Definition and Brief History of Feminism

Definition of Feminism

Feminism
Movements aimed at establishing and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women.
The Concepts 

• Overlap with those of women's rights. 
• Some people argue that gender is a social construction that harms all people; feminism thus seeks to liberate men as well as women.  
• Feminists—that is, persons practicing feminism—can be persons of either sex.

The Emergence

• Emerged from these feminist movements and includes general theories and theories about the origins of inequality, and, in some cases, about the social construction of sex and gender, in a variety of disciplines. 
• Feminist activists have campaigned for women's rights—such as in contract, property, and voting—while also promoting women's rights to bodily integrity and autonomy and reproductive rights. They have opposed domestic violence,sexual harassment, and sexual assault. 
• In economics, they have advocated for workplace rights, including equal pay and opportunities for careers and to start businesses.
• The movements and theoretical developments were historically led predominantly by middle-class white women from Western Europe and North America, but, since then, more women have proposed additional feminisms.

A Brief History of Feminism

• Divided into three "waves" that deal with different aspects of the same feminist issues.  
•  The first wave - Movement of the 19th through early 20th centuries especially in Europe, which dealt mainly with suffrage, working conditions and educational rights for women and girls. The second wave (1960s-1980s) dealt with the inequality of laws, as well as cultural inequalities and the role of women in society. The third wave of feminism (late 1980s-early first decade of the 21st century), is seen as both a continuation of the second wave and a response to the perceived failures.