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150-412: Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race, class, and sexual orientation. The ideology and movement emerged in the 1960s. Radical feminists view society fundamentally as
300-478: A born-again Christian and a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement . Radical feminists hold the view that pornography contributes to sexism, arguing that in pornographic performances the actresses are reduced to mere receptacles—objects—for sexual use and abuse by men. They argue that the narrative is usually formed around men's pleasure as the only goal of sexual activity, and that the women are shown in
450-652: A liberal democratic framework, without radically altering the structure of society; liberal feminism "works within the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that structure". During the 19th and early 20th centuries liberal feminism focused especially on women's suffrage and access to education . Former Norwegian supreme court justice and former president of the liberal Norwegian Association for Women's Rights , Karin Maria Bruzelius , has described liberal feminism as "a realistic, sober, practical feminism". Susan Wendell argues that "liberal feminism
600-407: A materialist and anti- psychologistic view. They viewed men's oppression of women as ongoing and deliberate, holding individual men responsible for this oppression, viewing institutions and systems (including the family) as mere vehicles of conscious male intent, and rejecting psychologistic explanations of female submissiveness as blaming women for collaboration in their own oppression. They held to
750-400: A patriarchy in which men dominate and oppress women . Radical feminists seek to abolish the patriarchy in a struggle to liberate women and girls from an unjust society by challenging existing social norms and institutions. This struggle includes opposing the sexual objectification of women, raising public awareness about such issues as rape and other violence against women , challenging
900-417: A " matrix of domination ". Fourth-wave feminism is a proposed extension of third-wave feminism which corresponds to a resurgence in interest in feminism beginning around 2012 and associated with the use of social media. According to feminist scholar Prudence Chamberlain, the focus of the fourth wave is justice for women and opposition to sexual harassment and violence against women. Its essence, she writes,
1050-643: A "post-feminist" society, where "gender equality has (already) been achieved". According to Chunn, "many feminists have voiced disquiet about the ways in which rights and equality discourses are now used against them". Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical fields. It encompasses work in a variety of disciplines, including anthropology , sociology , economics , women's studies , literary criticism , art history , psychoanalysis , and philosophy . Feminist theory aims to understand gender inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations, and sexuality. While providing
1200-461: A campaign against the abortion ban. The journalist Alice Schwarzer had organized this avowal form of protest following a French example. In 1974, Schwarzer persuaded 329 doctors to publicly admit in Der Spiegel to having performed abortions. She also found a woman willing to terminate her pregnancy on camera with vacuum aspiration , thereby promoting this method of abortion by showing it on
1350-577: A correspondence with Beauvoir, who suggested that she contact Betty Friedan . Atkinson became an early member of the National Organization for Women, which Friedan had co-founded, serving on the national board, and becoming the New York chapter president in 1967. Her time with the organization was tumultuous, including a row with the national leadership over her attempts to defend and promote Valerie Solanas and her SCUM Manifesto in
1500-414: A critique of capitalism and are focused on ideology's relationship to women. Marxist feminism argues that capitalism is the root cause of women's oppression, and that discrimination against women in domestic life and employment is an effect of capitalist ideologies. Socialist feminism distinguishes itself from Marxist feminism by arguing that women's liberation can only be achieved by working to end both
1650-480: A critique of these social and political relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on the promotion of women's rights and interests. Themes explored in feminist theory include discrimination, stereotyping , objectification (especially sexual objectification ), oppression , and patriarchy . In the field of literary criticism , Elaine Showalter describes the development of feminist theory as having three phases. The first she calls "feminist critique", in which
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#17327730740561800-457: A form of force, not as a measure of consent. It acts like physical force does in rape." They believe that no person can be said to truly consent to their own oppression and no-one should have the right to consent to the oppression of others. Kathleen Barry argues that consent is not a "good divining rod as to the existence of oppression, and consent to violation is a fact of oppression". Andrea Dworkin wrote in 1992: Prostitution in and of itself
1950-406: A grant from Ms. Magazine . In 1971, Patricia Buckley Bozell , a Catholic and conservative activist, slapped or attempted to slap (unclear if physical contact was actually made) Atkinson after the latter made what Bozell described as "an illiterate harangue against the mystical body of Christ". The incident occurred on the platform of Catholic University of America 's auditorium while Atkinson
2100-434: A magazine which destroys women." Radical feminists used a variety of tactics, including demonstrations, speakouts, and community and work-related organizing, to gain exposure and adherents. In France and West Germany, radical feminists developed further forms of direct action. On 6 June 1971 the cover of Stern showed 28 German actresses and journalists confessing "We Had an Abortion!" ( wir haben abgetrieben! ) unleashing
2250-493: A main force behind major historical societal changes for women's rights, particularly in the West , where they are near-universally credited with achieving women's suffrage , gender-neutral language , reproductive rights for women (including access to contraceptives and abortion ), and the right to enter into contracts and own property. Although feminist advocacy is, and has been, mainly focused on women's rights, some argue for
2400-400: A medicine thesis about men suffering from tuberculosis and having developed, according to the author Ferdinand-Valère Faneau de la Cour, feminine traits. The word "féministe" ("feminist"), inspired by its medical use, was coined by Alexandre Dumas fils in a 1872 essay, referring to men who supported women rights. In both cases, the use of the word was very negative and reflected a criticism of
2550-483: A modern or party-political sense; she highlights "equality of opportunity" as a defining feature of liberal feminism. Liberal feminism is a very broad term that encompasses many, often diverging modern branches and a variety of feminist and general political perspectives; some historically liberal branches are equality feminism , social feminism , equity feminism , difference feminism , individualist/libertarian feminism and some forms of state feminism , particularly
2700-463: A mystical connection between women and nature. Sara Ahmed argues that Black and postcolonial feminisms pose a challenge "to some of the organizing premises of Western feminist thought". During much of its history , feminist movements and theoretical developments were led predominantly by middle-class white women from Western Europe and North America. However, women of other races have proposed alternative feminisms. This trend accelerated in
2850-401: A pimp, human trafficking , poverty, drug addiction , or trauma such as child sexual abuse. Women from the lowest socioeconomic classes—impoverished women, women with a low level of education, women from the most disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities—are over-represented in prostitution all over the world. Catharine MacKinnon asked: "If prostitution is a free choice, why are the women with
3000-402: A primary function to serve men sexually. They say it is crucial that society does not replace one patriarchal view on female sexuality—that women should not have sex/a relationship outside marriage and that casual sex is shameful for a woman—with another similarly oppressive and patriarchal view—acceptance of prostitution, a sexual practice based on a highly patriarchal construct of sexuality: that
3150-547: A public issue", created second-wave feminism 's vocabulary, helped to legalize abortion in the US, "were the first to demand total equality in the so-called private sphere" ("housework and child care ... emotional and sexual needs"), and "created the atmosphere of urgency" that almost led to the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment . The influence of radical feminism can be seen in the adoption of these issues by
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#17327730740563300-569: A radical feminist group active until 1973; however, she left the group in 1971 when the group barred its members from speaking to the press. By then, she had written several pamphlets on feminism, was a member of the Daughters of Bilitis and was advocating specifically political lesbianism. Atkinson led and participated in protests against Richard Nixon , the Manhattan Marriage Bureau , and gender-segregated classified ads in
3450-399: A radical feminist ideology began to emerge. It declared that " the personal is political " and the "sisterhood is powerful"; calls to women's activism coined by Kathie Sarachild and others in the group. New York Radical Women fell apart in early 1969 in what came to be known as the "politico-feminist split", with the "politicos" seeing capitalism as the main source of women's oppression, while
3600-621: A so-called "confusion of the sexes" by women who refused to abide by the sexual division of society and challenged the inequalities between sexes. The concepts appeared in the Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance in English in this meaning back to 1895. Depending on the historical moment, culture and country, feminists around
3750-533: A social and ideological change. In 1963, Betty Friedan 's book The Feminine Mystique helped voice the discontent that American women felt. The book is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. Within ten years, women made up over half the First World workforce. In 1970, Australian writer Germaine Greer published The Female Eunuch , which became
3900-590: A subordinate role. Some opponents believe pornographic films tend to show women as being extremely passive, or that the acts which are performed on the women are typically abusive and solely for the pleasure of their sex partner. On-face ejaculation and anal sex are increasingly popular among men, following trends in porn. MacKinnon and Dworkin defined pornography as "the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words that also includes women dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities...." Radical feminists say that consumption of pornography
4050-533: A view—which Willis would later describe as "neo- Maoist "—that it would be possible to unite all or virtually all women, as a class, to confront this oppression by personally confronting men. The Feminists held a more idealistic , psychologistic, and utopian philosophy, with a greater emphasis on " sex roles ", seeing sexism as rooted in "complementary patterns of male and female behavior". They placed more emphasis on institutions, seeing marriage, family, prostitution, and heterosexuality as all existing to perpetuate
4200-607: A worldwide bestseller, reportedly driving up divorce rates. Greer posits that men hate women , that women do not know this and direct the hatred upon themselves, as well as arguing that women are devitalised and repressed in their role as housewives and mothers. Third-wave feminism is traced to the emergence of the riot grrrl feminist punk subculture in Olympia, Washington , in the early 1990s, and to Anita Hill 's televised testimony in 1991—to an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee —that Clarence Thomas , nominated for
4350-484: Is "incredulity that certain attitudes can still exist". Fourth-wave feminism is "defined by technology", according to Kira Cochrane , and is characterized particularly by the use of Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , Tumblr , and blogs such as Feministing to challenge misogyny and further gender equality . Issues that fourth-wave feminists focus on include street and workplace harassment , campus sexual assault and rape culture. Scandals involving
4500-483: Is "intrinsically bound up" with her feminism. During the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s, straight women within the movement were challenged on the grounds that their heterosexual identities helped to perpetuate the very patriarchal systems that they were working to undo. According to radical lesbian writer Jill Johnston , a large fraction of the movement sought to reform sexist institutions while "leaving intact
4650-517: Is a cause of rape and other forms of violence against women . Robin Morgan summarizes this idea with her oft-quoted statement, "Pornography is the theory, and rape is the practice." They charge that pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, and reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual harassment . In her book Only Words (1993), MacKinnon argues that pornography "deprives women of
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4800-537: Is a feminist movement beginning in the early 1960s and continuing to the present; as such, it coexists with third-wave feminism. Second-wave feminism is largely concerned with issues of equality beyond suffrage, such as ending gender discrimination . Second-wave feminists see women's cultural and political inequalities as inextricably linked and encourage women to understand aspects of their personal lives as deeply politicized and as reflecting sexist power structures. The feminist activist and author Carol Hanisch coined
4950-418: Is a key issue for women, since without it the other freedoms we appear to have, such as the right to education, jobs and equal pay, may prove illusory. Provisions of childcare, medical treatment, and society's attitude towards children are also involved." Radical feminists have written about a wide range of issues regarding the sex industry—which they tend to oppose—including but not limited to what many see as:
5100-596: Is an abuse of a woman's body. Those of us who say this are accused of being simple-minded. But prostitution is very simple. [...] In prostitution, no woman stays whole. It is impossible to use a human body in the way women's bodies are used in prostitution and to have a whole human being at the end of it, or in the middle of it, or close to the beginning of it. It's impossible. And no woman gets whole again later, after. Dworkin argued that "prostitution and equality for women cannot exist simultaneously" and to eradicate prostitution "we must seek ways to use words and law to end
5250-448: Is an historical tradition that grew out of liberalism, as can be seen very clearly in the work of such feminists as Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill , but feminists who took principles from that tradition have developed analyses and goals that go far beyond those of 18th and 19th century liberal feminists, and many feminists who have goals and strategies identified as liberal feminist ... reject major components of liberalism" in
5400-406: Is conformity to men. . . . Because in this society male characteristics fundamentally have more prestige, recognition and above all more power, we easily fall into the trap of rejecting and devaluing all that is female and admiring and emulating all that is considered male. . . . The battle against the female role must not become the battle for the male role. . . . The feminist demand, which transcends
5550-412: Is particularly the case for libertarian feminism which conceives of people as self-owners and therefore as entitled to freedom from coercive interference. Radical feminism arose from the radical wing of second-wave feminism and calls for a radical reordering of society to eliminate male supremacy . It considers the male-controlled capitalist hierarchy as the defining feature of women's oppression and
5700-457: Is used to describe a range of viewpoints reacting to feminism since the 1980s. While not being "anti-feminist", postfeminists believe that women have achieved second wave goals while being critical of third- and fourth-wave feminist goals. The term was first used to describe a backlash against second-wave feminism, but it is now a label for a wide range of theories that take critical approaches to previous feminist discourses and includes challenges to
5850-555: The Ladies' Home Journal headquarters. These women demanded that the publication replace its male editor with a female editor, and accused the Ladies Home Journal , "with their emphasis on food, family, fashion, and femininity", of being "instruments of women's oppression". One protester explained the goal of the protest by saying that they "were there to destroy a publication which feeds off of women's anger and frustration,
6000-670: The New York Times . She advocated for more violent means of activism, and publicly admired the Italian-American Unity League and the Weathermen . Her book Amazon Odyssey was published in 1974. Atkinson was involved with Sagaris, an experimental feminist summer school in Lyndonville, Vermont, in the 1970s, but left the organization with several other faculty members after the school accepted
6150-642: The Chinese Communist Party created projects aimed at integrating women into the workforce, and claimed that the revolution had successfully achieved women's liberation. According to Nawar al-Hassan Golley, Arab feminism was closely connected with Arab nationalism . In 1899, Qasim Amin , considered the "father" of Arab feminism, wrote The Liberation of Women , which argued for legal and social reforms for women. He drew links between women's position in Egyptian society and nationalism, leading to
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6300-595: The Custody of Infants Act 1839 in the UK, which introduced the tender years doctrine for child custody and gave women the right of custody of their children for the first time. Other legislation, such as the Married Women's Property Act 1870 in the UK and extended in the 1882 Act , became models for similar legislation in other British territories. Victoria passed legislation in 1884 and New South Wales in 1889;
6450-605: The Everyday Sexism Project , No More Page 3 , Stop Bild Sexism , Mattress Performance , 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman , #YesAllWomen , Free the Nipple , One Billion Rising , the 2017 Women's March , the 2018 Women's March , and the #MeToo movement. In December 2017, Time magazine chose several prominent female activists involved in the #MeToo movement, dubbed "the silence breakers", as Person of
6600-828: The Iranian revolution of 1979, many of the rights that women had gained from the women's movement were systematically abolished, such as the Family Protection Law . By the mid-20th century, women still lacked significant rights. In France , women obtained the right to vote only with the Provisional Government of the French Republic of 21 April 1944. The Consultative Assembly of Algiers of 1944 proposed on 24 March 1944 to grant eligibility to women but following an amendment by Fernard Grenier , they were given full citizenship, including
6750-561: The Miss America pageant in order to bring "sexist beauty ideas and social expectations" to the forefront of women's social issues. Even though bras were not burned on that day, the protest led to the phrase "bra-burner". "Feminists threw their bras—along with "woman-garbage" such as girdles, false eyelashes, steno pads, wigs, women's magazines, and dishcloths—into a "Freedom Trash Can", but they did not set it on fire". In March 1970, more than one hundred feminists staged an 11-hour sit-in at
6900-523: The National Organization for Women (NOW), a feminist group that had previously been focused almost entirely on economic issues. Radical feminists in the United States coined the term women's liberation movement (WLM). The WLM grew largely due to the influence of the civil rights movement , that had gained momentum in the 1960s, and many of the women who took up the cause of radical feminism had previous experience with radical protest in
7050-695: The New York Radical Feminists , founded later in 1969 by Shulamith Firestone (who broke from the Redstockings) and Anne Koedt . During this period, the movement produced "a prodigious output of leaflets, pamphlets, journals, magazine articles, newspaper and radio and TV interviews". Many important feminist works, such as Koedt's essay The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm (1970) and Kate Millett 's book Sexual Politics (1970), emerged during this time and in this milieu . At
7200-800: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1964. While still in Philadelphia , she helped found the Institute of Contemporary Art , acting as its first director. Atkinson was also a sculpture critic for the periodical ARTnews , as well as a painter, and associated with artists such as Elaine de Kooning . In 1969, a photograph of Atkinson was published in a series by Diane Arbus in the London Sunday Times . She later moved to New York City where, in 1967, she entered
7350-640: The Supreme Court of the United States , had sexually harassed her. The term third wave is credited to Rebecca Walker , who responded to Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court with an article in Ms. magazine, "Becoming the Third Wave" (1992). She wrote: So I write this as a plea to all women, especially women of my generation: Let Thomas' confirmation serve to remind you, as it did me, that
7500-554: The counterculture , the New Left , and Marxist political parties, all of which were male-dominated and male-oriented. In the United States, radical feminism developed as a response to some of the perceived failings of both New Left organizations such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and feminist organizations such as NOW. Initially concentrated in big cities like New York , Chicago , Boston , Washington, DC, and on
7650-562: The harm done to women during the production of pornography, the social harm from consumption of pornography, the coercion and poverty that leads women to become prostitutes, the long-term detrimental effects of prostitution, the raced and classed nature of prostitution, and male dominance over women in prostitution and pornography. Feminists who oppose the acceptance and endorsement of prostitution by rebranding it as " sex work " are sometimes disparagingly labeled as "sex worker-exclusionary radical feminists" or "SWERFs". These argue that
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#17327730740567800-430: The raison d'être of classic liberal feminism was "to pose an immanent critique of liberalism, revealing the gendered exclusions within liberal democracy's proclamation of universal equality, particularly with respect to the law, institutional access, and the full incorporation of women into the public sphere." Rottenberg contrasts classic liberal feminism with modern neoliberal feminism which "seems perfectly in sync with
7950-497: The sex distinction itself: genital differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally." While radical feminists believe that differences in genitalia and secondary sex characteristics should not matter culturally or politically, they also maintain that women's special role in reproduction should be recognized and accommodated without penalty in the workplace, and some have argued compensation should be offered for this socially essential work. Radical feminists locate
8100-456: The "feminists" saw women's oppression in a male supremacy that was "a set of material, institutionalized relations, not just bad attitudes". The feminist side of the split, whose members referred to themselves as "radical feminists", soon constituted the basis of a new organization, Redstockings . At the same time, Ti-Grace Atkinson led "a radical split-off from NOW", which became known as The Feminists . A third major stance would be articulated by
8250-513: The "sex-role system". They saw all of these as institutions to be destroyed. Within the group, there were further disagreements, such as Koedt's viewing the institution of "normal" sexual intercourse as being focused mainly on male sexual or erotic pleasure, while Atkinson viewed it mainly in terms of reproduction. In contrast to the Redstockings, The Feminists generally considered genitally focused sexuality to be inherently male. Ellen Willis ,
8400-1072: The 1960s with the civil rights movement in the United States and the end of Western European colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, parts of Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Since that time, women in developing nations and former colonies and who are of colour or various ethnicities or living in poverty have proposed additional feminisms. Womanism emerged after early feminist movements were largely white and middle-class. Postcolonial feminists argue that colonial oppression and Western feminism marginalized postcolonial women but did not turn them passive or voiceless. Third-world feminism and indigenous feminism are closely related to postcolonial feminism. These ideas also correspond with ideas in African feminism , motherism, Stiwanism, negofeminism, femalism, transnational feminism , and Africana womanism . In
8550-641: The 1960s, both of these traditions are also contrasted with the radical feminism that arose from the radical wing of second-wave feminism and that calls for a radical reordering of society to eliminate patriarchy. Liberal, socialist, and radical feminism are sometimes referred to as the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought. Since the late 20th century, many newer forms of feminism have emerged. Some forms, such as white feminism and gender-critical feminism , have been criticized as taking into account only white, middle class, college-educated, heterosexual , or cisgender perspectives. These criticisms have led to
8700-467: The 1960s, radical feminism emerged within liberal feminist and working-class feminist discussions, first in the United States, then in the United Kingdom and Australia . Those involved had gradually come to believe that it was not only the middle-class nuclear family that oppressed women, but that it was also social movements and organizations that claimed to stand for human liberation, notably
8850-500: The 1970s, but resurfaced in 2013 to co-author an open statement expressing radical feminists ' concerns about what they perceived as the silencing of discussion around "the currently fashionable concept of gender." Atkinson was born on November 9, 1938 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, into a prominent Cajun Republican family. Her father, Francis Decker Atkinson, was a chemical engineer for Standard Oil , and her mother, Thelma Atkinson,
9000-468: The 1980s, standpoint feminists have argued that the feminist movement should address global issues (such as rape, incest , and prostitution) and culturally specific issues (such as female genital mutilation in some parts of Africa and Arab societies , as well as glass ceiling practices that impede women's advancement in developed economies) in order to understand how gender inequality interacts with racism, homophobia , classism and colonization in
9150-549: The 1980s, and the election of a conservative government in 1996 crippled these organizations. A radical feminist movement also emerged among Jewish women in Israel beginning in the early 1970s. While radical feminists aim to dismantle patriarchal society, their immediate aims are generally concrete. Common demands include expanding reproductive rights . According to writer Lisa Tuttle in The Encyclopedia of Feminism it
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#17327730740569300-475: The German political television program Panorama . Cristina Perincioli described this as "... a new tactic: the ostentatious, publicly documented violation of a law that millions of women had broken thus far, only in secret and under undignified circumstances." However, with strong opposition from church groups and most of the broadcasting councils governing West Germany's ARD (association of public broadcasters),
9450-533: The People Act was passed granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who owned property. In 1928, this was extended to all women over 21. Emmeline Pankhurst was the most notable activist in England. Time named her one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century , stating: "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back." In
9600-672: The PhD program in philosophy at Columbia University , where she studied with the philosopher and art critic Arthur Danto . She received her Master's degree in 1990, but did not complete her dissertation. Atkinson later moved on to study the work of Gottlob Frege with philosopher Charles Parsons . She taught at several colleges and universities over the years, including the Pratt Institute , Case Western Reserve University and Tufts University . As an undergraduate, Atkinson read Simone de Beauvoir 's The Second Sex , and struck up
9750-461: The Redstockings co-founder, would later write that insofar as the Redstockings considered abandoning heterosexual activity, they saw it as a "bitter price" they "might have to pay for [their] militance", whereas The Feminists embraced separatist feminism as a strategy. The New York Radical Feminists (NYRF) took a more psychologistic (and even biologically determinist ) line. They argued that men dominated women not so much for material benefits as for
9900-535: The Rights of Woman in which she argues that class and private property are the basis of discrimination against women, and that women as much as men needed equal rights. Charles Fourier , a utopian socialist and French philosopher, is credited with having coined the word "féminisme" in 1837. but no trace of the word have been found in his works. The word "féminisme" ("feminism") first appeared in France in 1871 in
10050-491: The UCLA Women's Liberation Front (WLF), offered differing views of radical feminist ideology. UCLA's WLF co-founder Devra Weber recalls, "the radical feminists were opposed to patriarchy, but not necessarily capitalism. In our group at least, they opposed so-called male dominated national liberation struggles". Radical feminists helped to translate the radical protest for racial equality, in which many had experience, over to
10200-456: The US, notable leaders of this movement included Lucretia Mott , Elizabeth Cady Stanton , and Susan B. Anthony , who each campaigned for the abolition of slavery before championing women's right to vote. These women were influenced by the Quaker theology of spiritual equality, which asserts that men and women are equal under God. In the US, first-wave feminism is considered to have ended with
10350-629: The West Coast, radical feminist groups spread across the country rapidly from 1968 to 1972. At the same time parallel trends of thinking developed outside the USA: The Women's Yearbook from Munich gives a good sense of early 1970s feminism in West Germany: Their Yearbook essay on behalf of the autonomous feminist movement argued that patriarchy was the oldest and most fundamental relationship of exploitation. Hence
10500-549: The Year . Decolonial feminism reformulates the coloniality of gender by critiquing the very formation of gender and its subsequent formations of patriarchy and the gender binary , not as universal constants across cultures, but as structures that have been instituted by and for the benefit of European colonialism . Marìa Lugones proposes that decolonial feminism speaks to how "the colonial imposition of gender cuts across questions of ecology, economics, government, relations with
10650-418: The abusive selling and buying of girls' and women's bodies for men's sexual pleasure". Radical feminist thinking has analyzed prostitution as a cornerstone of patriarchal domination and sexual subjugation of women that impacts negatively not only on the women and girls in prostitution but on all women as a group, because prostitution continually affirms and reinforces patriarchal definitions of women as having
10800-513: The actual sexual act, often showing performers with synthetic implants or exaggerated expressions of pleasure, engaging in fetishes that are presented as popular and normal. Radical lesbians are distinguished from other radical feminists through their ideological roots in political lesbianism. Radical lesbians see lesbianism as an act of resistance against the political institution of heterosexuality, which they view as violent and oppressive towards women. Julie Bindel has written that her lesbianism
10950-622: The beginning of this period, " heterosexuality was more or less an unchallenged assumption". Among radical feminists, it was widely held that, thus far, the sexual freedoms gained in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, in particular, the decreasing emphasis on monogamy , had been largely gained by men at women's expense. This assumption of heterosexuality would soon be challenged by the rise of political lesbianism , closely associated with Atkinson and The Feminists. Redstockings and The Feminists were both radical feminist organizations, but held rather distinct views. Most members of Redstockings held to
11100-552: The body" as a subversive exercise. The work of Julia Kristeva , a feminist psychoanalyst and philosopher, and Bracha Ettinger , artist and psychoanalyst, has influenced feminist theory in general and feminist literary criticism in particular. However, as the scholar Elizabeth Wright points out, "none of these French feminists align themselves with the feminist movement as it appeared in the Anglophone world". Many overlapping feminist movements and ideologies have developed over
11250-610: The bottom of the race and class hierarchy of prostitution, often subjected to the worst conditions, most violent demands and sold at the lowest price. It is common for indigenous women to be over-represented in prostitution when compared with their total population. This is as a result of the combined forces of colonialism, physical displacement from ancestral lands, destruction of indigenous social and cultural order, misogyny, globalization/neoliberalism, race discrimination and extremely high levels of violence perpetrated against them. Radical feminists, notably Catharine MacKinnon , charge that
11400-438: The claim for equal rights, is the claim for self-determination. Radical feminists introduced the use of consciousness raising (CR) groups. These groups brought together intellectuals, workers, and middle-class women in developed Western countries to discuss their experiences. During these discussions, women noted a shared and repressive system regardless of their political affiliation or social class . Based on these discussions,
11550-479: The concept of gender roles , and challenging what radical feminists see as a racialized and gendered capitalism that characterizes the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. According to Shulamith Firestone in The Dialectic of Sex (1970): "[T]he end goal of feminist revolution must be, unlike that of the first feminist movement , not just the elimination of male privilege but of
11700-427: The creation of ethnically specific or multicultural forms of feminism, such as black feminism and intersectional feminism. Some have argued that feminism often promotes misandry and the elevation of women's interests above men's, and criticize radical feminist positions as harmful to both men and women. Mary Wollstonecraft is seen by many as a founder of feminism due to her 1792 book titled A Vindication of
11850-596: The development of Cairo University and the National Movement. In 1923 Hoda Shaarawi founded the Egyptian Feminist Union , became its president and a symbol of the Arab women's rights movement. The Iranian Constitutional Revolution in 1905 triggered the Iranian women's movement , which aimed to achieve women's equality in education , marriage, careers, and legal rights . However, during
12000-410: The economic and cultural sources of women's oppression. Anarcha-feminists believe that class struggle and anarchy against the state require struggling against patriarchy, which comes from involuntary hierarchy. Ecofeminists see men's control of land as responsible for the oppression of women and destruction of the natural environment . Ecofeminism has been criticized for focusing too much on
12150-489: The ego satisfaction intrinsic in domination. Similarly, they rejected the Redstockings view that women submitted only out of necessity or The Feminists' implicit view that they submitted out of cowardice, but instead argued that social conditioning simply led most women to accept a submissive role as "right and natural". The radical feminism of the late 1960s was not only a movement of ideology and theory; it helped to inspire direct action . In 1968, feminists protested against
12300-544: The end of the 19th century, with the self-governing colony of New Zealand granting women the right to vote in 1893; South Australia followed suit with the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894 in 1894. This was followed by Australia granting female suffrage in 1902. In Britain, the suffragettes and suffragists campaigned for the women's vote, and in 1918 the Representation of
12450-423: The environment. Liberal feminism , also known under other names such as reformist, mainstream, or historically as bourgeois feminism, arose from 19th-century first-wave feminism, and was historically linked to 19th-century liberalism and progressivism , while 19th-century conservatives tended to oppose feminism as such. Liberal feminism seeks equality of men and women through political and legal reform within
12600-490: The evolving neoliberal order." According to Zhang and Rios, "liberal feminism tends to be adopted by 'mainstream' (i.e., middle-class) women who do not disagree with the current social structure." They found that liberal feminism with its focus on equality is viewed as the dominant and "default" form of feminism. Some modern forms of feminism that historically grew out of the broader liberal tradition have more recently also been described as conservative in relative terms. This
12750-490: The existence of a fourth wave , starting around 2012, which has used social media to combat sexual harassment , violence against women and rape culture ; it is best known for the Me Too movement . First-wave feminism was a period of activity during the 19th and early-20th centuries. In the UK and US, it focused on the promotion of equal contract, marriage, parenting, and property rights for women. New legislation included
12900-636: The feminist reader examines the ideologies behind literary phenomena. The second Showalter calls " gynocriticism ", in which the "woman is producer of textual meaning". The last phase she calls "gender theory", in which the "ideological inscription and the literary effects of the sex/gender system are explored". This was paralleled in the 1970s by French feminists , who developed the concept of écriture féminine (which translates as "female or feminine writing"). Hélène Cixous argues that writing and philosophy are phallocentric and along with other French feminists such as Luce Irigaray emphasize "writing from
13050-488: The fewest choices the ones most often found doing it?" Radical feminist Melissa Farley conducted a 2004 study of 854 people involved in prostitution internationally, finding that 89% of respondents stated they wanted to escape prostitution but could not, 72% were currently or formerly homeless, and 68% met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder . MacKinnon argues that "In prostitution, women have sex with men they would never otherwise have sex with. The money thus acts as
13200-453: The fight is far from over. Let this dismissal of a woman's experience move you to anger. Turn that outrage into political power. Do not vote for them unless they work for us. Do not have sex with them, do not break bread with them, do not nurture them if they don't prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives. I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave. Third-wave feminism also sought to challenge or avoid what it deemed
13350-509: The film was not aired. Instead Panorama's producers replaced the time slot with a statement of protest and the display of an empty studio. In the 1970s, radical women's centers without a formal hierarchy sprang up in West Berlin . These Berlin-based women's centers did abortion counseling, compiled a list of Dutch abortion clinics, organized regular bus trips to them, and were utilized by women from other parts of West Germany. Police accused
13500-605: The foundation for collective struggle and the eventual liberation of women". Radical feminists strongly object to the patriarchal ideology that has been one of the justifications for the existence of prostitution, namely that prostitution is a "necessary evil", because men cannot control themselves, and that it is therefore "necessary" that a small number of women be "sacrificed" to be abused by men, to protect "chaste" women from rape and harassment. These feminists argue that far from decreasing rape rates, prostitution actually leads to an increase in sexual violence against women, by sending
13650-434: The functional, or animal. Radical feminists argue that, because of patriarchy, women have come to be viewed as the "other" to the male norm, and as such have been systematically oppressed and marginalized. They further assert that men as a class, benefit from the systematic oppression of women. Patriarchal theory is not defined by a belief that all men always benefit from the oppression of all women. Rather, it maintains that
13800-479: The harassment, abuse, and murder of women and girls have galvanized the movement. These have included the 2012 Delhi gang rape , 2012 Jimmy Savile allegations , the Bill Cosby allegations , 2014 Isla Vista killings , 2016 trial of Jian Ghomeshi , 2017 Harvey Weinstein allegations and subsequent Weinstein effect , and the 2017 Westminster sexual scandals . Examples of fourth-wave feminist campaigns include
13950-483: The inclusion of men's liberation within its aims, because they believe that men are also harmed by traditional gender roles . Feminist theory , which emerged from feminist movements, aims to understand the nature of gender inequality by examining women's social roles and lived experiences. Feminist theorists have developed theories in a variety of disciplines in order to respond to issues concerning gender. Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over
14100-432: The late 20th century various feminists began to argue that gender roles are socially constructed , and that it is impossible to generalize women's experiences across cultures and histories. Post-structural feminism draws on the philosophies of post-structuralism and deconstruction in order to argue that the concept of gender is created socially and culturally through discourse . Postmodern feminists also emphasize
14250-563: The liberation of women, as women, from the oppression of men in their own lives, as well as men in power. Radical feminism claimed that a totalizing ideology and social formation— patriarchy (government or rule by fathers)—dominated women in the interests of men. Within groups such as New York Radical Women (1967–1969; not connected to the present-day socialist feminist organization Radical Women ), which Ellen Willis characterized as "the first women's liberation group in New York City",
14400-958: The male point of view—and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women. Originating in late 18th-century Europe, feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights , including the right to vote , run for public office , work , earn equal pay , own property , receive education , enter into contracts , have equal rights within marriage , and maternity leave . Feminists have also worked to ensure access to contraception , legal abortions , and social integration ; and to protect women and girls from sexual assault , sexual harassment , and domestic violence . Changes in female dress standards and acceptable physical activities for women have also been part of feminist movements. Many scholars consider feminist campaigns to be
14550-418: The male-dominated areas of society. More women in politics! More women in the sciences, etc. . . . Women should be able to do everything that men do." Their position—and that of the autonomous feminists represented in this 1976 yearbook—instead was that: "This principle that 'we want that too' or 'we can do it too' measures emancipation against men and again defines what we want in relationship to men. Its content
14700-582: The medical profession. An outgrowth of this movement was the founding of the Feminist Women's Health Center (FFGZ) in Berlin in 1974. Radical feminists have generally formed small activist or community associations around either consciousness raising or concrete aims. Many radical feminists in Australia participated in a series of squats to establish various women's centers, and this form of action
14850-423: The message that it is acceptable for a man to treat a woman as a sexual instrument over which he has total control. For instance, Melissa Farley argues that Nevada 's high rate of rapes is exacerbated by the patriarchal atmosphere encouraged by legal prostitution. Indigenous women are particularly targeted for prostitution. In Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and Taiwan, studies have shown that indigenous women are at
15000-467: The modern western feminist movement is divided into multiple "waves". The first comprised women's suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries, promoting women's right to vote. The second wave , the women's liberation movement , began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for women. In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity. Additionally, some have argued for
15150-567: The necessity of feminists' separating from men's organizations on the Left, since they would just use women's efforts to support their own goals, in which women's liberation did not count. The editors of Frauenjahrbuch 76 also explicitly distanced themselves from the language of liberalism, arguing that "equal rights define women's oppression as women's disadvantage." They explicitly labeled the equal rights version of feminism as wanting to be like men, vehemently rejecting claims that "women should enter all
15300-408: The need for power fuels the male class to continue oppressing the female class, arguing that "the need men have for the role of oppressor is the source and foundation of all human oppression". The influence of radical-feminist politics on the women's liberation movement was considerable. Redstockings co-founder Ellen Willis wrote in 1984 that radical feminists "got sexual politics recognized as
15450-488: The new Islamist movement and growing conservatism. However, some activists proposed a new feminist movement, Islamic feminism , which argues for women's equality within an Islamic framework. In Latin America , revolutions brought changes in women's status in countries such as Nicaragua , where feminist ideology during the Sandinista Revolution aided women's quality of life but fell short of achieving
15600-611: The officially recognized churches have to document that they have formally left the church in order not to be responsible for paying a church tax. In November 1972, two women in a sexual relationship, Marion Ihns and Judy Andersen, were arrested and charged with hiring a man to kill Ihns's abusive husband. Pretrial publicity, particularly that by Bild , Germany's largest tabloid, was marked by anti-lesbian sensationalism . In response, lesbian groups and women's centers in Germany joined in fervent protest. The cultural clash continued through
15750-404: The oppressors of the class of women. They propose that the oppression of women is the most fundamental form of oppression, one that has existed since the inception of humanity. As radical feminist Ti-Grace Atkinson wrote in her foundational piece "Radical Feminism" (1969): The first dichotomous division of this mass [mankind] is said to have been on the grounds of sex: male and female ... it
15900-452: The organizers of an illegal conspiracy. "The center used these arrests to publicize its strategy of civil disobedience and raised such a public outcry that the prosecutions were dropped. The bus trips continued without police interference. This victory was politically significant in two respects... while the state did not change the law, it did back off from enforcing it, deferring to women's collective power. The feminist claim to speak for women
16050-588: The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1919), granting women the right to vote in all states. The term first wave was coined retroactively when the term second-wave feminism came into use. In Germany , feminists like Clara Zetkin was very interested in women's politics , including the fight for equal opportunities and women's suffrage , through socialism. She helped to develop
16200-522: The primary element of patriarchy is a relationship of dominance, where one party is dominant and exploits the other for the benefit of the former. Radical feminists believe that men (as a class) use social systems and other methods of control to keep women (as well as non-dominant men) suppressed. Radical feminists seek to abolish patriarchy by challenging existing social norms and institutions, and believe that eliminating patriarchy will liberate everyone from an unjust society. Ti-Grace Atkinson maintained that
16350-417: The primary form" and the model for all others. Later politics derived from radical feminism ranged from cultural feminism to syncretic forms of socialist feminism (such as anarcha-feminism ) that place issues of social class , economics , and the like on a par with patriarchy as sources of oppression. Radical feminists assert that global society functions as a patriarchy in which the class of men are
16500-516: The production of pornography entails physical, psychological, and/or economic coercion of the women who perform and model in it. This is said to be true even when the women are presented as enjoying themselves. Radical feminists point to the testimony of well-known participants in pornography, such as Traci Lords and Linda Boreman , and argue that most female performers are coerced into pornography, either by somebody else or by an unfortunate set of circumstances. The feminist anti-pornography movement
16650-496: The provisional emancipation of some women, but post-war periods signalled the return to conservative roles. In Switzerland , women gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971; but in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden women obtained the right to vote on local issues only in 1991, when the canton was forced to do so by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland . In Liechtenstein , women were given
16800-511: The remaining Australian colonies passed similar legislation between 1890 and 1897. With the turn of the 19th century, activism focused primarily on gaining political power, particularly the right of women's suffrage , though some feminists were active in campaigning for women's sexual , reproductive , and economic rights too. Women's suffrage (the right to vote and stand for parliamentary office) began in Britain's Australasian colonies at
16950-450: The right to express verbal refusal of an intercourse". MacKinnon argued that pornography leads to an increase in sexual violence against women through fostering rape myths . Such rape myths include the belief that women really want to be raped and that they mean yes when they say no. She held that "rape myths perpetuate sexual violence indirectly by creating distorted beliefs and attitudes about sexual assault and shift elements of blame onto
17100-546: The right to vote by the women's suffrage referendum of 1984 . Three prior referendums held in 1968 , 1971 and 1973 had failed to secure women's right to vote. Feminists continued to campaign for the reform of family laws which gave husbands control over their wives. Although by the 20th century coverture had been abolished in the UK and US, in many continental European countries married women still had very few rights. For instance, in France, married women did not receive
17250-534: The right to vote. Grenier's proposition was adopted 51 to 16. In May 1947, following the November 1946 elections , the sociologist Robert Verdier minimized the " gender gap ", stating in Le Populaire that women had not voted in a consistent way, dividing themselves, as men, according to social classes. During the baby boom period, feminism waned in importance. Wars (both World War I and World War II) had seen
17400-422: The right to work without their husband's permission until 1965. Feminists have also worked to abolish the "marital exemption" in rape laws which precluded the prosecution of husbands for the rape of their wives. Earlier efforts by first-wave feminists such as Voltairine de Cleyre , Victoria Woodhull and Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme Elmy to criminalize marital rape in the late 19th century had failed; this
17550-484: The root cause of women's oppression in patriarchal gender relations, as opposed to legal systems (as in liberal feminism ) or class conflict (as in Marxist feminism ). Early radical feminism, arising within second-wave feminism in the 1960s, typically viewed patriarchy as a "transhistorical phenomenon" prior to or deeper than other sources of oppression , "not only the oldest and most universal form of domination but
17700-418: The second wave's essentialist definitions of femininity , which, third-wave feminists argued, overemphasized the experiences of upper middle-class white women. Third-wave feminists often focused on " micro-politics " and challenged the second wave's paradigm as to what was, or was not, good for women, and tended to use a post-structuralist interpretation of gender and sexuality. Feminist leaders rooted in
17850-418: The second wave's ideas. Other postfeminists say that feminism is no longer relevant to today's society. Amelia Jones has written that the postfeminist texts which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s portrayed second-wave feminism as a monolithic entity. Dorothy Chunn describes a "blaming narrative" under the postfeminist moniker, where feminists are undermined for continuing to make demands for gender equality in
18000-428: The second wave, such as Gloria Anzaldúa , bell hooks , Chela Sandoval , Cherríe Moraga , Audre Lorde , Maxine Hong Kingston , and many other non-white feminists, sought to negotiate a space within feminist thought for consideration of race-related subjectivities. Third-wave feminism also contained internal debates between difference feminists , who believe that there are important psychological differences between
18150-459: The sexes, and those who believe that there are no inherent psychological differences between the sexes and contend that gender roles are due to social conditioning . Standpoint theory is a feminist theoretical point of view stating that a person's social position influences their knowledge. This perspective argues that research and theory treat women and the feminist movement as insignificant and refuses to see traditional science as unbiased. Since
18300-446: The sexual pleasure of a woman is irrelevant, that her only role during sex is to submit to the man's sexual demands and to do what he tells her, that sex should be controlled by the man, and that the woman's response and satisfaction are irrelevant. Radical feminists argue that sexual liberation for women cannot be achieved so long as we normalize unequal sexual practices where a man dominates a woman. "Feminist consciousness raising remains
18450-784: The slogan "The Personal is Political", which became synonymous with the second wave. Second- and third-wave feminism in China has been characterized by a reexamination of women's roles during the communist revolution and other reform movements, and new discussions about whether women's equality has actually been fully achieved. In 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt initiated " state feminism ", which outlawed discrimination based on gender and granted women's suffrage, but also blocked political activism by feminist leaders. During Sadat 's presidency, his wife, Jehan Sadat , publicly advocated further women's rights, though Egyptian policy and society began to move away from women's equality with
18600-430: The social construction of gender and the discursive nature of reality; however, as Pamela Abbott et al. write, a postmodern approach to feminism highlights "the existence of multiple truths (rather than simply men and women's standpoints)". Ti-Grace Atkinson Grace Atkinson (born November 9, 1938), better known as Ti-Grace Atkinson , is an American radical feminist activist, writer and philosopher. She
18750-601: The social-democratic women's movement in Germany. From 1891 to 1917, she edited the SPD women's newspaper Die Gleichheit (Equality). In 1907 she became the leader of the newly founded "Women's Office" at the SPD. She also contributed to International Women's Day (IWD). During the late Qing period and reform movements such as the Hundred Days' Reform , Chinese feminists called for women's liberation from traditional roles and Neo-Confucian gender segregation . Later,
18900-409: The spirit world, and knowledge, as well as across everyday practices that either habituate us to take care of the world or to destroy it." Decolonial feminists like Karla Jessen Williamson and Rauna Kuokkanen have examined colonialism as a force that has imposed gender hierarchies on Indigenous women that have disempowered and fractured Indigenous communities and ways of life. The term postfeminism
19050-552: The staple nuclear unit of oppression: heterosexual sex". Others saw lesbianism as a strong political tool to help end male dominance and as central to the women's movement. Radical lesbians criticized the women's liberation movement for its failure to criticize the "psychological oppression" of heteronormativity , which they believed to be "the sexual foundation of the social institutions". They argued that heterosexual love relationships perpetuated patriarchal power relations through "personal domination" and therefore directly contradicted
19200-589: The state feminism of the Nordic countries . The broad field of liberal feminism is sometimes confused with the more recent and smaller branch known as libertarian feminism, which tends to diverge significantly from mainstream liberal feminism. For example, "libertarian feminism does not require social measures to reduce material inequality; in fact, it opposes such measures ... in contrast, liberal feminism may support such requirements and egalitarian versions of feminism insist on them." Catherine Rottenberg notes that
19350-434: The struggle against racism . Chronologically, it can be seen within the context of second wave feminism that started in the early 1960s. The leading figures of this second wave of feminism included Shulamith Firestone , Kathie Sarachild , Ti-Grace Atkinson , Carol Hanisch , Roxanne Dunbar , Naomi Weisstein and Judith Brown . In the late sixties various women's groups describing themselves as "radical feminist", such as
19500-697: The struggle for women's rights. They took up the cause and advocated for a variety of women's issues, including abortion rights , the Equal Rights Amendment , access to credit, and equal pay. Many women of color were among the founders of the Women's Liberation Movement ( Fran Beal , Cellestine Ware , Toni Cade Bambara ); however, many women of color did not participate in the movement due to their conclusion that radical feminists were not addressing "issues of meaning for minority women", Black women in particular. After consciousness raising groups were formed to rally support, second-wave radical feminism began to see an increasing number of women of color participating. In
19650-440: The term "sex work" contains political assumptions, rather than being a neutral term. They argue the term endorses the idea that sex is labour for women and leisure for men, accords men the social and economic power to act as a boss class in the matter of intercourse, and also implies that women's bodies exist as a resource to be used by other people. Radical feminists argue that most women who become prostitutes are forced into it by
19800-449: The total uprooting and reconstruction of society as necessary. Separatist feminism does not support heterosexual relationships. Lesbian feminism is thus closely related. Other feminists criticize separatist feminism as sexist. Rosemary Hennessy and Chrys Ingraham say that materialist forms of feminism grew out of Western Marxist thought and have inspired a number of different (but overlapping) movements, all of which are involved in
19950-740: The trial which eventually resulted in the conviction of the women in October 1974 and life sentences for both. However, a petition brought by 146 female journalists and 41 male colleagues to the German Press Council resulted in its censure of the Axel Springer Company , Bild 's publisher. At one point in the lead up to the trial Bild had run a seventeen consecutive day series on "The Crimes of Lesbian Women". These helped women to gain knowledge about how their own bodies functioned so they would no longer need to rely solely on
20100-404: The utmost independence from gendered systems of power, and from the "psychological oppression" of heteronormativity. Feminism Feminism is a range of socio- political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes . Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal —they prioritize
20250-797: The values and goals of the movement. As one radical lesbian wrote, "no matter what the feminist does, the physical act [of heterosexuality] throws both women and man back into role playing... all of her politics are instantly shattered". They argued that the women's liberation movement would not be successful without challenging heteronormativity. Radical lesbians believed lesbianism actively threatened patriarchal systems of power. They defined lesbians not only by their sexual orientation, but by their liberation and independence from men. Lesbian activists Sidney Abbott and Barbara Love argued that "the lesbian has freed herself from male domination" through disconnecting from them not only sexually, but also "financially and emotionally". They argued that lesbianism fosters
20400-400: The victims". Additionally, according to MacKinnon, pornography desensitizes viewers to violence against women, and this leads to a progressive need to see more violence in order to become sexually aroused, an effect she claims is well documented. German radical feminist Alice Schwarzer is one proponent of the view that pornography offers a distorted sense of men and women's bodies, as well as
20550-513: The wake of the Andy Warhol shooting. In 1968, she became critical of the organization's inability to confront issues like abortion and marriage inequalities; she also felt it replicated patriarchal power structures, and resigned from her presidency after her proposal to abolish NOW's executive offices was defeated in a vote. She founded the October 17th Movement, named for the date of her resignation, which would later become The Feminists,
20700-484: The women drew the conclusion that ending of patriarchy was the most necessary step towards a truly free society. These consciousness-raising sessions allowed early radical feminists to develop a political ideology based on common experiences women faced with male supremacy. Consciousness raising was extensively used in chapter sub-units of the National Organization for Women (NOW) during the 1970s. The feminism that emerged from these discussions stood first and foremost for
20850-458: The world have had different causes and goals. Most western feminist historians contend that all movements working to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist movements, even when they did not (or do not) apply the term to themselves. Other historians assert that the term should be limited to the modern feminist movement and its descendants. Those historians use the label " protofeminist " to describe earlier movements. The history of
21000-410: The years, representing different viewpoints and political aims. Traditionally, since the 19th century, first-wave liberal feminism , which sought political and legal equality through reforms within a liberal democratic framework, was contrasted with labour -based proletarian women's movements that over time developed into socialist and Marxist feminism based on class struggle theory. Since
21150-402: The years. Feminism is often divided into three main traditions called liberal, radical and socialist/Marxist feminism, sometimes known as the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought. Since the late 20th century, newer forms of feminisms have also emerged. Some branches of feminism track the political leanings of the larger society to a greater or lesser degree, or focus on specific topics, such as
21300-413: Was "defined by feminists in the 1970s as a basic human right, it includes the right to abortion and birth control, but implies much more. To be realised, reproductive freedom must include not only woman's right to choose childbirth, abortion, sterilisation or birth control, but also her right to make those choices freely, without pressure from individual men, doctors, governmental or religious authorities. It
21450-541: Was a homemaker. Named after her grandmother, Grace, the "Ti" is Cajun French for petite , meaning "little". She traveled extensively in her childhood, and attended multiple schools in Europe and the United States. Atkinson married her high school boyfriend, Air Force captain Charles Leeds Sharpless, whom she divorced around 1961 or 1962. Atkinson earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from
21600-457: Was an early member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and presided over the New York chapter in 1967–68, though she quickly grew disillusioned with the group. She left to form The Feminists , which she left a few years later due to internal disputes. Atkinson was a member of the Daughters of Bilitis and an advocate for political lesbianism . Atkinson has been largely inactive since
21750-399: Was because half the human race bears the burden of the reproductive process and because man, the 'rational' animal, had the wit to take advantage of that, that the childbearers, or the 'beasts of burden,' were corralled into a political class: equivocating the biologically contingent burden into a political (or necessary) penalty, thereby modifying these individuals' definition from the human to
21900-416: Was common in the late 1970s and early 1980s. By the mid-1980s many of the original consciousness raising groups had dissolved, and radical feminism was more and more associated with loosely organized university collectives. Radical feminism can still be seen, particularly within student activism and among working-class women. In Australia, many feminist social organizations had accepted government funding during
22050-821: Was discussing the virginity of the Virgin Mary . "Sisterhood", Atkinson famously said in her 1971 resignation from the Feminists, "is powerful. It kills. Mostly sisters." In 2013, Atkinson, along with Carol Hanisch , Kathy Scarbrough, and Kathie Sarachild , initiated "Forbidden Discourse: The Silencing of Feminist Criticism of 'Gender'", which they described as an "open statement from 48 radical feminists from seven countries". In August 2014, Michelle Goldberg in The New Yorker described it as expressing their "alarm" at "threats and attacks, some of them physical, on individuals and organizations daring to challenge
22200-760: Was galvanized by the publication of Ordeal , in which Linda Boreman (who under the name of "Linda Lovelace" had starred in Deep Throat ) stated that she had been beaten, raped, and pimped by her husband Chuck Traynor , and that Traynor had forced her at gunpoint to make scenes in Deep Throat , as well as forcing her, by use of both physical violence against Boreman as well as emotional abuse and outright threats of violence, to make other pornographic films. Dworkin, MacKinnon, and Women Against Pornography issued public statements of support for Boreman, and worked with her in public appearances and speeches. She later became
22350-404: Was only achieved a century later in most Western countries, but is still not achieved in many other parts of the world. French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir provided a Marxist solution and an existentialist view on many of the questions of feminism with the publication of Le Deuxième Sexe ( The Second Sex ) in 1949. The book expressed feminists' sense of injustice. Second-wave feminism
22500-515: Was thus affirmed by both women and the state." In West Germany, 1973 saw the start of a radical feminist group campaign to withdraw from membership in the Catholic Church as a protest against its anti-abortion position and activities. "Can we continue to be responsible for funding a male institution that ... condemns us as ever to the house, to cooking and having children, but above all to having children". In Germany those baptized in one of
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