Feminism: The Struggle For Women's Rights

Feminism

Feminism can be termed as a movement or a doctrine that fights for the equal rights for women. Political, social and economic equality of women was the focus of early feminist movement started in Britain and USA. Women have been always marginalized in most societies, even if they contribute almost half of humanity. Often called the weaker sex, they have been subjected too much suppression, exploitation and humiliation almost everywhere. The denials of justice–social, economic and political to women made feminism emerge as a form of revolt. We could see that feminism movement which began in the west began to spread all over the world .The idea of woman’s freedom gradually took roots in India. Indian women writers also started to

Feminism can be defined as a collection of movements and ideologies which have the aim of defining, establishing and defending a state of equal political, economic, culture and social rights for women. Equal opportunities for women in education and employment were one of the other needs of this movement. A feminist can be addressed as the one who advocates or supports the right and equality of women. Feminist movements lead to the emergence of a new theory named as ‘Feminist theory’, which was having the ultimate aim of understand the nature of gender inequality by examining women’s social roles and living experience. It has developed a number of theories in a variety of disciplines in such a way that it respond to issues such as the social construction of sex and gender effectively. The early form of feminism which was only concentrating the white, middle-class, educated perspectives faced several criticisms from all over the world. Ethnically specific or multi culturalist forms of feminism were the product of these criticisms. Women’s right such as in contract law, property and voting while also promoting bodily integrity, autonomy and reproductive rights for women were part of the early campaigns done

Third-wave feminism seeks to challenge or avoid what it deems the second wave's essentialist definitions of femininity, which over-emphasize the experiences of upper middle-class white women.

The third wave's ideology was mostly based on the post-structuralist interpretation of gender and sexuality. Third-wave feminists have their central focus on "micro-politics" and challenges the second wave's standard as to what is or is not, good for females. The third wave has its origins in the mid-1980s where the movement got strengthen. Feminist leaders rooted in the second wave like Chela Sandoval, Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua, Audre Lorde, Maxine Hong Kingston, Bell Hooks, and many other black feminists, searches to negotiate a space within feminist thought for the race-related issues.

Third-wave feminism also contains internal debates between difference feminists such as the psychologist Carol Gilligan, who believes that both sexes are not equal which means they are having many differences and those who believe that there are no inherent differences between the sexes or in other words, both sexes are same and argue that gender roles are due to social