Introspecting History of Feminism
Feminism is quite a pristine concept to be precise, it simply means ‘equality of genders’. Yet, the set of alphabets ‘Fem’ seem to mean opposite to people in society, at large. Feminism for most people is an act of alleviating the female society more than the male one, which is in fact not what it is meant to be. Equality is what feminism is all about, yet people base their twisted ideas into its concept — basically converting feminism to a sort of ‘pseudo-feminist’ set of ideals.
Feminism is a high ideal that resonates the idea of being proud of who we are. Feminism yearns for the change of inequality in society. The word Feminism was first coined by Charles Fourier, a French philosopher in 1837 — and it meant an equality of genders, rights, economics and every other social and personal status in society. The famous Oxford English Dictionary claims the word ‘feminist’ appeared in the Dictionary in 1852. The concept of feminism was prevalent in many historical movements all along from the time of its inception. Feminist suffrage parades happened all across USA in 1910–1912 for equal suffrage rights for both men and women.
Charlotte Gilman, a famous columnist, wrote about feminism for the Atlanta Constitution, 10 December 1916. Miss Pankhurst was also a famous preacher of the concepts of ‘feminism’, by giving speeches all across Britain and USA in the year of 1913. In the Netherlands, Wilhelmina Drucker fought for equal rights of men and women, also under the concepts of ‘feminism’. In 1899, Qasim Amin, considered the “father” of Arab feminism, wrote The Liberation of Women, which argued for legal and social reforms for women, under parallel lines with Arab nationalism. He drew parallel lines even with position of women in Egyptian society.
Even, in China, during the later phases of Qing Dynasty, several Chinese feminists held movements all across the nation. Later, the Chinese Communist Party integrated work-force of women into the society. In mid-20th century, feminists, mostly women, fought for rights in several nations for voting and family laws.
In Switzerland , women gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971, but only momentarily. In Liechtenstein, women were given the right to vote by the Referendum of 1984. In France, married women did not receive the right to work without their husband’s permission until 1965.Simone Veil (1927–2017), former French Minister of Health (1974–79) made access to contraceptive pills easier and legalized abortion (1974–75) which became her greatest and hardest achievement.
In 1956, President Abdel Nasser of Egypt initiated “state feminism”, which outlawed discrimination on grounds of gender and granted women’s suffrage, but also blocked political activism by feminist leaders. In Latin America, revolutions brought changes in women’s status in countries such as Nicaragua, where feminist ideology aided women’s quality of life but fell short of achieving a social and ideological change. In the early 1990s, USA faced what is called the ‘Third Wave of Feminism’ due to the advent of a punk culture named “Riot grrrl”, accredited much more due to famed feminist Rebecca Walker, who responded to Thomas’s appointment to the Supreme Court with an article in “Ms.” Magazine. An excerpt of that article is:
“So I write this as a plea to all women, especially women of my generation: Let Thomas’ confirmation serve to remind you, as it did me, that the fight is far from over. Let this dismissal of a woman’s experience move you to anger. Turn that outrage into political power. Do not vote for them unless they work for us. Do not have sex with them, do not break bread with them, do not nurture them if they don’t prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives. I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave.”
Modern day feminism has been reduced much to pseudo-feminism. People nowadays do not seem to understand the basic principle behind feminism and demand for yet in-equal rights which favor women in many cases. For example, the infamous #MeToo Movement has helped oppressed women of all ages speak out against their oppressors after decades of oppression but many a times, it has been noticed that the Movement has been steered into the wrong direction for personal benefits by many women. Some ‘psuedo-feminists’ think that quotes like “All Men are Trash” makes both genders equal but it is hardly so — it demeans the big movement of feminism. To inculcate real ‘feminism’, both genders need to be tolerant to each other and be respectful. They should demand equal rights, and they will be given but asking for anything unfair will never bring a conclusion.
