What Is Feminism

Feminism is defined as the advocacy of social equality for men and women, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism.

  The first wave of the feminist movement in the United States began in the 1840′s as women opposed to slavery, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, drew parallels between the oppression of African Americans and the oppression of women.  The Seneca Falls convention began the social movement by which women finally won the right to vote in 1920. But other disadvantages persisted, and a second wave of feminism arose in the 1960′s and continues today.

The Basic Feminist Ideas:

1. The Importance Of Change:  Feminist thinking is decidedly political.  They think ideas to action.  It is critical of a status quo and advocates change toward social equality for women and men.
2. Expanding Human Choice:  Feminists maintain that cultural conceptions of gender divide the full range of human qualities into two opposing and limited spheres:  the female world of emotions and cooperation and the male world of rationality and competition.  As an alternative, feminists propose a “reintegration of humanity” by which each person develops all human traits (French, 1985).
3. Eliminating Gender Stratification:  Feminism opposes laws and cultural norms that limit education, income, and job opportunities of women.  For this reason, feminists advocate passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution, which states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any other State on account of sex.”  The ERA, first proposed in Congress in 1923, has support of two-thirds of U.S. adults (NORC, 2001:267).  Even so, it has yet to become law, which probably reflects the fact that most of the men who dominate state legislatures oppose the amendment.
4. Ending Sexual Violence:  Today’s women’s movement seeks to eliminate sexual violence.  Feminists argue that patriarchy distorts the relationships between men and women, encouraging violence against women in form of rape, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and pornography (Millet, 1970; Bernard, 1982, orig. 1973; Dworkin, 1987).
5. Promoting Sexual Freedom:  Feminism supports women’s control over their sexuality and reproduction.  They support the free availability of birth control information.  Most feminists also support a woman’s right to choose whether to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, rather than allowing men – as husbands, physicians, and legislators – to control their reproduction.  Many feminists also support homosexuals’ efforts to overcome the many barriers they face in predominantly heterosexual culture (Deckard, 1979; Barry, 1983; Jagger, 1983).