Feminism

Feminism encompasses a diverse range of sociopolitical movements, intellectual traditions and activist efforts aimed at defining and achieving political, economic, personal and social equality of the sexes. At its core, feminism identifies contemporary societies as patriarchal, meaning that social structures tend to prioritise male experiences and interests. Feminist advocacy therefore seeks to challenge and transform these structures, address systemic injustices and expand opportunities for women in public and private life.
Since its emergence in late eighteenth-century Europe, the feminist movement has campaigned for a wide set of rights and freedoms. These include access to education, property ownership, employment, equal pay, reproductive autonomy, protection from gender-based violence and the right to participate fully in civic and political life. Feminist theory, which developed alongside organised activism, provides analytical tools for examining how gender roles, cultural norms and institutional practices contribute to inequality.

Early Development and Terminology

Although organised feminist movements took shape in the nineteenth century, earlier writers expressed ideas that later became associated with feminism. Mary Wollstonecraft, through her influential work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), argued that women’s inequality was rooted in structural conditions related to class, property and limited access to education. Her writings are widely regarded as foundational to feminist philosophy.
The term feminism has a complex linguistic history. Variants of the French words fémisme and féminisme appeared in the nineteenth century, initially in medical contexts and often pejoratively. By the 1870s the word began to be used to describe advocacy for women’s rights in France. From there, parallel terminology developed in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and later the United States, becoming firmly established in English by the 1890s. The related term feminist originally carried negative connotations, often used to criticise perceived challenges to conventional gender norms.
Historical studies differ on how broadly to apply the term feminism. Some writers consider all movements advocating women’s rights as feminist, regardless of whether participants used the label. Others restrict the term to the modern movement from the nineteenth century onwards, describing earlier examples as protofeminist.

Feminist Theory and Intellectual Traditions

Feminist theory analyses the nature and consequences of gender inequality by examining women’s social roles, cultural expectations and lived experiences. It spans multiple disciplines, including sociology, psychology, political science, anthropology, literature and law. Significant contributors have addressed issues such as gendered identity formation, moral reasoning, socialisation processes and institutional bias.
By the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, several major schools of feminist thought had emerged:

• Liberal feminism, rooted in liberal democratic principles, focuses on legal and political equality through reform of existing institutions.
• Socialist and Marxist feminism emphasises class relations, economic inequality and the connections between capitalism and women’s oppression.
• Radical feminism, prominent during the second wave, argues that patriarchy is embedded in the fundamental organisation of society and calls for far-reaching structural change.

These three traditions are often referred to as the Big Three schools of modern feminist theory. From the late twentieth century, further developments included black feminism, intersectional feminism and other approaches responding to critiques that earlier feminist movements had centred predominantly white, middle-class and cisgender perspectives.

Major Historical Waves of Feminism

Although the wave metaphor oversimplifies the global diversity of feminist activism, it provides a useful framework for understanding the evolution of the modern Western feminist movement.
First-wave feminism emerged in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing primarily on women’s civil and political rights. Key reforms included changes to property laws, marriage rights and custody arrangements. Legislation such as the Custody of Infants Act 1839 and the Married Women’s Property Acts of 1870 and 1882 in the United Kingdom set precedents that influenced similar reforms throughout the British Empire. Political campaigning for women’s suffrage intensified towards the end of the century. New Zealand became the first self-governing region to grant women the vote in 1893, followed by South Australia in 1894 and the Commonwealth of Australia in 1902. In the United Kingdom, decades of activism culminated in the Representation of the People Act 1918 and equal suffrage in 1928. In the United States, leading advocates such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony supported both abolitionism and women’s political rights; national suffrage was achieved with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919.
Second-wave feminism, beginning in the 1960s, broadened its focus from legal reform to social and cultural inequalities. The movement addressed workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, sexuality, domestic violence and social expectations surrounding women’s roles. This wave contributed to major shifts in family law, labour rights and access to contraception and abortion.
Third-wave feminism, identified around the early 1990s, emphasised individuality, diversity and the fluidity of gender identities. It sought to challenge universalist assumptions within earlier movements and highlighted a wide range of experiences shaped by race, class, ethnicity, sexuality and cultural background.
Fourth-wave feminism, emerging around 2012, is strongly associated with digital activism and widespread use of social media. It is marked by global campaigns against sexual harassment, sexual violence and systemic gender inequality, most prominently visible in the Me Too movement.

Aims and Achievements of Feminist Movements

Across its various periods and ideological currents, feminism has pursued numerous reforms. Key objectives have included:

• securing equal political rights, including suffrage and eligibility for public office;
• expanding women’s access to education and employment;
• reducing disparities in pay and working conditions;
• strengthening protections against domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment;
• advancing reproductive rights, including access to contraception and abortion;
• advocating maternity leave and equal rights within marriage;
• promoting more equitable cultural norms, including dress standards and social expectations.

These efforts have contributed to major social and legislative changes, particularly in the Western world. They have shaped gender-neutral legal language, broadened economic and educational opportunities and reinforced the principle that women and men should possess equal civil rights. Internationally, feminist movements have drawn attention to global inequalities and encouraged the development of policies addressing gender-based discrimination.

Critiques and Expanding Perspectives

While feminism has historically centred women’s rights, some theorists argue that rigid gender roles also harm men and that addressing these issues should be considered part of broader feminist goals. Critics within the movement have challenged tendencies to privilege specific cultural, racial or social perspectives, leading to the development of more inclusive frameworks such as intersectionality. These approaches highlight how overlapping forms of discrimination create differing experiences of inequality.