By: Roma Kapoor
Feminism advocates for women's rights based on the equality of the sexes. Seems pretty straightforward, right? However, when you dive into US History, you see so much more than just “one layer” of feminism. Being the complex, revolutionary, intricate concept feminism is, it is constantly evolving and finding ways to serve women and society better. As a result, feminism is mainly divided into four key waves- with the first starting all the way in the 19th century, leading up to the present day.
First-wave feminism is the first global feminist movement we see in the Westen World. Taking place during the 19th and 20th centuries, this movement looks at feminism from a primarily legal lens. What this feminist movement achieved set the pathway for not just all other feminist movements but for the billions of women who have lived since. Before this movement, females had little to no legal rights; however, due to revolutionaries like Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth, women in the US could get the right to vote, access to education, and own property.
The early 1960s marked the start of the two-decade-long wave of the second feminist movement . It took place around the Western world and aimed to further feminist achievements from the first wave of feminism. Additionally, second-wave feminism focused on sexual, emotional, and physical violence targeting women. Women's shelters and rape crisis centers were established, and massive legislation was pushed that changed divorce and custody rules. Though this wave sparked much positive change within the feminist sphere, the end of this era is marked by inter-feminism conflict over topics like sexuality and pornography. Conflict over these topics ushered the third wave of feminism in the early 1990s.
A key thing with third-wave feminism is that no one really knows what it is. From the years of the 1990s to the early 2000s, Third-wave feminism fervently built on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s-1970s. The wave tried to establish the feminist sphere as a more diverse space that emphasized the worth of a female as an individual. Regarded as an incubator for feminist theories- the concepts of intersectionality, sex positivity, vegetarian ecofeminism, transfeminism, and postmodern feminism were all founded during this time! Feminists of the third wave tried to reach global audiences with blogs, e-zines, and magazines.
The fourth wave of feminism emphasizes intersectionality and asks how we can create a safer feminist space for all groups of women. Intersectionality says we must acknowledge that everyone has unique experiences with prejudice and sexism. As a result, the feminist community must consciously work to make a space that includes all women by taking into account sex, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. Fourth-wave feminists want for not only greater representation of females in politics and society, but also a greater number of marginalized groups within the feminist sphere being represented. They also argue that policy decisions should be made considering the perspectives of marginalized people in the feminist sphere. Fourth-wave feminism has also revolutionized the global fight of feminism through the use of social media! Social media has not only provided a platform for feminism to be spread faster, but because it successfully tackles down cost barriers, we see many different types of feminists can express themselves.
Now you might be wondering- why do these waves matter? Why does it matter that feminism used to be about women getting to vote or domestic violence shelters being built? The truth is that unless we take a cold, hard look at our past, we cannot build a future that serves as the foundation of feminism for generations to come. As the fifth wave of feminism is evolving into a multi-dimensional force in all aspects of society, for us to truly make it as revolutionary as possible, we must look at our past and ask ourselves- what can we do like them?
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