To answer this question, we have to first understand what the original definition of feminism was. Historically, feminism refers to:

“The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson

However, over the years, the definition and public perception of feminism has underwent multiple alterations. To genuinely understand how the definition and meaning of the word “feminism” has changed along the years, a crucial aspect of this is to analyse the stages of feminism. Looking at the multiple waves of feminism would enable us to understand how it has truly grown and changed along the years.

First Wave Feminism

First wave feminism occurred from the nineteen century to the early twentieth century (1848-1920) . This time period saw the process of women redeeming most of the rudimentary legal rights that we are able to enjoy today. Gaining political equality between the genders was the key objective of first wave feminism. A key defining event of First Wave Feminism is women gaining suffrage and the right to vote. First Wave Feminism also brought about a greater discussions of the role of women in marriage, and the amount of power that a men is entitled to have over his wife after marriage. Through first wave feminism, the ideology that men are more superior than women in marriage has been somewhat abolished. It came to public perception that men no longer had the legal authority and power to wield power over their wives. This lead to women having a greater say in the household than before. In this wave, significant effort has been put into eradicating the perception that men were innately superior and more important than women. This is also evident through the the legalisation of women’s involvement in politics. The fact that their vote is now registered as a verified ballot shows how women’s vote has been increasingly regarded. The change in society’s perception of women has also grew in their capabilities to not only be keepers and house wives. The sphere in which women are not able to involve themselves in has expanded to include previously male-dominated aspects, such as politics and law-making.

Second Wave Feminism

Second wave feminism started from 1960 and lasted till 1980. This wave of feminism focused on increasing women’s human rights in issues such as family, workplace and reproductive rights. In the aspect of family, domestic violence and marital rape was addressed. Laws were implemented to make the rape of women by their husbands illegal. Reproductive rights of women referred to making abortion legal and accessible to women regardless of race, religion or sexual position. This also included increasing women’s accessibility to sexual reproduction knowledge, and making female genitalia mutation (FGM) illegal.

Third Wave Feminism

This wave of feminism started in 1980. It focused on increasing the rights of women in the workplace, and implementing policies against workplace sexual harassment. This wave of feminism also worked towards increasing the number of women in positions of power and authority. This included having more women wielding positions in the government and also having more women in company’s board of directors.

Through analysing the waves of feminism, this has allowed us to better understand the dynamic nature the complex issue of feminism. The definition of feminism has been constantly evolving and changing, and its definition has constantly expanded to include a greater number of aspects.

~by Charlotte 🙂