Feminism in Waves: A Brief Overwiew of the First, Second and Third Wave

Feminism, in the most generic of definitions, is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes, and organized activity on behalf of women's rights and common interests. There are many "feminists" and many different theories. However, feminism can be broken up into three waves; first-wave which spans from the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, second-wave which spans from the early 1960's through the late 1980's, and the third-wave which started in the early 1990's, and is continuing through present time. This paper investigates feminism from the nineteenth century to current times. I will be focusing on feminism broken up into these three waves in the general context, giving special emphasis on the second-wave of feminism.

The first-wave of feminism began in the United Kingdom and the United States around the nineteenth century and lasted until the early twentieth century. The main focus of this movement at this time was on de jure inequalities, or officially mandated inequalities. There were many people during this time who were considered to be feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Olympia Brown, and Helen Pitts; there are countless more. Most people consider the first-wave to have ended when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed, granting women the right to vote. This major victory of the movement also included reforms in education, in the workplace and professions, and in healthcare. There arose a feeling of unfinished business left in the air, thus lead to the need for another era.

The first-wave of feminism was monumental to the movement, however, without the continuing second-wave, there would be no hope for feminism in current times, for each wave is connected and dependent on the other's history. The second-wave of feminism refers to the period of feminism beginning in the early 1960's and extending through the late 1980's. Unlike the first-wave, the second-wave's focus was on the de facto inequalities, or unofficial inequalities, and also felt that de jure and de facto inequalities were inextricably linked issues that needed to be addressed together if there was ever going to be any hope of change. This wave encouraged women to understand aspects of their personal lives and deeply politicized, and reflective of a sexists structure of power. The key word of this wave was education, of women and of men.

There were several major moments during this wave, such as, The Feminine Mystique, hitting the shelves, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, Formation of National Organization for Women (NOW), the rise of radical feminism during the 1970's, Title IX in the Education Amendments of 1972 passed, the Feminist Sex Wars of the late 1970's and 1980's, and the Roe vs. Wade decision decided. There were also some key players in this wave such as Bella Abzug, Lorraine Bethel, Charlotte Bunch, Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Jo Freeman, Betty Friedan, Michele Wallace, and Ann Simonton. Though there were many successes during this wave, there was an undeniable idea that the second wave had failed.

Therefore, this leads us to the third-wave of feminism which began in the early 1990's and is continuing today. Since there was this feeling of failure left throughout, the third-wave rose as a response to this felling, and in full force. It is also believed that this wave was in response to the backlash against initiatives and movements that were unexpectedly created by the second-wave. Again, with either of the two waves, there are important people we must consider, such as, Judith Butler, Martha Davis, Betty Dodson, Miranda July, Sandra Oh, and Molly Yard. Celebrity women have played a large role in informing the public, such as Sandra Oh, taking advantage of the fact that people look up to her, and therefore sharing her opinion and changing the minds of younger people.

In conclusion, feminism is not some simple thing that people can generalize, like it is just an excuse for women to kick men in the balls, and not take care of themselves, or that men and women must be equal at all costs. Feminism is a movement which has been incredibly important to the success and failures of this country and has been a necessary journey for the women in our country to travel upon so that they can discover and create their own unique place in society.

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