Feminism in Waves: A Brief Overwiew of the First, Second and Third Wave

Feminism, in the most generic of definitions, is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes, and organized activity on behalf of women's rights and common interests. There are many "feminists" and many different theories. However, feminism can be broken up into three waves; first-wave which spans from the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, second-wave which spans from the early 1960's through the late 1980's, and the third-wave which started in the early 1990's, and is continuing through present time. This paper investigates feminism from the nineteenth century to current times. I will be focusing on feminism broken up into these three waves in the general context, giving special emphasis on the second-wave of feminism.

The first-wave of feminism began in the United Kingdom and the United States around the nineteenth century and lasted until the early twentieth century. The main focus of this movement at this time was on de jure inequalities, or officially mandated inequalities. There were many people during this time who were considered to be feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Olympia Brown, and Helen Pitts; there are countless more. Most people consider the first-wave to have ended when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed, granting women the right to vote. This major victory of the movement also included reforms in education, in the workplace and professions, and in healthcare. There arose a feeling of unfinished business left in the air, thus lead to the need for another era.