The history of feminism, from suffrages to the movement for contemporary women’s rights

The feminismthe movement that claims i Civil, economic and political rights of womenhas crossed more than a century of history, radically transforming itself into its forms, claims and languages. From the struggles of the suffragette of the 19th century to obtain equality of civil rights in society, to the multiplicity of the items of contemporary feminismthis movement has contributed decisively to the redefinition of power relations, gender roles and civil and social rights.

As we will see, over time the movement has seen increased its complexity, so much so that it can speak of “feminisms” to the plural and sometimes divergent currents. In this plurality, the awareness of being “woman” also means having a historical and social experience different from context context.

The roots of the feminist movement: the suffragettes and the first wave

The women’s rights movement takes hold in Europe and the United States in the 19th century and this first great political claim is known as “suffrages”. British suffragettes, guided by figures such as Emmeline Pankhurst and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)In fact, they claim the right to vote for women, also adopting radical tactics: public protests, hunger strikes, demonstration acts such as launchs of stones or interruptions of public events. In parallel, in the United States, women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Susan B. Anthony They promote female political participation through petitions, congresses and activism in civil organizations.

This phase, defined by feminist theory as first wavefocuses on fundamental civil and political rights, such as vote and access to education. However, it is important to note – as noted by Angela Davis – That the movement was marked by strong racial and class limits: the experiences of black, indigenous and proletarian women were often marginalized or ignored in that historical moment.

An emblematic example is that of Sojourner Truth, Former African American slave and central figure of abolitionist feminism, which in his famous speech “Ain’t i a Woman? ” (1851) denounces the racism and sexism of white suffragettes.

These reflections open the way for subsequent criticisms carried out by scholars such as Oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí and Chandra Mohanty Mohanty, who denounce the Eurocentrism of western feminism and help us understand that the idea of ​​what it means to be “woman” or “man” is not the same all over the world, nor has it always been the same over time. Each society has its own rules, customs and ways of seeing people’s roles, and what seems natural or obvious to us, elsewhere can have a completely different meaning (even in cultures Yoruba pre -colonial the genre was not even a primary criterion of social organization).

From radical feminism to intersectional thought: the transformations of the 1900s

There second wave Feminist, who explodes in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, shifts attention from the “legal” to the “cultural” and “personal” plan. The famous slogan “the staff is political” – coined in the context of US radical feminism – marks a turning point: intimate and daily experiences (such as the division of domestic work, sexuality, motherhood, domestic violence) become the subject of analysis and political claim.

The most famous feminist writer ever, Simone de Beauvoirradically changes the course of feminist history with The second sex (1949), monumental work that questioned the cultural buildings of femininity reflecting on history, religion, philosophy and sociality in ways never faced before.

Pierre Bourdieuin Male domination (1998), instead he explains how the inequalities between men and women are not only economic or legal, but also symbolic and cultural: they are internalized and reproduced through daily practices and education.

In addition to the writing that changes all the paradigms slowly, if in the sixties feminism was radical (criticism of patriarchate, revision of gender roles, social and sexual self -determination) and therefore oriented to deal with the profound roots of the oppression of women by proposing a radical transformation of society and its values, feminism emerged in the 1980s intersectional. The first woman who talked about it was the African American jurist Kimberlé Crenshaw To describe how different systems of oppression – racism, sexism, classism – overlap and intersect. A poor black woman, for example, can experience different discrimination compared to a wealthy white woman, precisely because her experience is intersected by multiple forms of exclusion.

Feminism today: challenges, conflicts and new horizons

In the 21st century feminism lived a new season, sometimes defined as a fourth wave, characterized by the use of social media, digital activism and a strong intersectional orientation. Movements like Ni a Menos (born in Argentina against feminicides), #Metoo (against sexual harassment) and Not one less (in Italy) represent a Transnational feminismwhich faces gender-based violence, economic precariousness, structural racism and cis-eteropatriarcal norms (i.e. the set of social rules that are taken for granted that people must be heterosexual and identify in the genre assigned to birth, subordinating all other identities).

Contemporary feminism wonders about complex issues such as gender identity, trans feeds, gestation for others, sexual work and environmental justice, through the current of eco -feminism.

In the face of assimilation neoliberal Of some feminist instances – for example, the idea of ​​”female empowerment” understood as individual success and entrepreneurial career – new forms of collective activism emerge that claim a non -elitist feminism (which does not forget precarious women, migrants, disabled or excluded from the market), capable of questioning structural inequalities, such as capitalism, racism and patriarchy.

The books that influenced the feminist movement

Among the texts who placed the theoretical foundations of feminist thoughtremember:

• The second sex Of Simone de Beauvoir (1949), which analyzes the female condition as historically built through the figure of the woman as “other” compared to men;
• Male domination Of Pierre Bourdieu (1998), which shows how the inequalities between men and women are also transmitted in an invisible way, through symbols, habits and social expectations.
• Women, Race & Class Of Angela Davis (1981), which highlights the intersections between gender oppression, race and class, anticipating the intersectional reflection;
• Outrainous Acts and Everyday Rebellions Of Gloria Steinem (1983), a collection of articles, anecdotes and analyzes that made feminism accessible, ironic and rooted in everyday life.
• Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center Of Bell Hooks (1984), who criticizes dominant feminism in order not to include the experiences of black, poor and queer women, instead proposing a feminism that starts from the margins;
• Gender Trouble Of Judith Butler (1990), which revolutionized the theory of the genre by introducing the concept of performershowing that the genre is not something “natural” but something that is built every day through repeated behaviors;
• Calibano and the witch Of Silvia Federici (2004), which rereads the history of modernity and capitalism starting from institutional violence against women, in particular during witch hunt;
• Feminism Without Borders Of Chandra Mohanty Chandra (2003), which denounces the universalism of western feminism and proposes a transnational and decolonial feminist policy, based on solidarity between different women by context and living conditions.