First Wave feminism
- · First wave feminism arose due to an increase of women in the industrial society, connected to the liberation of the women’s rights movement. The goal of this was to open up opportunities for women, focusing on the early socialist feminists and the suffrages.
- · Not only did first wave feminists want the right to vote (suffrages), but they also wanted the right to an education, the right to work, the right to work safely and be catered for like the men, the right to earn money when working, the right to have children, the right to a divorce and the right over their own bodies
- · The first wave of feminism focused on legal issues. It was not until the late 19th century that the efforts for women’s equal rights emerged into an identifiable movement, charged by feminists who wanted women to no longer be inferior.
- · First wave feminists had to battle against a society in which a unmarried woman was considered property of her father. Correspondingly, a married woman was considered property of her husband. First wave feminists used this to strive for independence and stand for themselves, instead of being the property of others.
The first wave of feminism allowed women to
start taking control over what happened to them and how the world would start seeing
women from now on. The likes of the birth control pill were now available,
working conditions started to become more appropriate and the crusade against
lynching and race based violence. Women now started to gain some freedom, and
equality was now starting to become apparent in more countries.
Second wave feminism
- · The second wave of feminism began in the 1960’s through to the 1990’s.
- · This second wave introduced feminist now arguing for not only equal rights, but broadening the debate to issues such as sexuality, workplace, family and reproductive rights.
- · Second wave feminism drew attention to acts hidden by men to the outside world, such as rape and domestic violence. The voices of women now seemed to have more empowerment
- · The growing revolt of women against their oppression started in the late 1960’s. The likes of many different backgrounds came together and opposed the old oppression that seemed to be dying out.
- · Despite many women going to college in the early 20th century, the stereotypical suburban housewife status downgraded most women, downplaying the importance of an education. Wanting to erase this outlook some women had, feminists of the second wave understood that girls and women must be encouraged to seek out an education if they were to ever be seen as, “equal’.
The second wave of feminism allowed women to
change the perception men would have had of them. No longer would women
tolerate injustice against them. Not only were women gaining control of
themselves, but they also had control over what happened to them. Feminists now
had more power over men in the sense that women are no longer their possession,
but their own unique person with equal rights.
