Vol. 4, Issue 2, Part A (2022)

"Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength." G.D. Anderson. Feminists seek to allow everyone the choice of taking on the roles without the opprobrium of society. They basically want people to be treated equally based on merit rather than gender. Feminism has been described in terms of waves. The first wave began in the mid-19th century and concluded with the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Then, in the late 1950s, second wave feminism gained traction. The second wave movement arose out of women’s resistance to being forced out of the workplace after World War II. This failure to acknowledge women’s need for economic independence and personal autonomy led feminists to take action. In the context of 1970s feminism, Consciousness-Raising came into being, emphasizing the practice of discussing the varied and everyday effects of sexism, racism, and classism in groups of similarly identified individuals. The goal was to uncover the ways of patriarchy which distorted all levels of reality, including the psyche, to better resist subordination and to ultimately create a new social world. Uncovering the experience of inequality within personal relationships was of central importance for second wave feminists since much of women’s subordination occurred in the intimate spheres of their lives. Women cared so much about these issues that they wanted to strengthen their voices by fighting for gender equality to ensure they would be heard.