The waves of Feminism.

INTRODUCTION

Feminism means different things to different people. According to the dictionary definition, it is ‘the full social, political and economic equality of men and women. Not differently, feminists identify themselves as people who support political, economic and social equality for women. Feminism for much of the mass culture has become equated with lesbianism and male hating. Yet, those views contradict feminist history. From the beginning, women have differed in their approaches to change in their worldviews. Ideologically, feminists have always been divided into ‘equality’ and ‘difference’ feminism. Today the movement is more varied than ever, with feminists also identifying themselves according to race and ethnic heritage as well as to political or social agendas. Feminism is often discussed in terms of eras or ‘waves’ and this paper will focus on the three waves of feminism and at the end will provide the reader with a conclusion.

First Wave Feminism

The feminists who fought for suffrage in the US and beyond, beginning with the meeting in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 and resulted in the right to vote in 1920, are today called the ‘first wave’. The key concerns of the first wave feminists were education, employment, the marriage laws and the bad conditions of intelligent middle-class single women. They were not primarily concerned with the problems of working class women, nor did they necessarily see themselves as feminists in the modern sense. First wave feminists largely responded to specific injustices they had themselves experienced. The major achievements of the movement were the opening of higher education to women, reform of the girls’ secondary-school system, including participation in formal national examinations, the widening of access to the professions, especially medicine and married women’s Property Act of 1870 as well as some improvement in divorced and seperated women’s child custody rights.

The movement was active only until the First World War because of the following reason: Women of that time came to feel that other reforms could only be won if they were enfranchised. Thus, female suffrage became an issue as a means to other reforms. They focused so much attention on this issue that the reasons for wanting the vote were obscured. The means of getting suffrage usually became the de facto end. Thus, with the achievement of their gaining right to vote in 1920, the movement ended.

(Gökçe Allı)

Second Wave Feminism

The term ‘second wave’ refers to ...

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(Gökçe Allı)

Second Wave Feminism

The term ‘second wave’ refers to the increase in feminist activity in America, Britain and Europe from the late 60s onwards. It is usually considered to have begun about 1963 and run until the so called backlash of the 1980s, when feminism is seen as stagnated.

The first wave of feminism was outward-looking. It addressed the male state and sought power from within its structures. The second wave of feminism, on the other hand, looked inward. It addressed other women, inviting them to share their truths. It still seeks equality from within the traditional structures, but at the same time it questions, challenges and creates alternatives to those structures. Above all, the second wave seeks psychological and physical liberation and empowerment for all women. Therefore, the second wave mainly focused on winning pay equality for women, access to jobs and education, recognition of women’s unpaid labor in the home, and a rebalancing of the double workload of family and outside work for women in the paid labor force.

As mentioned above, the most important feature of second wave feminism is its challenge to traditional political concepts. Kate Millet was one of the first women to assert that ‘the personal is political’ in 1970 with her book Sexual Politics. She redefines politics as any ‘power-structured relationships [or] arrangements whereby one group of people is controlled by another’. She further claims that in our society, ‘sex is a status category with political implications’. The slogan ‘the personal is political’ clearly explains that second wave feminism did not only fought for the extension of the range of social opportunities open to women. Rather, it aimed to change women’s domestic and private lives through intervention within the spheres of reproduction, sexuality and cultural representation. Lastly, we can say that second wave feminism did not just make an impact upon Western societies, but also continued to inspire the struggle for women’s rights across the world.

Third Wave Feminism

There is no formal definition of Third Wave Feminism. It started about the early 1990s and has worked to continue the work of the second wave and also now to prove that ‘women can do what men can do’. The third wave consists of many of the sons and daughters of the second wave. These feminists grew up with many of the advantages that the second wave fought for, and their issues are today’s issues, which can be listed as follows: parental leave and day care for the children of working parents, gaining decision-making positions in corporate and governmental high offices, worldwide sustainable development and a global awareness of feminist causes. Many second wave feminists are a part of this third wave. In the United States, the third wave is multicultural and inclusive. Therefore, it supports women of all heritages as well as the rights of lesbian women and gay men.

Some of these third wave feminists are challenging the older feminists. They see feminist rhetoric as focusing on nothing but the victimization of women, with an emphasis on the oppression that is created by the patriarchal system. Third wavers grew up in a country that was transformed by second wave feminist leaders. This transformation includes establishment of equal employment and education laws, access to birth control and legal abortion, support within police departments for prosecution of rapists and women holding a vocal presence in politics. Much is different for the third wave and their self-image is also different from that of the second wave feminists. Many third wavers see women as fundamentally strong, confidant and brave individuals. They seek to establish that image of women within the public consciousness and they look for greater integration of women into politics, economics and social forums.

There is a general belief that these waves might not be quite accurate historically. As the second wave’s work is not quite yet over, we can only talk about a third wave that is premature. The problem is not that there is a sharp break with earlier feminists, but rather, there is so much continuity, so much contact between the generations. Therefore, the third wave should-unlike what its name implies-not move with this generation of young women, but always be a piece of the movement out there for young women so that people do not have to reinvent things every twenty years or so.

(Derya Suner)

CONCLUSION

The first wave started in the US in 1848, with the feminists fighting for suffrage. The key concerns of the first wave feminists were education, employment, the marriage laws and the bad conditions of intelligent middle-class single women. They were not primarily concerned with the problems of working class women. First wave feminists largely responded to specific injustices they had themselves experienced. The movement was active only until the First World War because they focused so much attention on the issue of enfranchisement that the means of getting suffrage became the end. With the achievement of their gaining right to vote in 1920, the movement ended.

The term ‘second wave’ refers to the increase in feminist activity in America, Britain and Europe from the late 60s onwards. The second wave mainly focused on winning pay equality for women, access to jobs and education, recognition of women’s unpaid labor in the home, and a rebalancing of the double workload of family. Kate Millet’s slogan ‘the personal is political’ clearly explains that second wave feminism not only fought for the extension of the range of social opportunities open to women. Rather, it aimed to change women’s domestic and private lives through intervention within the spheres of reproduction, sexuality and cultural representation.

The third wave started about the early 1990s and has worked to continue the work of the second wave and also now to prove that ‘women can do what men can do’. Many second wave feminists are a part of this third wave. Some of these third wave feminists are challenging the older feminists saying that they have too much focused on the victimization of women. Much is different for the third wave and their self-image is also different from that of the second wave feminists. Many third wavers see women as fundamentally strong, confidant and brave individuals.

(Gökçe Allı&Derya Suner)

Brooks, Ann. 1997 Postfeminisms: feminism, cultural theory and cultural norms. USA: Routledge, p.15

Le Gates, Marlene. 1996 Making Waves: a history of feminism in Western society. Toronto: Copp Clark Ltd. , p.115