The Three Waves of Feminism
The Three Big Waves of Feminism
First-Wave Feminism: Women’s Right to Vote
In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system, in healthcare and in the workplace.
Second-Wave Feminism: Personal Means Political
The First-Wave was significant to feminism as it established a safe footing from where women could start off. The second wave of feminism, however, was crucial to everything that followed after. This wave marked everything the early 1960's to the late 1980's.
Of course feminism didn’t die out completely, in between the first and second wave feminism, as the media tried to make many people believe. In fact feminism was still a topic among women; they just didn’t crowd at polling stations anymore. Instead many small groups of women activists were fighting for birth control or the women peace movement. Then, during the Second World War women suddenly played a major role as work forces and could get a taste of independency. Though after the war, now that the men were back with their glorified heroism, it was expected of women to silently head back into the kitchen and act out their “natural” role as mother and wife, which has been pressed onto them from the very start. Obviously that didn’t sit well with many of them.
However before the the Women’s Liberation movement and before the Sexual Revolution in 1968, there have been the Civil Rights
First-Wave Feminism: Women’s Right to Vote
In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system, in healthcare and in the workplace.
Second-Wave Feminism: Personal Means Political
The First-Wave was significant to feminism as it established a safe footing from where women could start off. The second wave of feminism, however, was crucial to everything that followed after. This wave marked everything the early 1960's to the late 1980's.
Of course feminism didn’t die out completely, in between the first and second wave feminism, as the media tried to make many people believe. In fact feminism was still a topic among women; they just didn’t crowd at polling stations anymore. Instead many small groups of women activists were fighting for birth control or the women peace movement. Then, during the Second World War women suddenly played a major role as work forces and could get a taste of independency. Though after the war, now that the men were back with their glorified heroism, it was expected of women to silently head back into the kitchen and act out their “natural” role as mother and wife, which has been pressed onto them from the very start. Obviously that didn’t sit well with many of them.
However before the the Women’s Liberation movement and before the Sexual Revolution in 1968, there have been the Civil Rights