Feminism and Three Waves

 Feminism and Three-Waves

Background

Radical feminism thought was described as the concern with sex equality and the advancement of equal treatment for people, the introduction of these concerns through hypothesis or practice, and the idea that people are valued more for their contributions to society than for their natural or sexual attributes or occupations.

Women's liberation is a development that promotes sex equality for women and works to protect their rights and interests, much like political and sociological theories and modes of thought that are concerned with issues of sex comparison.

Work and Women

Women had to hunt for "ladies' labour" in lower-paying but more stable professions like housework, teaching, and secretarial work after the Great Depression when many male providers lost their jobs.

Following the successful employment of many women in the military or in professions previously reserved for men during World War II, Rosie the Riveter became a symbol of the feminist movement. Following the advancement of social rights, women pushed for a more significant commitment to a work environment, with fair wages at the top of their requirements. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was one of the main efforts to solve this still crucial issue.

The rights of women have altered prevailing viewpoints in a variety of domains within Western civilization, from culture to law. Women's activism now centres on women's legitimate rights (privileges of agreement, property rights, casting a ballot). For the protection of women and young girls from domestic abuse, rape, and assault; for rights in the workplace, such as maternity leave and reasonable compensation; and against sexism. For early termination opportunities, conceptive rights (including access to contraceptives and quality pre-birth care).

For a large part of their history, white working-class women from Western Europe and North America have been at the forefront of most feminist activist movements and beliefs. According to Simone de Beauvoir, Christine de Pizan's Epitre au Dieu d'Amour, written in the fifteenth century, was "the first instance where we witness a lady picking up her pen with regards to her sex."

Waves of Feminism

Maggie Humm and Rebecca Walker point out that there have been three waves in the history of women's rights. The main development in women's activism occurred during the nineteenth and mid-20th centuries. The 1960s and 1970s saw the second major development in women's activism, followed by the 1990s for the third. Women's activist theories were created as a result of these changes. Women's activist cartography, women's activist writing, and women's activist abstract analysis are just a few examples of the many domains in which it might very well be found.

First Wave

First-wave women's liberation references a surge of women's activist activity that occurred in the US and the UK in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It initially depended on expanding fair agreements and women's property rights, as well as limiting asset marriage and women's spouses' duty (and their kids). However, before the end of the nineteenth century, activism was typically based on gaining political power, notably women's testimony. At the time, women's rights advocates (like Margaret Sanger and Voltairine de Cleyre) had not yet joined their campaigns for women's financial, reproductive, and sexual rights. In 1854, Florence Nightingale made female medical personnel available to the military.

The period of 1918 saw the passage of the Representation of the People Act, which gave women over 30 who owned homes the right to vote. This was made available to all women above the age of twenty-one in 1928. Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony were leaders of the movement in the US. Anthony, who supported the annulment of bondage before supporting women's testimony, was inspired entirely by Quaker's philosophy. The primary influx of women's rights in the United States was dynamic and included women from a variety of backgrounds.

The phrase "first wave" was coined in retrospect after the term "second wave" women's liberation was used to describe a younger women's activist development that emphasised addressing social and social inequality as it did political inequalities.

Second Wave

The term "second-wave woman's rights" refers to a period of activism that started in the middle of the 1960s and ended in the latter half of the 1980s. Imelda Whelehan, a researcher, claims that the second wave of women's liberation was a continuation of the first wave of women's rights, which included the suffragettes in the UK and the US. Since then, third-wave woman's rights have coexisted alongside second-wave women's liberation, both of which have persisted. Estelle Freedman distinguishes between the first and second waves of women's liberation, claiming that the first wave was more concerned with issues like the ability to testify while the second wave was more concerned with eliminating sexism.

The proverb "The Personal is Political" was introduced by Ditty Hanisch, an extreme women's rights activist and inventor, and it became associated with the following wave. Second-wave women's activists, who gave women the ability to regard aspects of their own lives as profoundly politicized and challenging misogynist power systems, saw women's social and political differences as inextricably linked.

Additionally, during this time Fatema Mernissi, a well-known Islamic feminist proposed her first book, Beyond the Veil: 1975. She examined the feminist viewpoint in relation to Islam as well as the place of women in the Islamic community, particularly in light of Islamic teachings.

Third Wave

The third wave of women's liberation evolved in the middle of the 1990s in reaction to what appeared to be the limitations of the second wave's policies and advancements. Third-wave women's liberation aims to combat or steer clear of what it perceives as the second-wave's essentialist origins of womanliness, which, in their opinion, overemphasize the perspectives of upper-working-class white women.

A key component of the third wave's philosophy revolves around a post-structuralist understanding of sex and sexuality. Third-wave women's rights activists are renowned for focusing on "miniature governmental concerns" and putting the second-wave model of women's rights to the test of what is consistently unhelpful for women. The third wave's roots date back to the middle of the 1980s. Gloria Anzaldua, Chime Snares, Chela Sandoval, Cherrie Moraga, Audre Lorde, Maxine Hong Kingston, and many other black women's activists who emerged in the next wave made an effort to carve out space within the feminist concept for racial subjectivism.

People who recognize that there are significant differences between the sexes—such as therapist Carol Gilligan—as well as those who believe that these differences are not inborn and that sexual orientation is socially shaped are both included in third-wave women's liberation talks.

Feminism and Modern World

A modern feminist is frequently presented in the media as a strong, single woman who can easily rise to the top of a man's world and take their position in both the workplace and society at large, even if that means pushing everyone else to the side.

Instead of encouraging women to become contented people who benefit future generations rather than seeking retribution for the mistreatment of previous generations, modern feminism encourages women to constantly fight against the allegedly oppressive patriarchy that has haunted them since the beginning of time.

Women have been working to change male-dominated industries since the turn of the century, particularly the entertainment sector. One would assume that brand-new feminist movies are dominating the market.

People's dissatisfaction with the woke feminist worldview is demonstrated by the modern feminist remarks in traditional American films. Taking movie ratings as an example. The remarks of the first "Wonder Woman 1984 (2022)," has a 5.4 out of 10 rating on Google. A staggering 5.7 stars have been awarded to "Mulan (2020)," whereas the iconic "Charlie's Angels" adaptation has received 4.9 stars out of 10. Despite the fact that the originals were American blockbusters, none of these movies did well.

Conclusion

Since its inception in the late nineteenth century, feminism has seen significant development. The main objective of first-wave feminism was to acknowledge women as people rather than as objects of property. Third-wave feminism represented the value of uniqueness and autonomy while second-wave feminism questioned the place of women in society.

Although feminism was intended to support and empower women, it has given today's young women a toxic mentality. In addition to teaching women to despise males, it demonstrates that they don't need to pay attention to criticism or advice. Modern feminism has made women egoistic and entitled, which are traits they despise in males.

Today's women are unaware that a guy does not have to lower himself in order for a woman to ascend. Why then do women continue to undermine men? The goal of feminism has always been gender equality and respect for all people.

Feminism by Fatema Mernissi

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