Narrative

Throughout time, there has been an evolution of feminism. Where feminism started in the first wave has set the tone for later waves of feminism, and how women’s activists have laid the groundwork for later ideas and feminism. The waves in the middle still hold importance. All the waves of feminism have a distinct historical and cultural prevalence, not only in America but also in other countries.

In the dawn of women’s rights, feminism emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first wave of feminism was primarily driven by the fight for women’s suffrage and legal rights—the leading activists during this time were Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth. We now know that through their fight for women’s rights, women were eventually given the right to vote. These women were pioneers in the early age of feminism. They were confined to domestic roles with limited access to education and work opportunities. When we look at first-wave feminism, the main idea behind it is an emphasis on legal reforms. With the main idea, being trying to secure the right to vote for women eventually with the fight from the suffrage movement the 19th Amendment in the United States was ratified in the 1920s. Though this was an excellent step for early-age feminism, it still was not, mainly where women wanted to be, because the only women who were then able to vote were white middle-class to wealthy women. Women of color were still treated unequally compared to white women. Now moving on to fourth-wave feminism. Fourth-wave feminism began in about 2012. It is defined by its intersexual approach, emphasizing things like gender, race, class, sexuality, and disability. Different from the first wave, the fourth wave operates in a world where feminism is both a personal and a collective movement. The drive for fourth-wave feminism has been brought up significantly from social media. This was not the case in first-wave feminism, so fourth-wave has the advantage of helping more people be educated on the topic around the world, not just in your neighborhood. Though the other ways of feminism laid excellent groundwork, there are still many issues that the fourth way of feminism is here to tackle. This includes body autonomy, workplace quality, sexual harassment, and the gender pay gap. There have also been different movements that have risen from Fourway feminism, such as #MeTooAnd #TimesUp. Have brought global attention to systematic abusers. It has empowered survivors to share their stories in demand of accountability so that other women can feel encouraged to do the same. Fourth-wave feminism has also expanded to include non-binary transgender voices, recognizing that the fight for general quality must encompass all different kinds of identities. Compared to the first legal focus, the fourth wave emphasizes cultural change, addressing deeply integrated social norms.

From the fight for suffrage to digital activism, feminism has continuously adapted to the needs of women during that time. The progress that first-wave feminism made for today’s feminism is massively important and not to be forgotten, even though feminism can look different now. Overall, the different ways of feminism can represent the ongoing struggle that women consistently feel in this world. The fight for all forms of equality and freedom is continuing.