Intersectionality has become increasingly important to feminists ever since. While this was certainly one of the greater achievements of this era, many critics felt the lack of a unified political agenda or philosophy made the cry of “Girl Power'' an empty promise.

Where are we now?
Today, there’s debate about whether we’re in a fourth wave of feminism or if we're in a continuation of the third wave. Since 2012, there’s been a focus on issues like sexual harassment, body shaming, and rape culture, which were brought to wide public attention through the "Me Too" movement that started in Hollywood.

So far, this era has also been marked by increased use of social media to share ideas and potentially do activism. While social media makes it easy to communicate with each other quickly, it can unfortunately also make it harder to communicate thoughtfully. As we’ve learned, complicated, nuanced issues have been debated within feminism for centuries! An attention-grabbing video on your FYP or a hot take on your timeline can’t represent the ideas of an entire political movement. To understand the multilayered problems we encounter today, we need to have more long-form discussions and intellectual inquiries that extend beyond our phones and into the real world. Use Women’s History Month to continue to learn more and to engage in in-person conversations about women’s issues. If you’re eager to learn more, check out the Women’s Empowerment Association of Andrews University (WEAAU) Tuesday Choice, hosted in the series in the History Department, where we'll dive deeper into the movement’s histories and their implications to us today.