shout out to the feminists of the past...

these are the women to thank for all that they did for womankind, as well as the movements of feminism in the US...

Women’s Movements in America
liberal feminism- women and men are alike and equal in most respects
cultural feminism- women and men are essentially different
Colonial Women: Emma Hart Willard- first female educator, founded Troy Female Seminary in New York State; Prudence Crandall- opened first public high school for girls in 1824; Mary Lyons- 1837 opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in Mass.; Charlotte Perkins Gilmore- wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, radically feminist; Henrietta Rodman- 1908 “marriage is not misconduct”;

First Wave: 1840-1925
1840 Lucretia Coffin Mott- excluded as a Representative to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London bc she was a woman.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Mary Wollstonecraft- first feminist; Susan B. Anthony
American Woman Suffrage Association- Lucy Stone. kept maiden name.
1848 Seneca Falls Convention, first vocal women’s effort to try to gain the rights in the Constitution. “Women’s Rights Convention”
initial links between abolitionists and women’s rights.
black men gained the right to vote before women did. (1870)
1872 Susan B. Anthony attempted to vote and was arrested. Victoria Woodhall ran for president.
Cult of Domesticity
“true womanhood”- domesticity
belief is moral virtue led these women to fight for prohibition, child labor laws, rights of women prisoners, and peace.
mostly white women.
1920 women gain the right to vote
Alice Paul and Carrie Chapmen Catt- organized massive demonstrations, staged boycotts and hunger strikes, destroyed property, chained themselves to public buildings.
Harriet Tubman and Sojouner Truth.
1940 over 6 million women join the workforce during the war, most laid off when men return. Rosie the Riveter.
Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks.
Sexual Revolution
Margaret Sanger- birth control was the key to Women’s equality.
1938- 300 abortion clinics nationwide.
1960- FDA approved manufacturing of ‘the pill.’
1965- states couldn’t ban the distribution of contraception to married ppl
1972- contraception purchase was no longer limited to married ppl.

Second Wave: 1960-1995
1953- Simone de Beauvoir- The Second Sex. Women have always been free, but trapped by limiting conditions.
radical feminism- the oppression of women is the most fundamental form or oppression on which all others are modeled.
1968 radical feminists met and developed new forms of communication that focused on equality. chip system.
Guerilla Girls- wear masks to insist that identities are irrelevant, campaigns against sexism, racism, and elitism in the art world.
Today, 70% of women participate in the paid labor force. 1 they need the money, and 2 they enjoy having a life outside the home.
1963 Betty Freidan published The Feminine Mystique. “the problem that has no name.”
1966 Nat’l Organization for Women, NOW, ‘women and men are alike in important respects and are therefore entitled to equal rights and opportunities.’
Liberal feminism has become more inclusive of diverse women and the issues in their lives.
Gloria Steinem- Ms. magazine, renowned feminist.
1973- Roe v. Wade legalized abortion.
1981- Sandra Day O’Connor first female justice on the US Supreme Court.
1983- Sally Ride became the first female astronaut.
separatists- strive for lifestyles and communities in which women live independently in mutual respect and harmony.
lesbian feminism- only women who do not orient their lives around men can truly be free.
use their voices to respond to social criticisms of their sexual orientations
adopt proactive rhetorical strategies to assert their value, rights, and integrity.
revalorists- aim to increase society’s appreciation of women and their contribution to society.
use unusual language to call attention to what they are doing, ‘re-covering,’ not recovering women’s history.
celebrate women’s traditional activities: support exhibits of weaving, quilting; festivals that highlight women’s creative expression.
enter into debates to secure unique legal rights to women.
1974 ecofeminism- highlight the connection between efforts to control and subordinate women to the quest to dominate nature. Unites intellectual and political strength of feminist thought with ecology’s concerns about our living planet. Oppression itself is the primary issue.
bell hooks “it’s a mistake to think that feminism is just about women or women’s rights…feminism is about justice”
1970s Womanism- many black women see womanism as addressing both their racial and gender identities.
black women are more often single, have less formal education, bear more children, are paid less, and assume more financial responsibility.
goals include: reforming social services to respond more humanely to poor women, and increasing training and job opportunities so that women of color can improve the material conditions of their lives.
Multiracial Feminism- what gender means and how it affects our lives varies as a result of economic class, sexual orientation, race, and so forth.
the key to understanding anyone’s identity lies in the intersection of multiple categories.
1990s Power Feminism- contends that society doesn’t oppress women bc women have the power to control what happens to them. Naomi Wolf says that the only thing holding women back from equality is their own belief that they are victims. Endorsed by ppl who have access to power.

Third Wave Feminism now
includes women of different ethnicities, (dis)abilities, classes, appearances, and sexual orientations.
5 features:
Solidarity to Incorporate Differences Among Women- trying to create identities that accommodate ambiguity and our multiple personalities.
Building Coalitions- we can’t do the work for men…we want to meet men in the middle, not do all the adjusting ourselves.
Integrating Theory into Everyday Life- emphasize the rift between legality and reality, theory and practice, structural changes and everyday life.
Political is Personal- politics are personal and emerge from everyday lives. Personal actions are a key way to instigate change in both individual and collective lives. Politics are also interpersonal, about how we talk and relate to each other.
Celebrating Girl Culture- sexual statements can be powerful instead of passive. Seeks to engage pop culture and shape it to suit women.

Gender inequality is built into the organization of marriage, families, work and the economy, politics, religion, the arts, and other cultural productions and the very language we speak. Making women and men equal, therefore, necessitates social and not individual language we speak.