First Wave Feminism Essay

A Brief History 2nd wave feminism motivated

During the revolution women were responsible for managing the household. Such as making clothes, cleaning the house and taking care of the kids. The women of the era were considered to have no moral ranking. The men were asked to fight wars, there were a lot of different women such as Abigail Adams, Molly Pitcher and Martha Washington and many more. There were also those who would hide their gender in order to fight.

The old feminism is crumbling because it simply does not answer the needs and questions of the 21st-century women. “Women are the equals of men. Men and women are not separate political classes” (Socialist Alternative, 2). Anyone who shares the desire to reduce inequality and promote opportunity must embrace feminism. “If the future is men and women dwelling as images of each other in a world unchanged, it is a nightmare” (Greer, 2).

Women in early mid-1800s started to fight for equal rights more than ever. Since American males have been granted more rights since the American independence, women started to question the reasons behind why they are not getting the same rights as men. This started a generations of women fighting for their equal rights. From the arguments presented by first wave feminists for women’s right and the evidence against inclusion by their detractors, the first wave feminists for women’s right had a better convincing argument because they did not over exaggerate their arguments and evidence to the arguments that they made.

Were women important to United States history? Let’s be honest, majority of the time women get maybe a few pages in textbooks and are rarely covered in most history classes. The Progressive Era is where this changes; where women are finally brought into the limelight. The role of women within the Progressive Era and the establishment of the welfare system were both audacious and necessary because the welfare system could not have happened without women’s willingness to fight for the society as a whole, not just themselves.

The Progressive Era, lasting from about 1890 to 1920, was a period of social reform and adaptation to the new technologies and advancements of the Gilded Age. With the increase of railroads and other means of transportation, people in the Progressive Era had access to more goods and information than ever before. Society was adapting to new industries that required less man power and more machine power, and domestic life was no different. The technologies introduced into the homes of white middle-class women meant that the workload they adopted was much lighter. Women of this era arguably felt some of the most significant changes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The problem with the “wave metaphor” is, when these periods of feminist history are viewed through an intersectional lens, we see that most of early feminist history was only the activity of economically privileged white women, or women whose intersectionality was favored by the American patriarchy. The marginalization of other women, whose intersectionalities were not favored in the past, leads to a whitewashed view of historical progress. However, women of color had recognized opinions among their own coalitions, but their opinions were simply not recognized by white upper-class feminist movements. Further analysis of feminist movements around the world, when viewed through an intersectional lens, allows us to see that the “wave metaphor” hardly holds it’s water.

The women’s suffrage movement was a long and strenuous process. Women desired the right to vote alongside men. This matter was first voiced in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. However, this was only to counteract the African-American votes being placed at the time. Women supporting the cause became known as suffragettes, and there was much controversy.

It’s important to remember our history as American women. The Women’s Reform Movement was crucial in the U.S. because it was a precursor to women being able to vote. Some of the key leaders were Susan B Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw, Carrie Chapman Catt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone. They used various strategies such as lectures, pamphlets, lobbying for better education, women’s labor unions, speeches, and conventions. Speeches, particularly the one made by Susan B. Anthony, were influential in affecting the way people viewed the rights of women.

First Wave Feminism, or Liberal Feminism, is often times summarized as the Women’s Suffrage Movement, but it fight for much more than the right to vote. First Wave Feminism is better summarized as political and financial equality for women, but it also helped and fought for civil rights. Women’s suffrage was the major accomplishment from the First Wave but isn’t the movement itself. Alice Paul stated after the ratification of the 19th Amendment; “It is incredible to me that any woman should consider the fight for full equality won. It has just begun.”

Third Wave Feminism Essay Doralee is a secretary for her boss who is a man named Mr.Hart. Doralee is a full figured women who takes good care of herself and isn’t ashamed to show off her body type. She wears appropriate figure flattering clothing, and does her hair and make every day to look professional. She is a well put together women. Mr.Hart chose her based on her looks trying to get closer to her.

I think the feminist criticism would be the best lens to the novel, "The Awakening". It always focus on the women's feelings and behaviors, also, shows Edna to against sexual discrimination at that time. Edna is a brave woman who dares to face and express the real feeling to Robert. It is a specific image who is different from any woman around her like Adele, a totally mother - woman. Women might be like this "They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels."

Jennifer Drake’s Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing feminism (1997) talks about third wave agenda, feminists who were born between the years 1964 and 1973 talks about the achievements and the failures of the past and planning about the future. The numerous writers of this book are the young women and men who were activists, teachers, cultural critics, artists and journalists. They differentiate themselves from other feminists who only criticize about the second wave feminism but also talks about the coming generation of feminism. Similarly Shelly Budgeon’s Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Gender in the Late Modernity (2011) assesses the third wave feminist where she talks about the feminist politics. According to her, the main concern of postfeminist is of gender order i.e. to focus on the context where gender equality served as the mainstream and feminism has been

THE UNDERSTANDING OF FIRST WAVE OF FEMINISM "Feminism is the

The 20th century saw a major increase in women’s rights, getting a step nearer to gender equality. It is defined as the act of treating men and women equally, having the same access to right and opportunities no matter the gender. Although it is not a reality in our world, we do have advanced in comparison to the last century. At the begging of the 20th century women still were considered the weak gender. Their education consisted on learning practical skills such as sewing, cooking, and using the new domestic inventions of the era; unfortunately, this “formal training offered women little advantage in the struggle for stable work at a liveable wage” (1).