3.3.

Feminism: Meaning and waves

Meaning

The word “feminism” comes from the Latin “fēmina,” meaning “woman,” and the French “-
isme,” which denotes a belief or movement. It was first used in the late 19 th century to
describe advocacy for women’s rights and equality.

Feminism is the belief in and advocacy for gender equality, women’s rights, and the
dismantling of systemic discrimination based on gender. It seeks to ensure social, political,
and economic equality between all genders. It does not seek greater rights for women or
female superiority but advocates for a more egalitarian society, free from gender-based
disparities.

Most societies, women were traditionally confined to the home as daughters, wives and
mothers, and we are often only aware of women in history because of their relation to
famous men. Of course many women throughout history did in fact play an important role
in cultural and political life, but they tend to be invisible.

Feminism can be seen as a movement to put an end to sexism, sexist exploitation, and
oppression and to achieve full gender equality in law and in practice.

This ideology of feminism sparked the women’s movement in the 19 th century. The women’s
movement is made up of women and men who work and fight to achieve gender equality
and to improve the lives of women as a social group. The women’s movement began to
develop in North America, mainly because women there were allowed to go to
school earlier than in Europe - and women who can read and write, and who are
encouraged to think for themselves, usually start to question how society works.

Waves

First wave of feminism

The fight for women’s right to vote in elections is known as the ‘suffragette movement’. By
the end of the 19th century, this had become a worldwide movement, and the words
‘feminism’ and ‘feminist movement’ started to be used from that point on.

This first wave of feminism included mass demonstrations, the publishing of newspapers,
organised debates, and the establishment of international women’s organisations. By the
1920s, women had won the right to vote in most European countries and in North America.
At around the same time, women became more active in democratic political parties.
Women were first allowed to go to university in the early 20 th century, having both a career
and a family. Sometimes, the feminist movement was even banned but didn’t lose its
authenticity. They soon gained equal political rights in most European countries, with
women’s emancipation becoming an important aim and most women being allowed to
take on full-time jobs, divorce their husbands and go to university.

Second wave of feminism

Although this second wave of feminism aimed to achieve ‘women’s liberation’, different
groups had different ideas about how this should be done.

• Liberal feminists wanted better equality laws and reform of institutions such
as schools, churches and the media.
• Radical feminists argued that the root cause of women’s inequality is
patriarchy: men, as a group, oppress women. They also focused on violence
against women by men and started to talk about violence in the family, and
rape.
• Socialist feminists argued that it is a combination of patriarchy and
capitalism that causes women’s oppression.

The second wave of feminism also resulted in women’s studies becoming a discipline to
be studied at university, and books began to be published about women’s achievements in
literature, music and science, and recording women’s previously unwritten history.

Finally, the women’s movement played an important role in the drafting of international
documents about women’s rights, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW,
1979).

Third wave of feminism

The third wave of feminism mainly refers to the American movement in the 1990s, and was
a reaction to the backlash of conservative media and politicians announcing the end of
feminism or referring to ‘post-feminism’. The Undeclared War against Women, published in
1991, and describing the negative reaction of the patriarchal system towards women’s
liberation. women’s movements had always been met with antagonism. However, in the
1980s, the attacks on women’s rights grew stronger. The third wave of feminism laid more
emphasis on racial issues, including the status of women in other parts of the world
(global feminism). This was also a moment when a number of feminist non-governmental
organisations were established.
Third wave feminism actively uses media and pop culture to promote its ideas and to run
activities, for example by publishing blogs. It focuses on bringing feminism closer to the
people’s daily lives. The main issues that third wave feminists are concerned about
include: sexual harassment, domestic violence, the pay gap between men and women,
eating disorders and body image, sexual and reproductive rights, honour crimes and
female genital mutilation.

Cyber feminism and networked feminism (fourth-wave feminism)

The term cyber feminism is used to describe the work of feminists making use of the
Internet, cyberspace, and newmedia technologies in general. The term and movement
grew out of ‘third-wave’ feminism. However, the exact meaning is still unclear. The first
meeting of cyber feminists The First Cyber feminist International (FCI) in Kassel (Germany),
participants found it hard to provide a definition, and they told about what cyber feminism
is not. These included, for example, it is not an institution, it is not an ideology, it is not an –
ism.

Cyber feminism is considered to be a predecessor of ‘networked feminism’, which refers

One example is the online movement #metoo in 2017, which was a response on social
networks from women all over the world to the case of Harvey Weinstein, a Hollywood
producer who was accused of sexually harassing female staff in the movie industry.