The history of feminism has been a long and
difficult struggle for women to gain the rights they deceive, and even today
the fight for equal rights still continues across the globe. One of the pivotal
points for the feminist movements was in 1792 when Mary Wollstonecraft,
England, wrote ‘A Vindication of the
Rights of Women’, which was the first time that women’s rights had been
publicly bought into the light. She demanded an end to double standards and the
women’s right to independent work, education, and to political represented by a
women. It was an instant best seller and formed the basis of feminist beliefs. Across
the channel the French Revolution gave women the chance of changing the old
regime and bringing a new-enlightened ideal. News of the uproar in Europe
traveled to America giving women hope that they could ‘overthrow the domestic
tyranny of men,’ and it was through the movement against slavery that gave all women
the chance to organize a political movement against their oppression. This
included the story of Harriet Tubman (1823-1913), one of many black women, who
risked her life on the Underground Railroad that led the slaves to freedom. The
first Women’s Rights Convention was held in 1848, but it was nearly ten years
before the state legislatures began passing reforms dealing with women’s rights
issues that had been campaigned for, including the right for a married women to
have her wages paid directly to her and not her husband. In 1850’s, similar
campaigns were being fought over in the United Kingdom with Barbara Leigh Smith
and Bessie Rayner, amongst other courageous women, also known as the “Ladies of
Langham Place.” In the 1860’s and 70’s a second generation of Feminism rose;
the social purity movement that deemed alcohol, violence and pornography as
reasons for unkindly male behavior. At the turn of the century the campaigns
began focusing on votes for a women, but they didn’t get the vote until 1918,
after the government was weakened by the war. The British movement was headed
in Britain primarily by the Pankhurst Family; Emmeline, Sylvia and Christabel. The
1920’s saw a dramatic change for women, with a newfound independence, higher
education and job opportunities, but by the 30’s it was beginning to change.
The great depression resulted in fewer jobs, and women were accused of stealing
men’s jobs. Facism support grew as a hope to end the economic upset, which
threatened all work for equality; the previous generations of women had worked
for. When WW2 came, the men went off to fight and the women took over the jobs,
some 7 million jobs in the US, and suddenly there was money invested in
daycare, but after the war ended, 4
out of 5 women in the US wanted to keep their jobs. This led to media
brainwashing in the 1950’s, for women to stay at home and be housewives. The
second wave of Feminism took off in the 1960’s and 70’s and again the fight for
women’s rights was spurred on by the Black Civil Rights movement in the US, for
black rights as it had in the 19th century with the slavery. In
1955, Rosa Parks sat in the whites only bus seat, causing uproar against
segregation. This bought white and black women together for the fight for
desegregation and voter registration but they met strong resistance. The 60’s
introduced numerous women who had a higher education but were being pushed into
feminine roles and looking after men. The word feminist was falling out of
fashion and renamed women’s liberation .The most iconic protest of the women
liberation groups happened in 1968 against the Miss America beauty contests,
which involved crowning a sheep “Miss America” and the freedom Trash Can which
held items of symbolic women’s oppression. They were accused as “Bra- Burning
women’s libbers”, by the media although nothing had actually been set on fire.
At the same time in Britain women began striking and protesting for equal pay,
starting with the Ford Motor Company, whose sewing machinists, who made the car
seats, bought the factory to a standstill when they demanded recognition for
the skills they possessed, and better pay. This started a chain reaction for
other women to stand up and strike for equal pay. By the 70’s women liberation
groups were beginning to make a break through, with new laws being passed
throughout the decade, including the 1973 decision to allow women the right to
choose to have an abortion, the Women’s Educational Equity Act(1974), the
Pregnant Discrimination Act (1978) and the illegalization of marital rape act .
More women had the choice and ability to join consciousness-raising classes,
learn self defense and join in on campaigns. Lesbian Feminists bought in the
issue of homosexuality, which had been widely outlawed and frowned upon as a
psychiatric problem, and had been an underground culture for many centuries.
The movement helped many women “come out” but they faced homosexual prejudice. From
the 1980’s to present, there is a generation of women who are scientists,
politicians, lawyers, astronauts. This era has been labeled ‘the third wave of
feminism’ or ‘the post-feminist movement,’ as women continue the work of those
before them for equality of the sexes around the world.
