What is Feminism?
Feminism starts from a simple claim: women should have the same rights and chances as men. Feminists point to many ways in which that has not been true. Women were barred from voting, owning property, entering universities and working in many professions. Many still face unequal pay, violence and unfair treatment at home or at work. Beyond that shared goal, feminists disagree a great deal. Some work within the existing system to change laws. Others want deeper change to the economy or family life. There are religious and non-religious feminists, left wing and conservative ones, and debates about what equality should look like.
Core beliefs
- Women and men should have equal legal, political and economic rights.
- Women have been held back by laws, customs and social expectations.
- Violence against women and girls is a serious public problem.
- Women should control decisions about their own bodies and lives.
- Unpaid care work deserves recognition and a fairer share between the sexes.
- Gender equality should include women of every race, class and background.
History
Writers argued for women's education and rights well before the 1800s, but organised feminism took off with the Enlightenment. In 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a landmark text. A convention in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a leading voice, called for votes for women. In Britain, John Stuart Mill wrote The Subjection of Women in 1869, and suffragettes campaigned in the early 1900s. New Zealand allowed women to vote in 1893, and Britain and the United States followed after the First World War. Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, from 1949, argued that womanhood is shaped by society. In the 1960s and 1970s a new wave took on work, family law, reproduction and violence. Later writers such as bell hooks argued that earlier feminism had too often ignored Black and working-class women.
Variants
People often speak of waves. Liberal feminism seeks equal rights within existing institutions. Socialist and Marxist feminism ties women's position to class and the economy. Radical feminism sees male power, or patriarchy, as the root issue. Black feminism and intersectional approaches look at how gender combines with race and class. Some feminists focus on rights in poorer countries or on religious communities. There are also deep disagreements over topics such as pornography, sex work and the meaning of sex and gender, and these divide feminists from each other.
Criticisms
Social conservatives argue that feminism has weakened the family and ignored real differences between the sexes. Some libertarians object to laws and quotas aimed at equal outcomes. Men's rights writers say that boys and men face their own problems in schools, courts and health, and are overlooked. Within feminism, women from poorer countries and minority groups have criticised the movement for speaking mainly for white, middle-class women. Supporters respond that equal rights are basic fairness and that the gains in law, health and education speak for themselves.
In practice
Feminist campaigns helped win votes for women, rights to own property, access to higher education, equal pay laws, protection against workplace discrimination and domestic violence laws. They also shaped debates about parental leave, child care, contraception and abortion. On the 12 axes feminism scores strongly toward Progressive on Morality and toward Secular on Religion, with a lean toward Shared on Welfare. Its economic scores are mixed because liberal and socialist feminists disagree.