Feminism vocabulary (for International Women's Day)

It is customary to divide the history of feminism into a First, Second, and Third Wave, with each period signalling a different era in the struggle to attain equality between the sexes.

One of the most important social movements of the past two centuries and certainly the social movement which has brought about the most enduring and progressive transformation of human society on a global scale.

This was certainly the case in one of the earliest self-consciously feminist works, namely Mary Wollstonecraft ’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was written at the height of the French Revolution .

Once suffrage was granted, the women’s rights movement fell into decline, and remained quiescent until the late 1950s and early 1960s when it was reignited by a new generation of activists who called themselves the Second Wave of feminism.

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

Echoing Wollstonecraft, she argued that women were victims of a false belief in the promise of femininity and urged them to look beyond their domestic situation for fulfilment.

Authors like Germaine Greer and Kate Millett called for a sexual liberation as well, arguing that women could alter their status as the second sex (to borrow the title of Simone de Beauvoir ’s important book) by overturning the double standards app

Betty Friedan ’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) is generally credited as the tipping point for this second round of political struggle.

This was certainly the case in one of the earliest self-consciously feminist works, namely Mary Wollstonecraft ’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was written at the height of the French Revolution .

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

This is the period of the so-called ‘culture wars’ when feminism was caricatured as mere political correctness and its political agenda scorned in the press.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women’s righ

Second Wave feminism also took the view that equality between the sexes would only come about if there was a sea change in cultural attitudes on the part of both women and men.

The focus on voting rights, as important as these are, tends to obscure the fact that it was not only the right to vote that women were fighting for, though this was of course emblematic inasmuch that once they could vote they would be able to use

Hill testified that Thomas sexually harrassed her when she was working in the Department of Education, and later at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

That movement was slow to start, and it wasn’t until the late 1880s that the term ‘feminism’ actually appeared.

Third Wave feminist scholar Susan Faludi documents this in her Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women (1991).

These issues are central to the Third Wave, which many cite as beginning with the outraged response of feminist critics to the treatment of Anita Hill during the Senate-confirmation hearings for US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women’s righ

This was certainly the case in one of the earliest self-consciously feminist works, namely Mary Wollstonecraft ’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was written at the height of the French Revolution .

Authors like Germaine Greer and Kate Millett called for a sexual liberation as well, arguing that women could alter their status as the second sex (to borrow the title of Simone de Beauvoir ’s important book) by overturning the double standards app

Betty Friedan ’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) is generally credited as the tipping point for this second round of political struggle.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women’s righ

Women were restricted in terms of the ownership of property, requiring them to marry so as to inherit, thus preventing them from attaining true independence (it is this issue which exercises proto-feminist writers like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bro

Women were restricted in terms of the ownership of property, requiring them to marry so as to inherit, thus preventing them from attaining true independence (it is this issue which exercises proto-feminist writers like Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë<

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in 1966 and became the central focus, in the US, for feminist activism.

Feminist scholars of colour, particularly those from the Third World, argued very forcefully that feminism neglected race and class.

The focus on voting rights, as important as these are, tends to obscure the fact that it was not only the right to vote that women were fighting for, though this was of course emblematic inasmuch that once they could vote they would be able to use

Once suffrage was granted, the women’s rights movement fell into decline, and remained quiescent until the late 1950s and early 1960s when it was reignited by a new generation of activists who called themselves the Second Wave of feminism.

Women were discriminated against in the workplace, which not only meant women were paid less than men for the same work, it also restricted them from applying for certain jobs, denied them promotion, and made no allowance for maternity leave.

Today feminism means many different things to different people, but at its core, if one goes back to its origins in the late 18th century, it is primarily a social movement for the emancipation of women.

Third Wave feminist scholar Susan Faludi documents this in her Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women (1991).

Authors like Germaine Greer and Kate Millett called for a sexual liberation as well, arguing that women could alter their status as the second sex (to borrow the title of Simone de Beauvoir ’s important book) by overturning the double standards applied to

Women were discriminated against in the workplace, which not only meant women were paid less than men for the same work, it also restricted them from applying for certain jobs, denied them promotion, and made no allowance for maternity leave.

It is customary to divide the history of feminism into a First, Second, and Third Wave, with each period signalling a different era in the struggle to attain equality between the sexes.

Women were restricted in terms of the ownership of property, requiring them to marry so as to inherit, thus preventing them from attaining true independence (it is this issue which exercises proto-feminist writers like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bro

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women’s righ

In point of fact, however, even after women obtained the right to vote in most parts of the world at the turn of the 20th century, it was still several decades before full equality was obtained.

Women were discriminated against in the workplace, which not only meant women were paid less than men for the same work, it also restricted them from applying for certain jobs, denied them promotion, and made no allowance for maternity leave.

Hill testified that Thomas sexually harrassed her when she was working in the Department of Education, and later at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

So in this sense, one might say feminism begins not with Wollstonecraft but rather with the various Women’s Suffrage movements that sprang up in the early 1800s.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women

Today feminism means many different things to different people, but at its core, if one goes back to its origins in the late 18 th century, it is primarily a social movement for the emancipation of women.

Feminist scholars of colour, particularly those from the Third World, argued very forcefully that feminism neglected race and class.

The Second Wave of feminism came to an end in the early 1980s partly as a result of its successes—many women felt that all the relevant battles had been fought and won—but primarily because of the change in political climate.

One of the most important social movements of the past two centuries and certainly the social movement which has brought about the most enduring and progressive transformation of human society on a global scale.

Echoing Wollstonecraft, she argued that women were victims of a false belief in the promise of femininity and urged them to look beyond their domestic situation for fulfilment.

This was certainly the case in one of the earliest self-consciously feminist works, namely Mary Wollstonecraft ’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was written at the height of the French Revolution .

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

The Reagan-Thatcher era was very unfriendly to equal rights and it rolled back many of the gains that had been made.

Once suffrage was granted, the women’s rights movement fell into decline, and remained quiescent until the late 1950s and early 1960s when it was reignited by a new generation of activists who called themselves the Second Wave of feminism.

This is the period of the so-called ‘culture wars’ when feminism was caricatured as mere political correctness and its political agenda scorned in the press.

Before then, the more usual term was ‘women’s rights’.

One of the most important social movements of the past two centuries and certainly the social movement which has brought about the most enduring and progressive transformation of human society on a global scale.

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

This was certainly the case in one of the earliest self-consciously feminist works, namely Mary Wollstonecraft ’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was written at the height of the French Revolution .

The Second Wave of feminism came to an end in the early 1980s partly as a result of its successes—many women felt that all the relevant battles had been fought and won—but primarily because of the change in political climate.

Echoing Wollstonecraft, she argued that women were victims of a false belief in the promise of femininity and urged them to look beyond their domestic situation for fulfilment.

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

This is the period of the so-called ‘culture wars’ when feminism was caricatured as mere political correctness and its political agenda scorned in the press.

Its goal was the ratification of an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which it did not manage to achieve in full, but it nonetheless made giant strides towards it.

This is the period of the so-called ‘culture wars’ when feminism was caricatured as mere political correctness and its political agenda scorned in the press.

Once suffrage was granted, the women’s rights movement fell into decline, and remained quiescent until the late 1950s and early 1960s when it was reignited by a new generation of activists who called themselves the Second Wave of feminism.

Thomas flatly denied this, and was subsequently confirmed by the Senate.

This was certainly the case in one of the earliest self-consciously feminist works, namely Mary Wollstonecraft ’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was written at the height of the French Revolution .

This is the period of the so-called ‘culture wars’ when feminism was caricatured as mere political correctness and its political agenda scorned in the press.

Achieving full voting rights for all women regardless of age, race, or marital status took more than a century of struggle, easily justifying Juliet Mitchell’s claim that feminism is ‘the longest revolution’.

The focus on voting rights, as important as these are, tends to obscure the fact that it was not only the right to vote that women were fighting for, though this was of course emblematic inasmuch that once they could vote they would be able to use

Echoing Wollstonecraft, she argued that women were victims of a false belief in the promise of femininity and urged them to look beyond their domestic situation for fulfilment.

Betty Friedan ’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) is generally credited as the tipping point for this second round of political struggle.

It is customary to divide the history of feminism into a First, Second, and Third Wave, with each period signalling a different era in the struggle to attain equality between the sexes.

Women did not have full rights over their own body, which meant they had no legal protection against sexual violence (e.g. the idea that a husband could rape his wife was not admitted as law until late in the 20th century).

Wollstonecraft’s solution was better education for young women, not the granting of equal rights.

It is customary to divide the history of feminism into a First, Second, and Third Wave, with each period signalling a different era in the struggle to attain equality between the sexes.

Once suffrage was granted, the women’s rights movement fell into decline, and remained quiescent until the late 1950s and early 1960s when it was reignited by a new generation of activists who called themselves the Second Wave of feminism.

The first advocates for women’s rights were for the most part lonely voices pleading against obvious and manifest iniquities in society’s treatment of women.

These issues are central to the Third Wave, which many cite as beginning with the outraged response of feminist critics to the treatment of Anita Hill during the Senate-confirmation hearings for US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991.

One of the most important social movements of the past two centuries and certainly the social movement which has brought about the most enduring and progressive transformation of human society on a global scale.

Authors like Germaine Greer and Kate Millett called for a sexual liberation as well, arguing that women could alter their status as the second sex (to borrow the title of Simone de Beauvoir ’s important book) by overturning the double standards app

These issues are central to the Third Wave, which many cite as beginning with the outraged response of feminist critics to the treatment of Anita Hill during the Senate-confirmation hearings for US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Second Wave feminism also took the view that equality between the sexes would only come about if there was a sea change in cultural attitudes on the part of both women and men.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women

Women were restricted in terms of the ownership of property, requiring them to marry so as to inherit, thus preventing them from attaining true independence (it is this issue which exercises proto-feminist writers like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bro

Authors like Germaine Greer and Kate Millett called for a sexual liberation as well, arguing that women could alter their status as the second sex (to borrow the title of Simone de Beauvoir ’s important book) by overturning the double standards app

It is customary to divide the history of feminism into a First, Second, and Third Wave, with each period signalling a different era in the struggle to attain equality between the sexes.

Establishing what would become a common theme throughout much feminist writing, Wollstonecraft conducts her critique on two fronts: on the one hand, she criticizes patriarchal society (as it would later be called) for the unjust way it limits women’s righ

Women did not have full rights over their own body, which meant they had no legal protection against sexual violence (e.g. the idea that a husband could rape his wife was not admitted as law until late in the 20th century).

Third Wave feminist scholar Susan Faludi documents this in her Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women (1991).

Its goal was the ratification of an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which it did not manage to achieve in full, but it nonetheless made giant strides towards it.