feminism then and now essay

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Students & Alumni | 5.29.2010

“Feminism, Now and Then”

Panelists at radcliffe day say feminism's work is not finished, and try to illuminate the way forward..

View the program for this event.

Asked to comment on the current state of feminism for a Radcliffe Day panel titled “Feminism: Then and Now,” journalist and author Susan Faludi ’81, RI ’09, said the attitude of young women today might be aptly described as “feminism now and then.”

“Feminism’s progress is too often a spasmodic stop-and-start affair, with great bursts of mobilization followed by long periods of quiescence and partial amnesia,” Faludi told an audience of alumnae gathered in the packed Loeb Drama Center for Radcliffe Day.

Though she doesn’t oppose celebrating the gains women have made, Faludi said, “all of this celebration should not obscure how far women still have to go.”

Assigned to write a commemorative article about the Newsweek staffers who filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against their employer in 1970, three present-day female staffers at Newsweek felt as they researched the article that “the victory dance feels premature,” Faludi said, highlighting their article as evidence for her argument. The writers noted that of 49 Newsweek cover stories in the previous year, only six had been penned by women, and that male bylines outnumber female at “major magazines” by 7 to 1.

Faludi’s fellow panelist Nell Irvin Painter, Ph.D. ’74, BI ’77, also commented on the reluctance of today’s young women to make waves. She spoke from a unique perspective: after a three-decade career in academia, with the last stop at Princeton as a professor of American history, she retired and is now pursuing a second career in painting. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Rutgers last year and is now pursuing a master’s degree, in the same field, at the Rhode Island School of Design. Sitting in classrooms side by side with much younger students, she said, “ I’m the one who will ask the hard questions about sex and race.” And she said she was particularly disturbed by the way some of these young women nonchalantly embrace degrading behaviors such as binge drinking to the point of blackout, and appreciating pornography (and even participating in the making of pornography, in the case of one show that celebrated it as an art form).

Trying to start a career as an artist in her sixties has given her a new perspective on breaking through barriers, she said: in the public imagination, the archetype of the emerging artist is “a cute young white person in very tight clothes.” That is not who she is, said Painter (who also happens to be African American).

Later , during the question-and-answer period, the panelists were asked how to best combat the “feminism now and then” attitude.

Give it time, said panelist Priyamvada Natarajan, RI ’09, a professor of astronomy and physics at Yale: “I notice the undergraduate women that I teach don’t want to identify as feminists. But once they enter the workplace, when they find out that Tom who lived in their suite and had the same GPA as them and is working for the same company as them, is suddenly making $10,000 more than they are, they all suddenly become feminists.”

Faludi recommended conveying to young women that “a successful life means rocking the boat in all kinds of ways.”

To move toward equality in the corporate world, panelist Diana Scott ’81, senior vice president of human resources at John Hancock Financial Services, advocated creating a culture that welcomes dissent—about women’s issues, hiring practices, compensation, and definitions of professional success, but more broadly, too. She said she envisions a world “where debate and disagreement is valued and seen as absolutely essential to the success of the business.”

And, said Painter, “ We can continue to speak up. Certainly I felt, as the older woman, the black woman, the older black woman, in my undergraduate and my graduate classroom, a little voice inside of me kept telling me, oh, not again . But I kept talking, and I think you all need to keep talking, too.” Panelist Susan McHenry ’72 chimed in: Don’t be afraid to “be the eccentric aunt” who’s always talking about feminism.

Though she brought a perspective from the business world, Scott first explained the personal path that led her to Harvard and, eventually, to her current professional position. Her mother had grown up in a household where the sons’ college education was paid for, but daughters’ wasn’t. So Scott’s mother got married, then divorced, then quickly married again; she never wanted her own daughter to feel the same lack of choices she experienced, Scott said, so she stressed the importance of education. During Scott’s sophomore year at Radcliffe, she watched her mother get her college diploma at the University of California-Davis.

As an executive at John Hancock, Scott says she is proud to see that women make up 55 percent of all employees, and are roughly equal in numbers to men among managers. But there is still work to do in the ranks of upper management, she said. Toward this end, she advocates making diversity in management ranks an explicit measure of success for companies and for the people making hiring decisions.

One factor in favor of the movement toward equality: attitudes unique to the Millennial Generation. Today’s twentysomethings “don’t see careers as linear,” she said; they are concerned about work-life balance, job flexibility, and the values of the companies for which they work—and she believes companies are responding. “The best companies are figuring out how to keep the best workers, and the world is changing.”

Assessing the situation in academia, Natarajan said she is “optimistic” yet “very impatient.” A woman scientist in the male-dominated field of cosmology, she said, “We are making inroads just by being there.” Though she has reached remarkable achievements—such as publishing two articles in the prestigious journal Science within two months of each other—Natarajan said she has also come to see how “a very narrow view of success” has impeded women’s progress in academia. She called instead for adapting the system to recognize and reward “a lot of different kinds of talents and gifts.”

McHenry told a story of intertwined women’s rights and rights for African Americans, woven together through the media. During her undergraduate days at Radcliffe, both Essence magazine and Ms. magazine published their debut issues; McHenry recalled spending Sunday afternoons in front of the newsstand at the Shepard Drugstore, finding the magazines and feeling them “speaking to me in a way no magazine had ever spoken before.” She would go on to work for both, as well as for  Working Woman and the African-American news magazine Emerge , and to be the founding editor of the Black Issues Book Review .

The second story that Faludi told also involved some Harvard history. She recounted the speech given in 1971 by Gloria Steinem, whom the panelists and audience members would see receive the Radcliffe Medal later that day . Not being a lawyer herself, Steinem was initially reluctant to speak at the annual black-tie dinner of the Harvard Law Review , but she agreed to come “after she received many pleas…from beleaguered female Harvard law students.”

At the time, the Law School administration’s antagonism toward women was “legendary”; Faludi recalled a remark by Erwin Griswold, dean of Harvard Law School (HLS) from 1946 until 1967, to the effect that female law students “were taking away slots that should rightfully go to male breadwinners,” as Faludi put it. The other people considered to speak at the dinner that year, she said, were William F. Buckley Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, and Spiro Agnew.

On that night in 1971, Steinem’s frank recounting of misogynistic comments by HLS professors, her pointed criticism of the way the Law School curriculum ignored women’s issues, and her suggestion that HLS act immediately to make its student body 50 percent female caused one senior professor to leap to his feet, “stuttering with fury,” but at the same moment, female students rose to their feet for a standing ovation, drowning him out, Faludi said.

“There has been nothing ‘now and then’ about Gloria Steinem,” Faludi said. “She was here at the beginning…and she’s here today, still fighting, and for that and many other reasons, she’s a model for us all.”

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The feminist movement has changed drastically. Here’s what the movement looks like today

ABC News spoke to feminists across the generations to define modern feminism.

Feminism, the first wave of which began with the suffrage movement in the mid-1800s, looks vastly different today than it did generations ago.

Thanks to the use of technology in activism, the adoption of alternative feminist philosophies into the mainstream, and more, feminists say the modern movement is defined by its intersectionality.

Feminists told ABC News that their fight is for the benefit of everyone – of all genders, races and more – led by a diverse set of voices to pave the way for gender equality worldwide in this fourth wave of feminism.

What is modern feminism defined by?

Feminism is the belief in the equality of people of all genders, a set of values aimed at dismantling gender inequality and the structures that uphold it.

These inequalities could be pay inequality, gender-based health care inaccessibility, rigid social expectations, or gender-based violence which still impact people everywhere to this day, feminists say.

In recent decades, the movement has begun to proactively include and uplift the voices of people who have typically been left out of past mainstream feminist movements. This includes women of color, as well as gender diverse people.

“Our gender, our race, disability, class, sexuality, and more – all of these pieces of ourselves generate different lived experiences and also help us understand that no one of us is just one thing,” said Diana Duarte, feminist group MADRE's Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement. “This inclusive vision is a powerful and integral part of feminism.”

Duarte said that “the personal is political” in feminism, “which is a way of understanding that our personal experiences are shaped by political realities that may be situated far from us or close to us.”

Our own experiences, she said, can inform and lead to political solutions.

Modern feminism co-opts the ideals of Black and queer feminist theories, activists say, in that it understands how the issues of gender, race and sexuality are all connected.

Uplifting the most marginalized groups of society will lead to wins for the overall advancement of gender equality worldwide, activists argue.

"[Author] Audre Lorde tells us that we do not live single issue lives, meaning that we do not have the luxury just to say, 'I'm only going to fight on this one issue,' because that's actually not possible," said Paris Hatcher, founder of the activist group Black Feminist Future.

How far has feminism come?

Mainstream feminism has not always been inclusive. For example, the suffrage movement and the teaching of it focuses on white women and their right to vote. National Organization for Women President Christian Nunes told ABC News that Black suffragists who helped win the passage of the 19th Amendment were erased by the white suffragist movement and in history books.

After the amendment’s passage, Black women continued to face barriers to voting.

“Even though there are women of color who were very instrumental in these movements and shifting it, and making sure that these rights were won, they just were not talked about,” Nunes told ABC News. “They were not mentioned, they were unsung heroes.”

She continued, “The fourth wave release focuses on: How do we be inclusive? How do we have allies? How do we really focus on true equality for all women? Because we know other waves of feminism have left women out.”

In becoming more inclusive, feminists around the globe have been able to make major strides in calling attention to and addressing multifaceted issues affecting women and girls across the globe.

In the U.S., the Women’s March and the racial reckoning of 2020 are two movements in which feminists played a major role.

“We're seeing women represented in … in so many different places, hold so many different levels of power that we haven't seen ever,” Nunes said, pointing to the achievements of Vice President Kamala Harris and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“We're seeing more women leaders, we're seeing more women scholars, we're seeing more activists, we're just seeing women really go out in their own authenticity in their own identities and live more truly and authentically.”

How much further does feminism have to go?

In recent years, though, the U.S. has faced a wave of laws restricting reproductive health care, transgender health care, certain curriculum in education, laws restricting voting rights, and more.

These have been seen as setbacks among feminist activists who argue that these laws create a “patriarchal world.”

Hatcher believes these laws support “a world where white men are in control, where the history that's told is upholding the history and the legacies of white men, and also where white men are able to control who was elected and who is not.”

Feminists say social media and technology will allow feminist movements across the globe to continue to connect, grow and spread their message.

Zikora Akanegbu, the creator of youth-led female empowerment group GenZHer, got her start in feminism on social media. She used it as a tool to be in conversations with and learn from other feminists.

“In middle school, in 2017, when [the MeToo Movement] was coming out on social media, I just joined Instagram,” Akanegbu told ABC News.

“When I think of feminism, I think it's women being able to share their voice … which we're seeing with the women speaking out in Iran the past few months,” Akanegbu said, referring to women protesting the Iranian government over the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who was arrested by the country's "morality police" for not wearing a headscarf, as is required by Iranian law, and who died three days later in a hospital.

“Social media is a big part of moving the feminist movement forward,” Akanegbu said.

As for feminism and its reputation, there are still strides to be made, feminists say.

A Pew Research Center survey found that about 6 in 10 American women say “feminist” describes them very or somewhat well.

A majority of Americans – 64% – say feminism is empowering and 42% say it’s inclusive. However, 45% say it is polarizing and 30% say it’s outdated.

While women are more likely to associate feminism with positive attributes like empowering and inclusive, Pew found that men are more likely to see feminism as polarizing and outdated.

However, activists argue that negative perceptions of feminism are perpetuated by those who benefit from the patriarchy.

“[We should] not let our opponents define the identity of feminism for us,” Duarte said.

She continued, “It's important … not to lose sight of the community, the political grounding that feminism has offered to so many, where feminism actually has a great reputation that comes from the positive and meaningful reality of it that people have experienced all around the world.”

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Feminism Then And Now

A conversation with alix kates shulman.

T wenty-six years ago, Alix Kates Shulman’s Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen gave voice to the frustrations of the generation of women that forged the modern women’s liberation movement. The novel is a satirical account of one Midwestern Jewish girl, Sasha Davis, who comes of age in the 1950s and, along the way, alternately resists and succumbs to that era’s idea of what a girl (and a woman) should be. This is how Shulman describes Prom Queen in her introduction to the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition, published last year by Penguin: “My novel takes a look at a range of experiences then treated as either taboo or trivial but now, after several decades of feminism , accepted as matters of major political significance: sexual harassment, job discrimination, the sexual double standard, rape, abortion restrictions, the double binds of marriage and motherhood, the frantic quest for beauty — all painted here in their pink absurdity.”

Prom Queen was an instant hit: it went on to sell more than a million copies and became required reading in universities around the country. It was hailed as “the first important novel to emerge from the women’s liberation movement” by the Saturday Review .

Today, the novel remains in many ways as relevant as ever. Like Sasha Davis, girls today fear being branded a “slut” yet crave the attention of boys. Like Sasha Davis, women today feel pressured to marry and to carry the lion’s share of responsibility for children and housework, whether or not they have an outside job or a professional career.

Shulman was born in 1932 in suburban Cleveland. In 1953, after graduating from Western Reserve University, she fled Ohio for New York City, where she studied in Columbia University’s doctoral program in philosophy. When she married a graduate student in the English department, she did as expected and dropped out to help support the two of them. Several years later, they divorced. Shulman soon married a second time, and had two children. It was during this marriage that the women’s liberation movement erupted, transforming her life.

Over the past twenty-five years, Shulman has written three other novels: Burning Questions (1978), a fictionalization of her participation in the women’s movement; On the Stroll (1981) , an account of a runaway teenage girl and an elderly homeless “bag lady” living together on the streets of New York City; and In Every Woman’s Life . . . (1987), a portrayal of three female friends and their marriages. Shulman has also written several children’s books and two books on anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman, and has lectured, given readings, and taught writing and women’s studies around the country.

Shulman currently divides her time between an apartment in New York City (which she shares with sculptor Scott York) and a cabin on an island off the coast of Maine, where she has no telephone, electricity, or indoor plumbing. Shulman’s 1995 memoir Drinking the Rain reflects on her sense of mastery as she lives in solitude, eating from the land and sea.

Tanenbaum: When reporters from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the New York Times asked you recently if you were married, you refused to give a straight answer. Why?

Shulman: Because it’s a question they don’t ask men. And also because there’s a legitimacy granted to a person who’s married that is withheld from people who aren’t, and I don’t want to honor that distinction. I’m happy to speak about marriage; I just don’t want to answer the question “Are you married?” in print. Might as well ask me how many lovers I’ve had.

Tanenbaum: OK, how many lovers have you had?

Shulman: [Laughs.] I don’t know. There was a moment when the world changed for me and I stopped counting; it was no longer a big deal. Sasha Davis, the heroine of Prom Queen , gives a number, but for me it stopped being an issue. That’s one of the benefits feminism had for me.

Tanenbaum: Was Prom Queen the first feminist novel?

Shulman: It was certainly one of the first novels to be written from the perspective of the second wave of feminism.

Tanenbaum: What exactly is feminist fiction?

Shulman: The feminist and scientist Naomi Weisstein says that feminist fiction is fiction that does not admire patriarchy or accept its ideology. It does not portray its male characters as naturally more exciting, more important, or more valuable than its female characters. Female characters are presented in their full humanity, whether they are villains or heroes, and sympathetic female characters are not necessarily nice or beautiful. Fiction that contains these elements challenges the patriarchal belief in the fixed and eternal nature of men and women. I like Weisstein’s description because it closely resembles the vision that inspired me to become both a feminist and a novelist in the first place. So I do call my novels “feminist fiction.”

Tanenbaum: Tell me about the response to Prom Queen twenty-five years ago.

Shulman: Actually, it started before publication when publishers’ secretaries passed around galley copies. Publishers Weekly reported that, months before its release, it already had an underground reputation. It was a controversial book that provoked two extreme reactions: either “You’ve told the story of my life!” or “It’s too strident and complaining.”

Letters from readers revealed a dispute even among those who liked it. Some wrote that the book was very sad and had made them cry; others thought it was a delicious, funny read. I meant it to be both. Either way, women said they “identified” with it. Of the few letters I got from men, my favorite is from a guy who complained, “My wife ran off with the baby, and it’s your fault.” The men who wrote found the sexual candor disturbing; the women did not.

Tanenbaum: Are you Sasha Davis?

Shulman: The protagonists of all my novels are in some sense me; yet they are very different people. So yes, but she’s only a particular slice of me. I’ve always felt free to raid my life ruthlessly for anything that might be useful for my fiction, but there’s so much more to my life than there is to Sasha’s — after all, Sasha’s life is contained in less than three hundred pages.

When the book first came out, I did some readings and lectures, and during the question-and-answer period, the first question was always “How much of this is autobiographical?” After a while, I developed a stock answer: “Only the sex.”

But Sasha’s story really represents much more than my own life. I was trying to portray the white, middle-class, female experience from a new, feminist perspective. I was lucky enough to participate in the earliest New York City feminist groups, where I was older than most of the women, who had just gotten out of college. And I already had two children. So I had both the consciousness of that intense movement, and the experience of being a wife and mother. I felt personally the connections between beauty and motherhood and abortion and power.

Tanenbaum: I’m struck by how many of the problems Sasha Davis faces continue to exist for women today.

Shulman: That’s the point. My editor, who is in her thirties, says nothing’s changed. I don’t know, because I’m not young anymore. So I have to take her word for it, and yours. Sometimes I’ll talk to a class that’s reading my novel, and students will tell me that everything is the same, only the definitions have changed a little — like what exactly is a “slut,” what is harassment, and so forth.

Tanenbaum: There are a few things that Sasha faces, though, that are no longer issues, like the problem of how to dispose of your Kotex — I don’t think anyone worries about that anymore. There’s no sense of shame about it.

Shulman: What about the red stain on the skirt, though?

Tanenbaum: [Laughs.] That will always be embarrassing. There is something else that’s not such an issue anymore: orgasms. Women know about them now.

Shulman: Yes, and oral sex, too. I read recently in the New York Times that oral sex is popular among teens today. Now it’s intercourse that’s forbidden, because of AIDS.

Tanenbaum: Oral sex is also popular because it means you can have sex but technically remain a virgin — you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Shulman: In my time, it was much worse to have oral sex. It would be your ruination if it ever became known that you did that . But I’ve noticed that these conventions vary from place to place, like whether you call an ice-cream soda a “black and white” or a “float.”

One thing that has changed in the past quarter century is the importance of work for women. Now you can have ambitions and careers without feeling that you’re out of line, or that some terrible punishment will come down on you. But this is mainly a middle-class change. Poor women have had to work all along, and the increasing gap between rich and poor only makes it worse for poor women. Most women lead double lives now: they still bear the main responsibility for children and household tasks, and they have a full-time workload, for which they get paid less. So even though women are able to work — and often must work — it doesn’t mean that there’s equality. No matter how high women rise, if men are rising at the same rate, then the disparity remains the same. Also, a gain in one area might mean a loss in another. Each factor is inextricable from the rest.

Tanenbaum: I think it’s still largely true today that women — even those who want independence — feel they should get married.

Shulman: That’s the reason I didn’t want to answer the reporters’ question about my own marital status. It’s part of that unfortunate pressure.

Women . . . still bear the main responsibility for children and household tasks, and they have a full-time workload, for which they get paid less. So even though women are able to work — and often must work — it doesn’t mean that there’s equality.

Tanenbaum: Do you think marriage is still a relevant institution?

Shulman: People are still swarming into it, so it must be relevant. Even after a divorce, people get remarried. And the nuclear family is still the preferred setting for child rearing, even though all kinds of new families are proliferating: jumbo, blended, and divorce-extended families; single parents; lesbian or gay domestic partnerships. But this proliferation doesn’t do anything to correct or even address the gendered division of labor that permeates not only marriage, but the whole society. To me, the question is not the legitimacy of marriage but gender equality — in other words, how marriage is conducted. I cheer every brave and imaginative attempt at a new form of relationship, but I keep asking, “Who will wind up doing the housework?”

Tanenbaum: Do you question whether men and women can sustain lifelong, monogamous relationships?

Shulman: Certainly. I even question whether that’s a desirable goal. People live a long time. They change. Their current mates might not be the ones they’ll wind up with. I’m talking about not only personal change, but change in family life. People might get married, have children, and discover that their mate isn’t much of a parent. So I don’t think that having a lifelong, monogamous relationship is necessarily the ideal goal, and I wonder whether it’s even in the cards for most of us.

Tanenbaum: Like Sasha Davis, you studied in the doctoral program in philosophy at Columbia, but then dropped out. Why?

Shulman: I got married and had to support my husband. He made a little money as an instructor at Barnard, but we needed more. So, after two years, I dropped out to work.

This is one area in which things are very different now. Back then, there were “Help Wanted — Male” and “Help Wanted — Female” columns. I had a great education but didn’t have any typing skills. So I became a receptionist, then a bookkeeping-machine operator in a bank, then a research librarian — really a file clerk — at an advertising agency. Then I got a wonderful job working for the New York City Board of Higher Education, testing teachers in the public schools, and later I became an encyclopedia editor.

Tanenbaum: Would you have continued working toward a Ph.D. if not for the fact that you needed to get a job?

Shulman: I did want to pursue the Ph.D., definitely. But it also had become clear to me that I wouldn’t get a job using my Ph.D., because no woman would be given a job teaching philosophy. Forget it. There were maybe two or three women philosophy professors in the country . It was impossible for women to succeed in the field. There were more women professors in English, but my ambitions weren’t there. So it was a combination of the futility of it and the need to work full time.

Tanenbaum: In Prom Queen , Sasha Davis sees her decision to drop out of the philosophy program very differently. She’s antagonistic toward her husband.

Shulman: Well, my husband was perfectly nice, but it was clear from the beginning that his academic career was more important than mine. That was one reason I’d married him — so that I could have an academic life. It wasn’t my husband’s fault . It was just a given then for practically any academic couple that the man’s career mattered more, and the woman’s job was to support that career. It was the way things were.

We divorced, and I remarried, and I had my son in 1961. At this time I started to work at home as a general trouble-shooter for the new six-volume Encyclopedia of Philosophy . I did it while my baby napped. My daughter was born in 1963. My marriage, which had been very romantic before the children came, started to fall apart. My husband began wandering as soon as I had to stay home with the baby. So it was a stormy marriage. We had two children, however, so we tried very hard to hold it together. It was a challenge. We didn’t get divorced until 1984, but for many years we were quite distant. He worked out of town, mostly, and was seldom home. We each had our own independent sex lives. So the marriage was rather limited long before the actual divorce.

I took on little freelance jobs that barely paid for the baby sitter a few hours a week. I always knew my financial dependency made me vulnerable. There were things I wanted to do but couldn’t, because they would have involved leaving the children for an extended period. For instance, my daughter was in a Montessori nursery school, and I thought, Oh, I could be a Montessori teacher . But I would have had to train in Philadelphia for a month, and I couldn’t leave the children for that long. Finally, in desperation, I thought: I could write and still take care of the children .

I had no ambition to be a writer before that. I hadn’t studied writing. I’d never known a writer. It just wasn’t part of the world I knew. And the critics smeared women writers in those days; it was enough to make me not even want to study English. Just the phrase “lady writer” made me cringe. When we early feminists started examining, say, the New York Times Book Review , it was amazing to see the way women’s writing was denigrated — all the reviewer had to say was “typical of a woman” and the work was damned. Our deepest experiences were deemed trivial, fit only for “ladies’ magazines,” and you wouldn’t want to be published in one of those . I had no ambition to be a “lady” anything, but I did very much enjoy writing. I considered it a skill, like speaking, not a profession. Working on the encyclopedia had honed my editorial skills; I’d learned how to compress.

Tanenbaum: So how did you begin to write?

Shulman: A well-known writer had come to live with us for a month. My husband had invited him without really consulting me, but I was up for it. I was dying for access to the world. While he stayed with us, I emptied his wastebasket, and seeing what was in it I thought, Oh, I could do that . Also, I was reading my children library books every night, and about some of them I thought, I could do better than this . My first books were for children. The very first one came to me whole; it was inspired. I’ve never written anything that way again. I wrote a chapter a week, and in a couple of months it was finished. And I loved it. It was a mathematical fantasy for children. About the time I was sending out this book to publishers, the women’s liberation movement happened, and I knew I’d found something more important to write about.

Tanenbaum: Had you been politically involved before the women’s movement?

Shulman: Yes, with the civil-rights movement and the antiwar movement. The CORE [Congress of Racial Equality] group I belonged to rented a bus to go to Washington for the big march in 1963, when my children were babies, and I hired a baby sitter for the march with my freelance money.

The sixties were wild. In my novel Burning Questions , I tried to capture all of that excitement. It was an important moment in history. I longed to participate more, but I felt I often had to stand on the sidelines because I had children — though I did sometimes take them with me to demonstrations.

I learned about the women’s movement through a friend. She and I used to have long phone conversations at night, after the children were asleep, when my husband was out of town. We would speak for hours about politics and life. One night, she called me up and said: “I heard on the radio about some young women who have a group. We should go to their meeting.” We went, and that was it for me. The minute I heard feminism articulated, I knew I’d found an explanation for all my puzzles. Until then, I’d felt the anguish of my predicament, but considered it demeaning to complain. It was simply my fate: I was a woman and a mother, and to complain about it would be beneath me.

But now I went to every feminist meeting I could. I was part of the group that demonstrated at the 1968 Miss America Pageant; I was one of the planners. In fact, I first got the idea for Prom Queen at that demonstration. We were crowning a live sheep Miss America when it all came together for me.

Tanenbaum: Were you, like the protagonist of Burning Questions , ever arrested at a draft protest?

Shulman: Oh, yes. I have a framed front-page picture from the December 6, 1967, New York Times on my desk: We’re all sitting down and the policemen are shaking their fingers at us. The caption reads: “In Lower Manhattan opponents of the war in Vietnam sitting on sidewalk in vicinity of induction center at 39 Whitehall Street.” That was one of the first times the conflict between my activism and my duties as a mother came to a head. It was then I started to realize that I couldn’t count on my husband. I feared he wouldn’t pay my bail because I’d left the children with him.

Tanenbaum: Did he?

Shulman: I don’t think we had to pay bail.

Tanenbaum: I know you’ve spoken out about your abortions.

Shulman: I’ve had four, but none the result of carelessness; it was always a failure of the diaphragm. I told about them at a speak-out sponsored by the feminist group Redstockings, and that precipitated my first real quarrel with my husband about my involvement in the movement. He thought the abortions were our secret.

Tanenbaum: What was it like getting an abortion before they were made legal?

Shulman: It was a very scary business. You feared you would be arrested, and you feared you would die. And where would you get the money? You had to keep it secret, of course. You’d use a false name and arrange to meet some stranger on a street corner, where they’d pick you up in a car. That was the common procedure.

I always thought abortions should be available to everybody, that the illegality was a horrible thing. Even as a teenager, I believed in free love and thought that birth control and abortion should be widely available. After I came to New York, I kept a list of abortionists and let it be known that if any friend or friend of a friend were in trouble, she could call me, and I’d tell her where to go.

I had my abortions in the fifties, before the movement started. The first was during my first marriage. I went to an abortionist in Greenwich Village, whose name I’d gotten from another woman. He was such a pig. He fondled me. I couldn’t believe it; I was at his mercy. He had me come to his gynecology office after hours, and while examining me he fondled my breasts and my vagina. Then he gave me a shot, and I was supposed to come back later and give him more money, but I didn’t go back. I went to someone else, another gynecologist who did abortions on the side. I had to bring a large amount of money — I believe it was a thousand dollars — in cash. He pulled the shades, and I handed him the money in an envelope. He counted it all out in front of me before he said OK. He had a very deep suntan. I hated that my borrowed money was probably going to pay for his next trip to Florida.

My second abortion was when I was in Europe in the late fifties. It’s described in Prom Queen . It seemed to be much easier in Europe. I didn’t even look for an abortionist. I just went to a gynecologist and told him I had missed several periods, and he gave me an abortion. But he never used the word abortion , and he never said I was pregnant, though I knew I was.

The third one is also described in Prom Queen ; I did it myself, with the help of a friend. I was married at the time. And the fourth one was just before the law changed, so I was able to have it as an outpatient in a hospital that was preparing for the new law to go into effect.

The first and the third were very scary. I really did think I might die. Finding a doctor and getting the money were also terrifying. From the time you knew you wanted an abortion to the time it was completed, there wasn’t a moment when you weren’t frantic.

Tanenbaum: You’ve written that when you gave birth you abandoned your independence, but that feminism gave you back your “defiant voice,” which you felt had been lost through motherhood.

Shulman: Part of the loss came from society’s misogynistic attitude toward mothers: once you were a mother, you were sexless, a nobody. That may sound odd to people today. Now there can be something sexy about being a mother, but in those days once you became a mother you were invisible. Also, your children’s interests were always in conflict with whatever you might want to do for yourself — and mothers were supposed to be selfless. The children came first.

Ironically, when feminism came into my life, my being a mother — my understanding the world as a mother, my mother consciousness — was what made me visible again. Mothers were valued in those early groups, because there weren’t many of us. So the very thing that had diminished me suddenly made me important.

Tanenbaum: I’m a little surprised. My understanding is that at the beginning of the second wave of feminism, motherhood was not valued.

Shulman: Motherhood itself may not have been valued, exactly, but my experience was valued. I was an informant. I knew something the others didn’t. And Redstockings, in particular, did not take a position against marriage or motherhood. Some in the movement did think that if you chose to be a mother, you were giving away your life. But I already was a mother. Of course, now motherhood is valued by feminists.

Tanenbaum: In Prom Queen , you made the point that professional advice to mothers ended up making them feel guilty, and was fairly useless, anyway. Has the advice changed much over the past twenty-five years?

Shulman: No, I don’t think things have improved. Our culture remains antimother — just look at the welfare “reform” bill. I think that the guilt connected to motherhood is rampant: society blames, and we suffer guilt. I just finished reading a new anthology of first-person narratives about the first year of motherhood, and you can see the guilt in them, because this precious life is in your hands, and it’s up to you alone to care for it. When I was raising my children, a father didn’t do much. He might have done some things to help out, but it wasn’t his responsibility. So the mother had to take sole responsibility for child rearing — something she knew nothing about. And these were human lives in her hands.

I didn’t think that there was anything inherently more degrading about sex work than about some other kinds of work where a woman demeaned herself before a man. I felt that if one was going to be demeaned, one should be able to choose where to draw the line.

Tanenbaum: Your fiction is filled with characters who are prostitutes or who engage in at least one act of prostitution. How did you become interested in prostitution?

Shulman: I guess you could say I tried it once. The European doctor who gave me my second abortion had cocaine left over from World War II, to be used for “medicinal purposes.” In those days, marijuana was easily available, but nobody I knew had cocaine, and I had heard cocaine could produce orgasms. At that point, I wasn’t sure I’d ever had an orgasm. So when this attractive doctor started coming on to me, I thought, I’ll use his cocaine and sleep with him, and then I’ll know what an orgasm is . I never knew whether to count this as an authentic act of prostitution, since I wasn’t sleeping with him for money — or even for the cocaine — but for the orgasm.

Tanenbaum: And did you have an orgasm?

Shulman: Yes, but it didn’t really count, because I was drugged. It didn’t satisfy my desire for an orgasm from passionate sexual love. I didn’t have that until after the movement.

I became interested enough in prostitution to write a whole book on it: On the Stroll is about a runaway teenage prostitute and a bag lady. While I was writing that novel, I worked in a shelter for homeless women and got to know a lot of bag ladies.

In the movement, there was a big debate over prostitution. Some of the people who organized the New York Radical Feminists Prostitution Conference were eager to condemn it. Some of them were very moralistic and said to the prostitutes we had invited to speak at the conference, “Why don’t you stop being a prostitute? It’s degrading!” And the prostitutes said, “It’s good money.” And the feminists said, “Well, be a file clerk.” I thought this was an outrageous, unfeminist position, and I quit the New York Radical Feminists over that dispute. That was when I became determined to write about the experience of prostitution from the inside.

I didn’t think that there was anything inherently more degrading about sex work than about some other kinds of work where a woman demeaned herself before a man. I felt that if one was going to be demeaned, one should be able to choose where to draw the line — people should be free to make their own decisions. Also, I felt that in some ways being a prostitute gave women power over men. Anyway, who were we to judge? At that time, marriage was condemned as a form of prostitution.

Later, while I was teaching at Yale, I began to rethink my position somewhat. I had a student who was working her way through college by stripping at one of those sleazy joints in Times Square where the man puts in a coin and the curtain goes up. She was very messed up. True, you can’t change your position just because of one case, but it did make me wonder. Still, even if that kind of work does cause more psychological damage than other kinds of work, it’s not the work that’s the problem but the social attitudes toward that work. And I believe in sexual freedom for women.

Tanenbaum: So if attitudes toward sex work were different, perhaps your student’s psychological condition would have been different?

Shulman: Exactly. And I always thought it was ridiculous just to tell prostitutes to find other jobs. For most it’s the only work they can get.

Tanenbaum: How would you define feminism today?

Shulman: The definition is much broader now that feminist ideas have spread throughout the culture. I would say that anybody who wants to call herself a feminist is a feminist. In addition, there are “applied feminists” — to borrow the writer Carolyn Heilbrun’s wonderful term — meaning someone who may not call herself a feminist but who lives like one. In the early days, there was a lot of debate about who was a real feminist. At the beginning of any movement, definitions seem to matter more. In the late sixties, there was a sense that we were just a handful of people. As the movement spread, we were very worried about being co-opted. So whether or not a newcomer was a “true” feminist seemed to matter, especially if that person was representing feminism in the media; there was a lot of mistrust of the media. We didn’t want to give up on our larger ideals and settle for something less.

But one of the things I’ve discovered over the years is that there is a great variety of response to any compelling idea, and the more dialogue and variety there is, the healthier it is for the movement and for social transformation. A movement may go in various directions that aren’t mutually exclusive.

Tanenbaum: What do you think are the sources of conflict in the women’s movement today?

Shulman: The sources are the same as those found throughout society: class divisions and lifestyle differences such as marriage or motherhood. But I don’t think that conflict per se is a sign of morbidity. The women’s movement has never been a monolith. Feminist writer bell hooks and others have suggested that there is more than one women’s movement. And I think that’s true; there are tremendous disparities of interest, focus, and experience among women who consider themselves feminists. Sometimes those differences make for conflict, and sometimes they don’t. The same thing happens in every social movement. During times of great energy in the movement, divisions are put aside for the sake of accomplishing a common goal. But at other times, those divisions become boundaries around which people try to clarify their positions and ideas. I suspect this is how all free people, freely pursuing their interests, behave — finding conflict as well as commonality.

Tanenbaum: What led you to pursue your solitary island summers, which you describe in Drinking the Rain ?

Shulman: I had always expected that at age fifty I would undergo a great change and start something new; I just didn’t know what it would be. Until then, I had never been alone in my life, really, so solitude was a source of fear and a challenge. That summer, to launch a Swedish translation of one of my books, I went to Europe for a month by myself, and found that being alone really enabled me to think, to just follow my thoughts. It was a heady experience. I was discovering whole new aspects of myself. So I decided to see if I could tolerate really solitary conditions. (I also very much did not want to go back to New York, where my then-husband was. My kids were in college by then.)

When I returned to the States, I went straight to the island, to a cabin with no electricity or plumbing or phone. It felt like a great adventure — if I could pull it off. When I had expected to be transformed at fifty, I’d thought it would be in regard to my political pursuits, because I had been such a political person. So it was a big surprise to find that it was more of a spiritual change.

Tanenbaum: You imply in Drinking the Rain that a major impetus for your move was the “fizzling of the women’s movement.”

Shulman: I didn’t put that carefully enough; that passage has been misunderstood. As early as 1975 we realized that the organized, radical feminist movement we had known was no longer in evidence. We started to bemoan the co-optation of the movement and how the movement had fallen apart — though its ideas hadn’t; in fact, they had spread. But by 1982, when I decided to go off to the island, people were already starting to write about the movement in the past tense. I felt like a relic of another era. And I wanted something more.

Tanenbaum: The whole book, in a sense, is a description of your growing sense of mastery and freedom, as you learn to survive on this island. It seems to me that that’s what feminism is about — gaining mastery and independence. How are these two seemingly disparate things — subsistence living and feminist politics — related?

Shulman: I think it was because I was a feminist and freedom was my goal that I was able to go to the island and be alone. I don’t think it ever would have occurred to me to try it — nor do I think I would have succeeded — if I hadn’t already been empowered by feminism.

I remember the first time I gave a speech, early in the movement: my knees shook. People had been writing to Redstockings to request speakers to discuss this new thing called women’s liberation. We had agreed that each of us would have to do every task so that we would develop a variety of skills and become empowered. At first, I was terrified. But then, afterward, I was strong. I was never afraid to speak publicly again.

This pattern of fear followed by mastery happened over and over again with each new experience. It wasn’t that I was afraid of what would happen to me; I was just afraid of stepping across the line into new territory. Each time you do, however, you conquer a fear and develop a skill that’s yours for good. So I think that my experience on the island is a product of my feminism.

Tanenbaum: How do you reconcile your solitary, spiritual side with your community-minded, activist side? Or are there even different “sides” of you at all?

Shulman: There used to be different sides of me, and I used to feel myself divided. I had a secret self, with secret longings, and a public self that didn’t acknowledge those longings. I used to believe that thinking, dreaming, reading, and even writing were private indulgences. I had to steal time to think, to read, to write. But since I overcame my fear of solitude — going off and being alone for months at a time, year after year, with no phone, electricity, or plumbing — I no longer feel there are different sides of me. Conquering my fear of solitude unified me. As I wrote in Drinking the Rain , I don’t find a conflict anymore between my contemplative side and my activist side. I think that they feed off each other, perhaps even need each other.

Solitude grants the possibility of uninhibited thought. I can’t imagine anything better for political activity and progressive movement than uninhibited, unrestricted thought. It’s amazing what turns up when you really are free to follow your thoughts wherever they go. It frees you from convention and from presuppositions. You might wind up discovering that what you care about is very different from what you thought you might care about.

Then, too, I use my time on the island to write, and I consider much of my writing to be an aspect of my activism. So, again, I see the inseparability of thought and action. Those parts of my life are only separate geographically.

The fact that I am not as much of an activist now as I was in the late sixties and early seventies is less a function of a change in me than of a change in the times. Those were activist times and these, unfortunately, are not. I do what I can, but political action is always a matter of the relationship between the parts and the whole, the people and the times.

Tanenbaum: Is spending time in isolation something more people should do?

Shulman: I know that the ability to go away for months at a time and be alone is a privilege of my profession and my family situation. Because I am a writer, I can make my living just as easily alone on an island as I can in the city; and my children are grown. So I know it’s something that’s unavailable to many people.

But there are other ways of finding time to think besides going off to a remote island. I think what’s required most is a frame of mind that honors solitude and silence. I know someone who talks all the time and, when she isn’t talking, keeps earphones plugged into her ears. I don’t believe she ever has time to think. I wish everyone could find time for thinking and reflection and looking inside.

Tanenbaum: Some people suggest that the politics of gender drives apart otherwise like-minded men and women who could be working together for common goals. What do you think?

Shulman: I don’t think the politics of gender is driving people apart; I think that people are already apart in our society, and the politics of gender offers a possibility of diminishing the distance between them — or at least bringing it to the fore, where it can be dealt with. There are probably lots of misunderstandings about the meanings of feminism, but I think that’s because those in power really don’t want to see equality.

I’ve worked with men on environmental issues in Maine, and I certainly consider many men my allies. Some men are clearly against feminism and say appallingly sexist things to me, like “I think we’ve had enough of feminism; don’t you?” But there are other men, as well as women, who genuinely want equality. It’s always a matter of awareness, and I don’t think either gender has a monopoly on that.

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• Then and Now: Goals of the Women’s Rights…

Then and Now: Goals of the Women’s Rights Movements

Women’s rights have come a long way in the last 150 years.

Consider this: In the 1868 presidential election , when women didn’t have the right to vote, 172 Black and white women voted illegally to call attention to the women’s suffrage movement. Nearly a century and a half later, in 2018, more women than men voted in the US midterm elections —a trend that has likely continued this year.

The right to vote is the most fundamental element of US democracy, and it was one of the primary goals of the original women’s rights movement. Of course, all these years later, the battle for gender equality has extended well beyond the ballot box. 

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Here, we explore the original goals of the women’s rights movement, how the cause has evolved over the decades, and where the movement stands today.

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Terminology About Women’s Rights

First, a quick note about terminology. Women’s rights are a set of goals, the specifics of which have evolved over the centuries. Feminism is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.

One of the most straightforward ways to discuss and understand the course of the women’s rights movement is through the various “waves” of feminism. Each wave of feminism, from the 1840s to today, built upon those movements before it but had a different focus than those of previous generations.

Wave One: Giving Women The Right to Vote

First-wave feminism began in 1848 and lasted well into the early 20th century. Its primary goal was earning women the right to vote. 

In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution declared that the voting rights of US citizens could not be denied “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” welcoming Black men to the electoral process. However, women of all races were still denied the right to vote. 

In response, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. The group marched in Washington, D.C. to change federal law and advocate for voting rights not included in the 15th Amendment. For 70 years, suffragettes fought tirelessly for the vote, marching, lecturing, protesting, and fighting against enormous odds. 

The fight continued until, state by state, the balance began to shift. In 1890, Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote. Soon after, other western states followed. Then in 1920, the monumental 19th Amendment was ratified, and the right of women to vote was law of the land. (However, many Black women, as well as Native Americans, were prevented from voting until passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act .) 

First-wave feminism had an enormous impact on women’s rights in the US. However, it’s important to recognize that the movement was primarily focused on rights for white women. 

Many of the original leaders of the women’s right movement were actually abolitionists—including Sojourner Truth, Maria Stewart and Frances E.W. Harper. But after the 15th Amendment granted Black men the right to vote, Anthony, Stanton and other white suffragette leaders began advocating specifically for white women’s suffrage, sometimes explicitly using racism to help gain support for their cause.

Wave Two: Woment Want Social Equality

Second-wave feminism began around 1963 and lasted until the 1980s. One of the propellants of this phase of the women’s rights movement was Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique. Building upon a growing body of literature exploring the topic of systemic sexism, Friedan’s book became a huge bestseller, reaching millions of American women and helping awaken them to issues of social and political equality. 

Second-wave feminism focused on the areas of life in which women were still treated as second-class citizens. After finally getting the vote, women wanted greater representation in government, as well as legislation that would address gender-based issues. 

Women pushed through huge societal changes in the ’60s and ’70s, including:

• Landmark Supreme Court cases that gave women the right to use birth control
• Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 guaranteed reproductive freedom
• The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which sought to close the gender pay gap
• Title IX, which paved the way for educational equality

Meanwhile, women were also fighting smaller-scale battles that had a huge impact. Many middle-class women joined the workforce for the first time and began pushing their husbands to share household chores and childcare. They defined sexual harassment and began talking about the concept of consent, sharing their experiences with abuse, rape and harassment more freely than ever before. 

Much like first-wave feminism, the second wave was primarily focused on the rights of middle-class white women, who were frustrated by a lack of opportunity outside of motherhood and domestic responsibilities. While many second-wave feminists also cared about racism, over time it became clear that women of color faced much different challenges than white women. For example, white women wanted the opportunity to work outside of the home and control their own reproductive destinies; black women, many of whom already worked outside of the home, also sought an end to the forced sterilization of people of color and people with disabilities. 

Waves Three and Four: Consciousness-Raising and Modern Feminism

The groundbreaking progress of the ’60s and ’70s helped to lay the foundation for modern feminism. Girls of this era grew up watching women astronauts in space, witnessed the first female Supreme Court Justice, played sports with boys, and heard the testimony of Anita Hill, which helped to bring sexual harassment to the forefront of social consciousness. Most importantly, they grew up to raise more strong women ready to lead the next era of the movement. 

First- and second-wave feminism had enormous and far-reaching impacts on US society. For example, without the right to vote and govern, Title IX—which gave women equality in the world of school sports—may have never happened. Without Title IX, the US Women’s National Soccer Team wouldn’t have had the chance to gain international recognition as the best soccer team in the world. 

Just think how far women have come: from not being able to vote—and in fact, being treated like property—to having the chance to become world-class athletes who also are parents, activists, and pop culture icons. 

Sadly, though, even the US Women’s National Soccer Team still has battles to fight on the field of women’s rights. The team is in a multi-year battle for equal pay , which is one of the goals of today’s women’s rights movement. This is despite winning two consecutive World Cups while the men’s team failed to qualify. 

In areas outside of sports, women also continue to build upon the work of previous generations to continue to advance women’s rights. Women are now better represented in our government, but there is still a lot of progress required before Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House are truly reflective of American society.

Anita Hill’s testimony helped give a voice to Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement and helped to awaken a new generation of feminists and activists. Plus, the shortcomings of first- and second-wave feminism have helped inform the current wave, which in many ways seeks to be more inclusive of black and indigenous women and people of color; bisexual, non-binary and trans women; women with disabilities and other marginalized groups. 

Indeed, today there’s a growing focus on “ intersectional feminism ,” a type of feminism that is more inclusive and recognizes the incredible diversity of women’s lived experiences. Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term in 1989 to point out that “all inequality is not created equal.” Approaching feminism through an intersectional lens helps us understand that people’s social identities can overlap, leading to compounded experiences of discrimination.

While many disagree on whether feminism is currently in its third or fourth wave, it’s clear that intersectionality is a step toward a more inclusive, even more impactful women’s rights movement . Surely the goals of today’s feminists will benefit women in the future, just like the suffragettes of the 1800s did so many years ago. 

Help Support Our Vision for Women’s Rights

At Population Media Center (PMC), we practice intersectional feminism as we work toward our goal of a sustainable planet with equal rights for all. We create popular TV and radio shows to raise consciousness about issues that many people aren’t even aware of, such as female genital mutilation, education, and child marriage. We empower women and girls to give them the opportunity to determine the future of their lives, including how many children they have and when—because we cannot achieve a sustainable planet without first stabilizing the population . 

In the ongoing pursuit of women’s rights, challenging and dismantling the patriarchal systems that persist is fundamental. The Women’s Rights Movement strives for equality and justice, recognizing that breaking free from patriarchal norms is pivotal to achieving its goals. By addressing deep-seated gender biases and advocating for systemic change, we pave the way for a world where women can fully exercise their rights and potential. Embracing this transformative journey is not just a choice but a collective responsibility in shaping a future where gender equality is the norm, not the exception. Join the fight against patriarchy and stand united for the empowerment of women everywhere.

We’re creating positive change for generations to come by using entertainment education to change deeply rooted social norms in communities around the world. We work to catalyze change with engaging, long-running entertainment that can impact behaviors where isolated service provision or direct messaging typically fail. 

Interested in getting involved? Explore ways to take action with PMC. 

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By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 8, 2022 | Original: February 28, 2019

Feminism, a belief in the political, economic and cultural equality of women, has roots in the earliest eras of human civilization. It is typically separated into three waves: first wave feminism, dealing with property rights and the right to vote; second wave feminism, focusing on equality and anti-discrimination, and third wave feminism, which started in the 1990s as a backlash to the second wave’s perceived privileging of white, straight women. 

From Ancient Greece to the fight for women’s suffrage to women’s marches and the #MeToo movement, the history of feminism is as long as it is fascinating. 

Early Feminists 

In his classic Republic , Plato advocated that women possess “natural capacities” equal to men for governing and defending ancient Greece . Not everyone agreed with Plato; when the women of ancient Rome staged a massive protest over the Oppian Law, which restricted women’s access to gold and other goods, Roman consul Marcus Porcius Cato argued, “As soon as they begin to be your equals, they will have become your superiors!” (Despite Cato’s fears, the law was repealed.)

In The Book of the City of Ladies , 15th-century writer Christine de Pizan protested misogyny and the role of women in the Middle Ages . Years later, during the Enlightenment , writers and philosophers like Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Mary Wollstonecraft , author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman , argued vigorously for greater equality for women.

READ MORE: Milestones in U.S. Women's History

Abigail Adams, first lady to President John Adams, specifically saw access to education, property and the ballot as critical to women’s equality. In letters to her husband John Adams , Abigail Adams warned, “If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice.”

The “Rebellion” that Adams threatened began in the 19th century, as calls for greater freedom for women joined with voices demanding the end of slavery . Indeed, many women leaders of the abolitionist movement found an unsettling irony in advocating for African Americans rights that they themselves could not enjoy.

First Wave Feminism: Women’s Suffrage and The Seneca Falls Convention

At the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention , abolitionists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott boldly proclaimed in their now-famous Declaration of Sentiments that “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.” Controversially, the feminists demanded “their sacred right to the elective franchise,” or the right to vote.

Many attendees thought voting rights for women were beyond the pale, but were swayed when Frederick Douglass argued that he could not accept the right to vote as a Black man if women could not also claim that right. When the resolution passed, the women’s suffrage movement began in earnest, and dominated much of feminism for several decades.

READ MORE:  American Women's Suffrage Came Down to One Man's Vote

The 19th Amendment: Women’s Right to Vote

Slowly, suffragettes began to claim some successes: In 1893, New Zealand became the first sovereign state giving women the right to vote, followed by Australia in 1902 and Finland in 1906. In a limited victory, the United Kingdom granted suffrage to women over 30 in 1918.

In the United States, women’s participation in World War I proved to many that they were deserving of equal representation. In 1920, thanks largely to the work of suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt , the 19th Amendment passed. American women finally earned the right to vote. With these rights secured, feminists embarked on what some scholars refer to as the “second wave” of feminism.

Women And Work

Women began to enter the workplace in greater numbers following the Great Depression , when many male breadwinners lost their jobs, forcing women to find “ women’s work ” in lower paying but more stable careers like housework, teaching and secretarial roles.

During World War II , many women actively participated in the military or found work in industries previously reserved for men, making Rosie the Riveter a feminist icon. Following the civil rights movement , women sought greater participation in the workplace, with equal pay at the forefront of their efforts

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was among the first efforts to confront this still-relevant issue.

Second Wave Feminism: Women's Liberation

But cultural obstacles remained, and with the 1963 publication of The Feminine Mystique , Betty Friedan —who later co-founded the National Organization for Women —argued that women were still relegated to unfulfilling roles in homemaking and child care. By this time, many people had started referring to feminism as “women’s liberation.” In 1971, feminist Gloria Steinem joined Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug in founding the National Women’s Political Caucus. Steinem’s Ms. Magazine became the first magazine to feature feminism as a subject on its cover in 1976.

The Equal Rights Amendment , which sought legal equality for women and banned discrimination on the basis of sex, was passed by Congress in 1972 (but, following a conservative backlash, was never ratified by enough states to become law). One year later, feminists celebrated the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade , the landmark ruling that guaranteed a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

READ MORE: Why the Fight Over the Equal Rights Amendment Has Lasted Nearly a Century

Third Wave Feminism: Who Benefits From the Feminist Movement?

Critics have argued that the benefits of the feminist movement , especially the second wave, are largely limited to white, college-educated women, and that feminism has failed to address the concerns of women of color, lesbians, immigrants and religious minorities. Even in the 19th century, Sojourner Truth lamented racial distinctions in women’s status in a speech before the 1851 Ohio Women's Rights Convention. She was later quoted as saying:

In fact, contemporaneous reports of Truth’s speech did not include the words “Ain’t I a Woman?” and quoted Truth in standard English. The distortion of Truth's words in later years reflected the false belief that as a formerly enslaved woman, Truth would have had a Southern accent. Truth was, in fact, a New Yorker.

#MeToo and Women’s Marches

By the 2010s, feminists pointed to prominent cases of sexual assault and “rape culture” as emblematic of the work still to be done in combating misogyny and ensuring women have equal rights. The #MeToo movement gained new prominence in October 2017, when the New York Times published a damning investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against influential film producer Harvey Weinstein. Many more women came forward with allegations against other powerful men—including President Donald Trump.

On January 21, 2017, the first full day of Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people joined the Women’s March on Washington in D.C., a massive protest aimed at the new administration and the perceived threat it represented to reproductive, civil and human rights. It was not limited to Washington: Over 3 million people in cities around the world held simultaneous demonstrations, providing feminists with a high-profile platforms for advocating on behalf of full rights for all women worldwide.

Women in World History Curriculum Women's history, feminist history,  Making History , The Institute of Historical Research A Brief History of Feminism, Oxford Dictionaries   Four Waves of Feminism, Pacific Magazine, Pacific University

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Women’s Movements: Then and Now Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

• “We Should All Be Feminists” by Adichie

Shepherd’s Discussion on Women’s Movements

The current essay’s purpose is to evaluate and analyze the following reading materials in terms of feminist studies and women’s movements: Adichie’s Ted Talk “We Should All Be Feminists” and the first chapter of Shepherd’s book “Gender Matters in Global Politics”. First of all, short summaries of the texts will be provided, and then the analysis will be produced by answering the assignment’s questions.

“ We Should All Be Feminists” by Adichie

The author presents her experience of sexism and explains what she understood from it, how it affected her life. Adichie argues that the word “feminism” carries negative connotations, and, consequently, affects the deep meaning of the concept badly. She talks about children’s education in terms of feminism; the difference in men’s and women’s experiences of the term, and understanding the issue; the recognition of gender inequalities.

Concerning my personal experience with the word “feminism”, I share Adichie’s central argument that the concept carries several negative meanings. Mainly, it can be felt in conversations with older people. Some people see it as a threat to family institutions and traditional values. Others point out the exaggeration of the issue and do not believe that men and women are still not treated equally in many spheres. These common misconceptions can only be dispelled through education processes. It is crucial to explain from the early ages what exactly feminism is.

It is vitally important to mention that the term “feminism” is surrounded by numerous myths. However, if we look at the universal definition, it represents feminism, as the theory of economic, political, and social equality of the sexes. However, some other scholars highlight the fact of the female’s oppression in defining feminism. In my personal view, these two approaches do not contradict each other, as the conversation of gender equalities implies that the sexes are not always seen as equal. Thus, I hold the opinion that feminism is the belief that all people should have the same rights regardless of their sexes.

Feminism and Development

Another crucial topic in terms of the women’s rights discussion is the role of women in development. Women have only been included in global development recently (the second half of the 20th century), and up to these days, this does not apply to all countries. There are numerous issues concerning the exclusion of women from global development, such as the absence of universal legal protections, underrepresentation in the labor market, underpayments, harassment, and violence in the workplace. It is vital to examine the role of women, as it is beneficial for improvements in development. Economic equalities and education for women are highly advantageous to economies, as they can contribute to business processes. Moreover, by including women in economic development, the situation with women’s rights and gender equalities is highly likely to be improved. Consequently, from the points discussed above, it is clear that it is inevitably important to address development through the lens of feminism.

In her book, Shepherd addresses two women’s movements: The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The first one is a series of protest camps that were organized in England between 1981 and 2000. The movement was exclusively female and was established to protest the placement of nuclear weapons at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the second movement established in 1977, is an association of Argentinian mothers who protested to get information from the government concerning their missing children.

Even though two groups were formed for different purposes, they also possessed similar ideas. First of all, it should be said that both movements relied on gender stereotypes. The Greenham women declared that women-only actions could guarantee that the movement does not carry any violence. Concerning the Mothers and their stereotypes, it is the way they have seen parental responsibilities. At that time, that was true that overall, mothers were involved in the life of their children more than fathers. Secondly, the two movements shared similar ideas of the importance of women’s participation, demonstrating that they have the rights and strengths to protest and protect their interests. For instance, the two groups stood out and challenged the social norm of those days that women should stay home and do nothing. They showed that they have the right to participate in politics and express their opinions rather than leaving it only for men. However, the two movements received different public reactions for violating and challenging existing social norms. The Mothers were more successful in their actions: in the media, they were described as courageous and fighting for human rights. Whereas the Greenham women were represented as criminals and deviants, as they cross the boundaries of social norms more extensively.

In conclusion, the present paper addressed the issues regarding the term “feminism” by analyzing the work by Adichie “We Should All Be Feminists”. Moreover, world development was presented through the lens of feminism. The last part of the essay was focused on Shepherd’s discussion on the two women’s movements. The work demonstrates the importance of a correct understanding of the feminist movement and its complex history.

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IvyPanda. (2022, March 1). Women’s Movements: Then and Now. https://ivypanda.com/essays/womens-movements-then-and-now/

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IvyPanda . (2022) 'Women’s Movements: Then and Now'. 1 March.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Women’s Movements: Then and Now." March 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/womens-movements-then-and-now/.

1. IvyPanda . "Women’s Movements: Then and Now." March 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/womens-movements-then-and-now/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Women’s Movements: Then and Now." March 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/womens-movements-then-and-now/.

5 Essays About Feminism

On the surface, the definition of feminism is simple. It’s the belief that women should be politically, socially, and economically equal to men. Over the years, the movement expanded from a focus on voting rights to worker rights, reproductive rights, gender roles, and beyond. Modern feminism is moving to a more inclusive and intersectional place. Here are five essays about feminism that tackle topics like trans activism, progress, and privilege:

“Trickle-Down Feminism” – Sarah Jaffe

Feminists celebrate successful women who have seemingly smashed through the glass ceiling, but the reality is that most women are still under it. Even in fast-growing fields where women dominate (retail sales, food service, etc), women make less money than men. In this essay from Dissent Magazine, author Sarah Jaffe argues that when the fastest-growing fields are low-wage, it isn’t a victory for women. At the same time, it does present an opportunity to change the way we value service work. It isn’t enough to focus only on “equal pay for equal work” as that argument mostly focuses on jobs where someone can negotiate their salary. This essay explores how feminism can’t succeed if only the concerns of the wealthiest, most privileged women are prioritized.

Sarah Jaffe writes about organizing, social movements, and the economy with publications like Dissent, the Nation, Jacobin, and others. She is the former labor editor at Alternet.

“What No One Else Will Tell You About Feminism” – Lindy West

Written in Lindy West’s distinct voice, this essay provides a clear, condensed history of feminism’s different “waves.” The first wave focused on the right to vote, which established women as equal citizens. In the second wave, after WWII, women began taking on issues that couldn’t be legally-challenged, like gender roles. As the third wave began, the scope of feminism began to encompass others besides middle-class white women. Women should be allowed to define their womanhood for themselves. West also points out that “waves” may not even exist since history is a continuum. She concludes the essay by declaring if you believe all people are equal, you are a feminist.

Jezebel reprinted this essay with permission from How To Be A Person, The Stranger’s Guide to College by Lindy West, Dan Savage, Christopher Frizelle, and Bethany Jean Clement. Lindy West is an activist, comedian, and writer who focuses on topics like feminism, pop culture, and fat acceptance.

“Toward a Trans* Feminism” – Jack Halberstam

The history of transactivsm and feminism is messy. This essay begins with the author’s personal experience with gender and terms like trans*, which Halberstam prefers. The asterisk serves to “open the meaning,” allowing people to choose their categorization as they see fit. The main body of the essay focuses on the less-known history of feminists and trans* folks. He references essays from the 1970s and other literature that help paint a more complete picture. In current times, the tension between radical feminism and trans* feminism remains, but changes that are good for trans* women are good for everyone.

This essay was adapted from Trans*: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability by Jack Halberstam. Halberstam is the Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Gender Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He is also the author of several books.

“Rebecca Solnit: How Change Happens” – Rebecca Solnit

The world is changing. Rebecca Solnit describes this transformation as an assembly of ideas, visions, values, essays, books, protests, and more. It has many layers involving race, class, gender, power, climate, justice, etc, as well as many voices. This has led to more clarity about injustice. Solnit describes watching the transformation and how progress and “ wokeness ” are part of a historical process. Progress is hard work. Not exclusively about feminism, this essay takes a more intersectional look at how progress as a whole occurs.

“How Change Happens” was adapted from the introduction to Whose Story Is it? Rebecca Solnit is a writer, activist, and historian. She’s the author of over 20 books on art, politics, feminism, and more.

“Bad Feminist” extract – Roxane Gay

People are complicated and imperfect. In this excerpt from her book Bad Feminist: Essays , Roxane Gay explores her contradictions. The opening sentence is, “I am failing as a woman.” She goes on to describe how she wants to be independent, but also to be taken care of. She wants to be strong and in charge, but she also wants to surrender sometimes. For a long time, she denied that she was human and flawed. However, the work it took to deny her humanness is harder than accepting who she is. While Gay might be a “bad feminist,” she is also deeply committed to issues that are important to feminism. This is a must-read essay for any feminists who worry that they aren’t perfect.

Roxane Gay is a professor, speaker, editor, writer, and social commentator. She is the author of Bad Feminist , a New York Times bestseller, Hunger (a memoir), and works of fiction.

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Focus: The difference between feminism and women’s liberation

• By discoversociety
• March 01, 2016
• 2016 , Focus , Issue 30

Amanda Sebestyen

This special issue of Discover Society – Feminism, then and now – has been edited by Finn Mackay  and Sue Scott . It has a strong emphasis on politics and activism, as well as on feminist research and scholarship because we wanted to capture a sense of change across all these fronts between the early 1970s and 2016. We were committed to acknowledging the importance of this history and also to celebrating feminisms continuing energy and the commitment of the feminists now. The most obvious differences between this and a feminist publication from the 1970s is the inclusion of pieces by men who are committed to feminism and to challenging oppression.

It is important to appreciate what has been achieved, but also to continue to undertake research and activism in relation to all the oppressions and disadvantages that continue to face many, women across the world. Social Science research which focused on the position of women or which problematized gender was very thin on the ground in the early 70s. There is now a rich seam of such work across many areas and Discover Society is committed to publishing more examples of it in the future. In this special issue we have aimed to bring together articles on a wide range of topics, with both global and local significance and have and timed publication to coincide closely with International Women’s Day. However we would wish to stress that the issues covered are issues for women every day.

The women’s liberation movement has always been rumbustious, cantankerous and full of vehement dissension. It’s the other side of that fighting, self-searching, Utopian character  we need in order to imagine that we could change the world.

It may be hard to understand just how feudal the post-war agreement on women’s role remained, well into the seemingly radical 1960 and 1970s. As JK Galbraith remarked as late as 1973, women had become a servant class ‘available, democratically, to almost the entire male population’. It certainly felt like that.

Women from other more openly patriarchal societies today may recognise a landscape where over 90% of the female population either were or had been married, where rape in marriage was legal until 1991—lagging behind Russia 1922, Poland 1932, Norway 1971, Italy 1976, Canada 1983, and Ireland in 1990 , but just before the USA 1993; where a woman could only open a bank account or take out a mortgage if it was countersigned by a male guarantor ( other instances linger on well long past the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975). In the England of 1969 when the women’s movement began, I hardly ever saw a young woman unglued from the side of a young man, social life outside the couple was unnoticeable. Single women in bars or hotels were assumed to be in the sex industry and usually barred . We are still living the aftermath of those times with the current outrage over changes to  women’s pensions   in the UK.

Now the appearance of the social landscape has changed almost beyond recognition. Consider the line-up of international male and female leaders marching under the ‘We are Charlie’ banner in Paris, a sight shocking only to a tiny fundamentalist sect whose magazine censored the photograph. Look at the eating places where women can enjoy dining alone or with each other – something I literally never saw until my visit to New York in 1978.(1)

We – feminists – did not only prise apart the stereotypes but started to confront gender itself, leaving a lasting legacy of lesbian and gay equality still being fought around the world . However, an integral system of exploitation does not just go away. For those of us ‘materialist feminists’ who saw unpaid labour as the base and centre of women’s oppression, the question was always: what happens to all that work? (Delphy 1970; Delphy and Leonard 1992). Would we fight for equality in an unequal society? This last was a question that often seemed to divide our movement down the middle, with socialist feminists sometimes seeming to say ‘Not at that price’.  The radical feminist answer, I felt, was ‘Yes, but only on the way to something bigger’. Unfortunately neither of our maps for the world allowed for the huge changes taking place around us in an opposite direction.

Issues which were central to our fight remain intractable ,  confronting younger women all over again: childcare, the sex industry, misogynist culture and weaponised humour. The Everyday Sexism site and later book reveal the outrage and hurt of Third Wave working women who believe in empowerment but find themselves enduring a barrage of sex-harassment every day. The freshness and naivety of their outrage has given them tremendous grassroots power to record and shame their attackers and make other men pledge to behave better.  In this they resemble the First Wave of suffrage feminism with its redemptive aspirations: ‘We are here not because we are law – breakers ; we are here in our efforts to become law – makers ’, in the words of Emmeline Pankhurst.

But in the Second Wave women’s liberation movement we probably did view ourselves as law-breakers: “We are against marriage. Behind every ideology we can see the hierarchy of the sexes. We identify in unpaid domestic work the help that allows both private and state capitalism to survive. We detest the mechanisms of competitiveness and the blackmail exercised in the world by the hegemony of efficiency. We want to put our working capacity at the disposal of a society that is immune to this…” (Lonzi 1970)

Across the world we resisted the pull to ‘exercise a ruling function’ as the only accepted proof that females were good enough: “What is meant by woman’s equality is usually her right to share in the exercise of power within society, once it is accepted that she is possessed of the same abilities as man. But in these years women’s real experience has brought about a new awareness, setting into motion a process of global devaluation of the male world. We have come to see that at the level of power there is no need for abilities but only for a particularly effective form of alienation… Existing as a woman does not imply participation in male power, but calls into question the very concept of power.” (Lonzi 1970)

The current emphasis on equality as a metric – how many women at the top table – is inimical to us second wave feminists and is also baffling the young women making up the Fourth Wave of insurgent feminism. As so often in life, grandmothers and granddaughters may have more in common than mothers and daughters. In the generation which came after us, women now in middle age made an important place in the world. Some who might once have called themselves post-feminist are calling themselves feminists now. They have been part of the move away from that feudal, all-for-love, millennia-long unpaid labouring role for women and into a more gender-equitable neoliberal world where the individual achievement is valued above the collective. Now these women are up against power structures that won’t budge, and an underside of slavery, trafficking and exploited migrants without rights; some actually providing domestic labour for feminists with careers, a dilemma Kate Clanchy (2008) explores poetically.

At this point we veterans of a long political movement , based on sharing experiences ‘from the underneath’,  can feel  we have something to tell the world again.

There’s a reason why so many feminists of the UK’s Second Wave find themselves identifying with the embattled movement, which Jeremy Corbyn’s election has started inside the Labour party. At a time when Social Democracy is in crisis and its core policies in health, housing, education and welfare can only be advocated on platforms categorised as far left, we recognise the avalanche of abuse unleashed against anyone who challenges the structures of accepted power. We have literally been there ourselves.  As Roberta Hunter Henderson put it in a recent position paper in the Older Feminist newsletter:

“ He [Corbyn] has of course been vilified and ridiculed by most of the media but so were we in the 70s. Feminism is no longer so unacceptable these days, thanks to our resilience and all the equal rights campaigning of recent years.  But equal pay is of little comfort to the two women a week murdered by their partners, or trafficked or raped. Our politics is anti-patriarchal and goes deeper than equal rights (progressive though that is). Consciousness raising exposed patriarchal values and we must continue to confront them.The personal is political and  the social is also political. Economic growth, as GDP, now has priority over the real needs of citizens who are expected to contribute as ‘aspirational’ consumers. Wealth creation overrides increasing economic inequality.For my part I feel our first priority should be global: the protection of the planet without which there is no politics. We are part of an international community, part of history.  Our relations with other nations should be principled and co-operative while conscious of the effect of past injustices:- we create our future but we inherit a past. At home our priority should be the sustainability of the environment, not an ever increasing GDP; community cohesion confronting elitism and financial manipulation; protection for the weakest and most vulnerable; and encouragement and creative space for the young instead of debt and disenfranchisement. Hope not fear, NHS not Trident… ”

We, the ‘grandmothers’ should create a space for our collective voice. There is an active Fourth Wave of feminism and a growing protest movement. I believe we are part of both but with a distinctive contribution to make.

For five years , a network called 70s-sisters has been meeting in small groups across the UK to explore what we are experiencing now: ageing, loss, death, pleasures, politics. We have returned to consciousness raising as our central form of activism:

We assume that our feelings are telling us something from which we can learn… that our feelings mean something worth analyzing… that our feelings are saying something political , … Our feelings will lead us to ideas and then to actions. (Amatniek/sarachild 1973)

We are impressed with the potency of social media organising  among younger feminists but unsure how they provide the same experiences of solidarity. As a young LSE student asked Christine Delphy following a showing of the filmed biography Je ne suis pas féministe, mais… on 8 January 2016, ‘How do we do solidarity now, when the idea of doing a good job precludes solidarity?’ Delphy’s reply was that ‘Solidarity is never easy because we have several identities; solidarity is always to be defined in the context of a particular struggle.’ Inside the film itself she had noted that the most important ideas often came out of informal conversations among a group of women. Our own network is now ready to step out in public, using words and actions to make an impact through ‘a new Think-and-Do Tank’ called the Feminist Forum: ‘We want to use our political experience to participate in politics now and in the future. We work together on many issues, but each member speaks for herself.’

The differences among us are important and can’t be smoothed out without destroying a live creative voice. Later feminists have found this too. This is why Finn Mackay’s book comes most vividly alive when it enters into the arguments that are dividing feminists today. She is inspired by the Reclaim the Night protests of the 1970s and has done more to revive their spirit in the 21 st century than any other activist. As we march through 21 st century streets to a noticeably less hostile reception than we used to get in the past – and with police permission! – I’m still always touched to see the original list of The 7 Demands of the UK Women’s Liberation Movement printed on all the new leaflets. Mackay’s treatment of our first wild protests ( half Halloween, half Angry Brigade ) feels almost reverent. But lists of superlatives fail to communicate that past excitement, and the need to fill in past feminist history feels dutiful. It is in the second part of this book , when McKay deals with the conflicts among feminists which have come out of organising the march, that she really makes important connections. Her treatment of the Transgender controversy seems to me to be just exemplary, and she also has terrific things to say about Judith Butler. In both cases McKay looks inside her own experience, as well as outwards to building a movement aimed at overthrowing patriarchy – which is the essence of feminism.

I should not have been surprised that I caused the biggest ruck of my life by compiling a mock-academic chart called Tendencies in the Movement in 1978. In more polite form it lived on in Ann Oakley’s Subject: Woman. Last June, for a discussion on Feminism Then and Now ,  I attempted a new sketch of a chart to map the different waves of our movement. Here is an excerpt:

Recently I’ve been going on to imagine a genealogy of change for social movements, which seems to make sense in the context and experience of our particular surge: Prophets; Rebels; Theorists; Pioneers; Mainstreamers; Professionals; Careerists; Opportunists…

The cycle is never complete of course and a new movement ferments and raises itself up. Arguing fiercely, as always.

References: Kathie Amatniek/ Sarachild (1970) Consciousness Raising, a radical weapon in Notes from the Second Year, New York, New York Radical Feminists Clanchy, K.(2008) What Is She Doing Here?: A Refugee’s Story . London,Picador. Delphy, C (1977) L’Ennemi Principal 1970/ The Main Enemy W.R.R.C.P., London, Delphy, C. and Leonard, D. (1992) Familiar Exploitation: A New Analysis of Marriage in Contemporary Western Societies , Cambridge, Polity Press, Galbraith, J.K. (1973) Economics and the Public Purpose : Boston Hunter Henderson, R. (2015), position paper for a Feminist Forum. Lonzi, C. (1970) Sputiamo su Hegel, Rivolta Femminile   C Mackay, F. (2015) Radical Feminism: Feminist Activism in Movement, London, Palgrave Oakley, A. (1982) Subject: Woman , London, Fontana.

Notes: (1)  ‘Feminism USA’ interviews by Amanda Sebestyen with Linda Gordon, Betsy Warrior, Robin Morgan, Spare Rib issues 75-77, October-December 1978.

Thanks to Emily Knipe at the Office of National Statistics   for data.

Amanda Sebestyen joined the women’s liberation movement in 1969 and the first UK radical feminist group in 1972. She worked on Spare Rib magazine from 1977-1981: The history of feminism and Spare Rib – The British Library . Her Publications include ’68-’78-’88: From Women’s Liberation to Feminism (editor) Ultra Violet books 1989); The Prison Letters of Countess Markievicz (introduction) Virago: London, 1987), No Turning Back (co-editor, The Women’s Press 1981)  chapters in Sisterhood is Global (ed Robin Morgan, Doubleday/Penguin 1984), Spare Rib Reader (Penguin 1982) , On the Problem of Men (ed Friedman & Sarah (Women’s Press 1982), Once a Feminist (ed Wandor, Virago 1990). Since 1997 she has worked with Roma and Congolese refugees. She is a founder member of T he Network for Social Change and the Edge Fund . For the past five years she has been part of the 70s-sisters network of Second Wave women’s liberation activists, as described in Coming back – a liberation voice | Peace News

Image credit: Jill Nicholls – IMDb  

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The Feminist Movement, Then and Now

Students will work in pairs, examining primary source documents from the storied history of the Feminist Movement. The end product will be a powerpoint or Prezi describing a historical period in the movement. Potential topics include Women’s Suffrage, reproductive rights, the ERA, women in the military, among others. Students should be concerned not necessarily with the methods of protest, but its goals. How are all the different periods of the movement similar? Different?

I think many students have a misconception about what the Feminist Movement is and what it has achieved over the past two centuries. The research they conduct will help them gain an understanding for where women started in American society, and as a result a better understanding of how they got to the position they are in today.

• After lecture and primary source research, prepare a presentation on the methods and goals of a Feminist protest group during a historical period of their choosing.
• After listening and note-taking on their classmate’s presentations, write a comparative essay on the Feminist Movement during their chosen period in contrast to that of a different historical period.
•  The student will accurately analyze the role people, business, labor unions and government play in the struggle for equality before the law including boycotts and strikes, as well as others, such as civil disobedience and protest. (R.1, R.2, R.7, W.2, W.6, W.7, W.8, W.9)
• Compile and assess various sources of research. (R.1, W.7, W.8)
• Paraphrase and summarize ideas presented in research. (R.2, W.9)
• Schaefer, Richard T., Sociology, 12th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 2009
• Dicker, Rory, “Equality and Liberation,” powerpoint presentation, Independence, Missouri, 2014
• “No More Miss America,” New York Radical Women, http://www.redstockings.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=103
• Text of the “Equal Rights Amendment, ” Equal Rights Amendment.org, http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/overview.htm
• Colker, Ruth, “Separate is Never Equal: The Experience of Mt. Lebanon, Testimony of a High School Pitcher,” Documents from the Women’s Liberation Movement, Duke University Special Collections
• I will start off the activity by asking the students what they think a feminist is. Other questions will include “What do feminists hope to achieve?” “Have they been successful in effecting positive change for women in the past?” What gender-based injustices are feminists currently working to rectify?” “How have feminists changed the way we think about the traditional roles of males and females in our society?”
• Next, I will introduce them to a selection of slides from Rory Dicker’s powerpoint presentation “Equality and Liberation,” focusing on the various time periods of the feminist movement. I will pay special attention to the current women’s rights groups and media (Jezebel.com, Hollaback, Ms. Magazine, slut walks)
• I will then give the students the parameters of their research project. They will choose a specific Feminist group from a time period of their choosing. They will create a presentation in which they will provide the following information: The name of the group and their years of operation, their primary goals, famous acts of civil disobedience, and achievements.
• The students will have to find the information using primary sources (no Wikipedia). I will assist the students in this process by giving them a list of helpful websites. Of course, if they are researching a current group, the entire website for that group constitutes a primary source.
• The students, after completing their research and powerpoint, will present them to the rest of the class. Each student will be required to take notes during each presentation. They should be looking for similarities between their group and the ones of their classmates.
• After listening and note-taking, the students will be asked to write an essay of no less than five hundred words that answers the questions I asked them in step one of this description.

I will assess the student powerpoints using this rubric: http://mrmellott1003.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/6/0/1060080/slave_dancer_powerpoint_report_rubric.png

Students will also turn in their essays as a component of their assessment. They will be graded using this rubric: http://www.croninsclass.com/uploads/4/1/4/2/4142289/8437194_orig.png

Feminism: Now and then

How it works

The feminist movement started on July 19, 1948, in Seneca new york the movement was started for women’s rights and this enacted on women’s suffrage during the 19th century. Woman have been battling this struggle for a long time and nowadays woman are working hard for equal right for everyone on the planet woman, children, and man. I will be talking about how women’s right have been handled from the start of the movement till nowadays. My subtopics are going to be on misogynist, the feminist movement, sexism in the workplaces, gender equality, and violence against women.

• 1 Misogynist
• 2 Feminist movement
• 3 Sexism within the workplace
• 4 Gender Equality
• 5 Hate Crimes against women

Misogynist are people that are prejudice to other genders but mainly most people are misogynistic to woman. Most of us perform misogynist acts every day without knowing about it. It is not our fault for not knowing what we are doing it’s mostly the fault of the world for raising the generation in the wrong way exposing a woman to the young and teaching them that a woman is just a tool you can have and then dismiss any time you want.

“I’ve spent my entire life in a society that, by every imaginable measure, devalues and dismisses woman”(Kai Wright). Misogynist prejudice has affected woman mostly in the workplace ”in the nearly 230-year history of the US Senate, we have elected just 50 women to serve; nearly half of that number are in office now. It’s the case for wages: Women still make roughly 80 cents on the dollar that’s paid to man”(Kai Wright). The world is filled with a lot of misogynist people but in time most of us will learn that we need to become better.

Feminist movement

The feminist movement has been around for 171 years including 2019. The reason for the feminist, movement was for a woman to be heard and for the world to know the problems that woman suffered on a day to day bases such as sexual harassment and violence, domestic violence, and maternity leave. “Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, honorary treasurer of the Women’s Social and Political Union, chose three main colors to represent the movement ? white (for purity), purple (for dignity) and green (for hope)”(Julia Brucculirei). “

My perception for the colors is white (for innocence), purple(for bravery), and green(for love)”These colors have symbolized the events woman have been through and their struggles but the most important of them all is the color white the color white has been worn to show gratitude to woman that have become before us for the woman that is making a change today.“Over the years, many other notable women have worn white as a nod to the suffrage movement and the women’s rights movement as a whole For instance, in 1968, Shirley Chisholm wore white on the night she became the first black woman elected to Congress”(Julia Brucculirei).

Sexism within the workplace

Sexism is used as a term that is close to feminism but that doesn’t mean that these two words are the same thing sexism stands for the wrongdoing done to woman while feminism is about helping man and woman so both genders can have better rights not just for woman bot for man too. “That impact on career and salary continues even if those women move to less sexist areas as adults, a finding that suggests the beliefs a woman grows up with can shape her future behavior in a way that affects her career and salary”(Jim Tankersley).

“I think that most women in the workplace are forced out because the boss or the CEO wants a man to do the job which I think is very wrong because anyone that already knows how to do their job well should keep it”. Sexism in the workplace can very be much so to the sexual harassment that happens all the time this can be from the boss or even your own colleagues. “Perhaps most strikingly, the study finds that a woman’s lifelong earnings and how much she works are influenced by the levels of sexism in the state where she was born”(Jim Tankersley).

Gender Equality

Over the years equality between genders hasn’t been the same actually the right between male and female have never been really spoked upon. Gender equality has been around since the feminist movement back in the 1900s. “My thought of gender equality is when everyone is able to come together as a woman, and man”.Gender equality is obtainable to both men and woman.Woman all over the world just wants to be able to do things a man can do and slowly woman are taking care of business and showing man that we can do whatever you can do.

“Many years ago, a guy I was dating became upset with me after I outperformed him on a science final exam that was worth a large percentage of our GPA and the guy so mad that he decided that he and Samantha needed a break for a while. Samantha knew then and now she had embarrassed him because in almost every men’s mind they all think they are smarter than a woman “” (Samantha Nutt).

Hate Crimes against women

“Hate crimes, or bias-motivated crimes, are crimes committed because the victim is a member of a particular gender or sexual orientation, or belongs to a certain ethnic or racial group or religion” (Ave mince-Didier). Hate crimes have been around for years I means years, but when I say hate crimes I mean hate crimes that have been done towards woman such as harassment, violence “I think that the hate crimes towards woman have gotten out of hand outrageous almost everywhere in America”. “. Hate crimes can take many different forms, such as vandalism and assault. Some would argue that crimes primarily committed against women – such as rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence – are likely to be motivated by gender bias” (Ave mince-Didier).

Woman have been battling this struggle for a long time and nowadays woman are working hard for equal right for everyone on the planet woman, children, and man. I will be talking about how women’s right have been handled from the start of the movement till nowadays. My conclusion is that The feminist movent has evolved beyond the yeas making it easy but also hard on a woman it causes ties between the nations and ties between genders we have to change our mindset and become better as a nation. We must teach the next generation that no matter the gender you must still treat each other with the same respect and to view woman not as tools but as human beings.

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Essay on Feminism

500 words essay on feminism.

Feminism is a social and political movement that advocates for the rights of women on the grounds of equality of sexes. It does not deny the biological differences between the sexes but demands equality in opportunities. It covers everything from social and political to economic arenas. In fact, feminist campaigns have been a crucial part of history in women empowerment. The feminist campaigns of the twentieth century made the right to vote, public property, work and education possible. Thus, an essay on feminism will discuss its importance and impact.

Importance of Feminism

Feminism is not just important for women but for every sex, gender, caste, creed and more. It empowers the people and society as a whole. A very common misconception is that only women can be feminists.

It is absolutely wrong but feminism does not just benefit women. It strives for equality of the sexes, not the superiority of women. Feminism takes the gender roles which have been around for many years and tries to deconstruct them.

This allows people to live freely and empower lives without getting tied down by traditional restrictions. In other words, it benefits women as well as men. For instance, while it advocates that women must be free to earn it also advocates that why should men be the sole breadwinner of the family? It tries to give freedom to all.

Most importantly, it is essential for young people to get involved in the feminist movement. This way, we can achieve faster results. It is no less than a dream to live in a world full of equality.

Thus, we must all look at our own cultures and communities for making this dream a reality. We have not yet reached the result but we are on the journey, so we must continue on this mission to achieve successful results.

Impact of Feminism

Feminism has had a life-changing impact on everyone, especially women. If we look at history, we see that it is what gave women the right to vote. It was no small feat but was achieved successfully by women.

Further, if we look at modern feminism, we see how feminism involves in life-altering campaigns. For instance, campaigns that support the abortion of unwanted pregnancy and reproductive rights allow women to have freedom of choice.

Moreover, feminism constantly questions patriarchy and strives to renounce gender roles. It allows men to be whoever they wish to be without getting judged. It is not taboo for men to cry anymore because they must be allowed to express themselves freely.

Similarly, it also helps the LGBTQ community greatly as it advocates for their right too. Feminism gives a place for everyone and it is best to practice intersectional feminism to understand everyone’s struggle.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Feminism

The key message of feminism must be to highlight the choice in bringing personal meaning to feminism. It is to recognize other’s right for doing the same thing. The sad part is that despite feminism being a strong movement, there are still parts of the world where inequality and exploitation of women take places. Thus, we must all try to practice intersectional feminism.

FAQ of Essay on Feminism

Question 1: What are feminist beliefs?

Answer 1: Feminist beliefs are the desire for equality between the sexes. It is the belief that men and women must have equal rights and opportunities. Thus, it covers everything from social and political to economic equality.

Question 2: What started feminism?

Answer 2: The first wave of feminism occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It emerged out of an environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics. This wave aimed to open up new doors for women with a focus on suffrage.

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Interview with Juliet Mitchell - Psychoanalysis and Feminism: Then and now

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Home / Essay Samples / Social Issues / Gender Equality / Women’s Rights: Then and Now

Women's Rights: Then and Now

• Category: Social Issues
• Topic: Feminism , Gender Equality

Pages: 2 (735 words)

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Introduction

Historical context: then, contemporary progress: now, challenges and ongoing struggles, intersectionality and inclusivity, the role of education, in conclusion.

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