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Feminism is a movement that advocates equal rights for men and women. It generally argues that promoting the equality (or in some cases, more just treatment) of women is beneficial to society as a whole, including to men, women, and children.
- Feminism is often thought of as divided into three "waves." Beginning in the 19th century, feminism focused on women's rights to own property, then expanded to include voting rights. The movement also fights for women's economical, professional and reproductive rights. Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963, which encouraged women to reject the notion that the only appropriate work for a woman is to raise children and manage a household. This "Second Wave" of feminism had ties to other cultural changes of the 1960's and 1970's, including Civil Rights movements, the Sexual Revolution, and general shifts in attitudes toward the individual and society.
- The "Third Wave" has been harder to easily categorize since it is characterized by a proliferation of diverse approaches, as well as key questionings of the assumptions of earlier "waves." The Third Wave has also emphasized the opportunities for feminisms to build close alliances with anti-racism, anti-homophobia, and economic-rights groups, as well as groups that advocate for the rights of the disabled, and for international communication and understanding..
- There have been many feminisms, including French feminism, liberal feminism, ecofeminism, and multicultural feminism, and closely related are traditions such as womanism. These traditions vary in how they understand the primary goals and methods of feminism, as well as in how closely or loosely they are related to the "Waves" mentioned above. There are also men's movements that are feminist or that approach gender in a way similar to that of many feminists.
- Looking internationally, there are distinct and richly diverse feminisms in many cultures and regions, each with their own set of goals and methods for building a more equitable or beneficial society. Despite these differences, however, these various feminisms often overlap in beliefs, tactics, or individuals, and they all share a commitment to understanding and addressing the effects and causes of gender inequality.
- In general, something may also be labelled "feminist" if it promotes gender equality or the status of women, and therefore "feminism" might be thought of as not just a movement but a connected series of approaches and alliances that may be evident in many time periods or places; in other words, even when the word "feminism" might be unknown, there might still be feminist sentiments present.
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Fast Facts
- Western feminism thought to be divided into three waves
- Generally thought to begin with Women's Suffrage in the 19th CenturyTeen Wire: The "F" Word
- bell hooks has argued that instead of identifying oneself as "a feminist," it would be better to say that one "advocates" feminism; this would make feminism a position or argument rather than a label on someone.
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First Wave
In the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, the first wave of feminism was focused on obtaining voting rights for women. Major leaders in this time were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The first wave ended with the 19th Amendment, which awarded voting rights to women.University of Montana: Feminism 101 -
Second Wave
In the 1960s, Betty Friedan wrote her book The Feminine Mystique about housewives suffering from emptiness. This brought about the second wave of feminism, which involved advocating for equal work opportunities for men and women, abortion rights, child care and maternity leave for working women. Friedan formed the National Women's Organization in 1966.The Washington Post: Voice of Feminism's Second Wave (February 5, 2006) -
Third Wave
The third wave consists mainly of women who want to improve on the feminist ideas from the second wave. It involves many advocates for further equality in the workplace, equal responsibilities in the home, and men who support feminism.Feminist.com: Ask Amy: Feminism -
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NOW.org: The National Organization for Women
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Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters - $15.95
Feminism isn't dead. It just isn't very cool anymore. Enter Full Frontal Feminism, a book that embodies the forward-looking messages that author Jessica Valenti propagates on her popular website, Feministing.com. Cov...
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Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics - $12.00
A genuine feminist politics always brings us from bondage to freedom, from lovelessness to loving....There can be no love without justice.-from the chapter "To Love Again: The Heart of Feminism"In this engaging and provocative v...
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Iron Jawed Angels - $14.98
Oscar-winner Hilary Swank stars in a fresh and contemporary look at a pivotal event in American history, telling the true story of how a pair of defiant and brilliant young activists took the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting thei...
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Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present - $16.95
From Simone de Beauvoir to Susan Faludi, from the ERA to Anita Hill -- a historically informed sourcebook that defines the intellectual and political underpinnings of contemporary feminism.In this important volume, the respected feminist...
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Questions and Answers About Feminism | View All | Ask a Question
View All Feminism Questions (3) | Ask a QuestionIs Circumcision for removing testicles and penis in early teens helps a boy to become feminized successfully? (3 Answers)Orchidectomy is the operation you are referring to - the surgical removal of the testes. The majority of male hormones are made by the testicles. By having the orchidectomy as ... read moreIs it possible to be a Muslim feminist, or is it an oxymoron? (10 Answers)It's no more unusual to be a Muslim feminist than it is to be a Christian feminist - both religions' histories contain substantial subjugation of women, and Muslim are arguably ... read more
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Margaret Sanger
- Please see Mahalo's guide to Margaret Sanger
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Feminism on Twitter Powered by Twitter
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@ShannyyyRawr @IckyIsHyper you guys sound like a Perspective in Sociology. (functionalism, marxism, feminism, post modernism, etc) haha :p
@ajibahajibah | November 10, 2009 05:32 AM -
@thecliks I agree, enough with this supposed feminist, feminism=control over your own body, not her control over my trans body
@gendercrash | November 10, 2009 05:22 AM -
Love, 1962 American High School Style http://bit.ly/2m6IEe gender feminism
@delicious50 | November 10, 2009 05:10 AM -
girls can't be bald apparently. RT @brisbanetimes Brisbane schoolgirl suspended for cancer head shave http://tinyurl.com/ycy2err #feminism
@threepaws | November 10, 2009 05:03 AM -
RT @feminismtoday Will the Stupak Amendment Affect Insurance Coverage for Miscarriages? I Think So #feminism http://bit.ly/1U2GBl
@cbhutton | November 10, 2009 04:59 AM
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Feminist Publications
B*tch Magazine: Feminist Responses to Popular Culture[1] -
Feminist Approaches to Science and Technology
Feminist thought has been influential on the philosophy, the arts, and the humanities, but it is less well-known how feminism has contributed to science, the philosophy of science, and to the way science's methods, goals, and effects are understood. Key aspects to understanding feminism's contributions to science are:1. Many scientists, both male or female, are pro-feminist, and some of them believe that feminism can help make science (or the scientific profession) better. Many non-scientists agree with this notion as well.
2. A key tenet is that being more aware of gender bias will help scientists avoid being affected by these biases in their research. This is based on the assumption that even unconscious biases can affect how one investigates a scientific question. In other words, talking about gender bias in science can help scientists be more objective, or even to have a more rigorous definition of objectivity. (See Sandra Harding's "strong objectivity."
3. Feminism has also supported the inclusion of women in studies as test subjects. While it may seem obvious to do this, for a long time, it was considered perfectly fine to test a new drug only on men, which would sometimes lead to problems -- for example, if the drug reacted badly with hormones that women have more of. More modern examples include advocating for equal attention in medical research to problems that affect women.
4. There are some feminist scientists (and other pro-science or science-interested parties) who take this idea a step further and argue that feminist approaches can change how people think of the purposes of sciences. One way that has been proposed is to ask the classical feminist questions of "Who benefits from this?", "Who could be harmed by this?", and "Who is erased from this account?" about scientific projects. Ideally, this is supposed to make ethics the center of scientific inquiry, not just an afterthought.
5. More cultural-studies based approaches include using feminist ideas to counteract the stereotype that science should be about "Man" dominating nature, or that new technology is always progress regardless of its effects on people.
6. There is considerable diversity of opinion among feminisms with regard to science. A few feminist communties wonder if all science and technology as inherently sexist or patriatchal, and feminist views of science are often aimed at persuading feminists that science is worth paying attention to.
There are also considerable debates within the communities of people interested in feminism and science. For example, some have argued that having more female scientists would lead to a more compassionate science, while other feminists have countered that women are not necessarily more compassionate than men.
7. Feminist approaches to science generally do NOT advocate extreme forms of "moral relativism" in which there's no point to making good ethical or moral choices. By being feminist, there is the commitment to looking for more ethical or politically favorable ways to do science, or to apply scientific knowledge. However, some feminist approaches do emphasize that questions of scientific ethics are often much more complex than they seem at first.
8. Feminist approaches to science tend to emphasize that historically, science (and pseudoscience as well) has played a key role in how we understand human differences, including those of gender, race, sexuality, disability, etc. Therefore, feminist approaches to science often strive to illustrate how these various categories relate to one another.
9. Most feminist approaches to science are concerned about the gender disparity found in the fields of physical science, computer science, and engineering, particularly in the higher levels, as well as in education for girls in these fields. Some people are concerned ONLY on this issue (of ensuring equality in education, training, hiring, mentorship, promotion, and salary), and do not consider that feminism has anything to do with how science is done; instead, they believe that feminism is only relevant to science with regard to the treatment of women in scientific professions (in other words, feminism relates to the business/career side of being a scientist, but not to science itself).
An example of someone who grapples with many of the above questions can be found here: "Physics and Feminism" by Priscilla Auchincloss: http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199805/backpage.cfm
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