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= = == =__**Feminism**__=


 * Feminism** is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women

=__Origins__=

 ==== During the 18th century, European political philosophy centered on a conflict between two great, wealthy men: Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. Burke's //Reflections on the Revolution in France// (1790) criticized the idea of natural rights as a rationale for violent revolution; Paine's //The Rights of Man// (1792) defended it. Both focused, naturally, on the relative rights of men. English philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft beat Paine to the punch in her response to Burke titled //A Vindication of the Rights of Men// (1790), but she parted ways with both of them in a second volume titled //A Vindication of the Rights of Woman// (1792). Although the book was technically written in Britain, it arguably represents the beginning of first-wave American feminism. ====
 * 1792: Mary Wollstonecraft vs. The European Enlightenment**

At the Convention, prominent abolitionists and feminists of the era, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton (pictured on the left) authored a Declaration of Sentiments patterned after the Declaration of Independence which asserted fundamental rights often denied to women, including the right to vote.
 * 1848: Radical Women Unite at Seneca Falls ** [[image:yosmiragenao1/Elizabeth_Cady_Stanton_and_her_daughter,_Harriot..jpeg]] Wollstonecraft's book only represented the first widely read presentation of American first-wave feminist philosophy, not the beginning of the American first-wave feminist movement as such. Although some women (most notably U.S. First Lady Abigail Adams) would agree with her sentiments, what we think of as the first-wave feminist //movement// probably began at the Seneca Falls Convention of July 1848.

This divide obviously leaves out black women, whose basic rights were compromised both because they were black and because they were women. Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist and an early feminist, remarked in her famous 1851 speech: "I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon."
 * 1851: Ain't I a Woman?** [[image:yosmiragenao1/Sojourner_Truth.jpeg]] The 19th-century feminist movement had its roots in the abolitionist movement; it was, in fact, at a global abolitionists' meeting that the Seneca Falls organizers got their idea for a convention. Still, despite their efforts, the central question of 19th century feminism was whether it was acceptable to promote black civil rights over women's rights.

In 1896, a group of black women, led by Mary Church Terrell (photographed on the left) and including such luminaries as Harriet Tubman and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, was created out of a merger of smaller organizations. But despite the efforts of the National Association for Colored Women and similar groups, the national feminist movement became identified primarily--and enduringly--as white and upper-class.  **1920: America Becomes a Democracy (Sort Of)** As four million young men were drafted to serve as U.S. troops in World War I, women took over many jobs traditionally held by men. At the same time this occurred, the women's suffrage movement experienced a resurgence that dovetailed with the growing antiwar movement. The result: finally, some 72 years after Seneca Falls, the U.S. government ratified the Nineteenth Amendment.  Betty Friedan's book //The Feminine Mystique// (1963) took on "the problem that has no name"--the cultural gender roles, workforce regulations, government discrimination, and everyday sexism that had left women subjugated at home, at church, in the workforce, in educational institutions, and in the eyes of their government. In 1966, Friedan co-founded NOW--the first and still the largest major women's liberation organization.
 * 1896: The Hierarchy of Oppression** [[image:yosmiragenao1/Mary_Church_Terrell.jpeg]] But white men remained in control, partly because black civil rights and women's rights were set against each other. Elizabeth Cady Stanton herself complained about the prospect of black voting rights in 1865. "Now," she wrote, "it becomes a serious question whether we had better stand aside and see 'Sambo' walk in the kingdom first."
 * 1966: The National Organization for Women (NOW) is Founded**

 The right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy has always been controversial, mostly because of religious concerns regarding the potential personhood of embryos and fetuses. A state-by-state abortion legalization movement had achieved some success during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but in most of the country--most notably the so-called Bible Belt--abortion remained illegal. **2004: This is What 1.4 Million Feminists Look Like** When NOW organized a March for Women's Lives in 1992, //Roe// was in danger. The march on DC, with 750,000 present, took place on April 5th.//Casey v. Planned Parenthood//, the Supreme Court case that most observers believed would lead to a 5-4 majority striking down //Roe//, was scheduled for oral arguments on April 22nd. (Justice Anthony Kennedy later defected from the expected 5-4 majority and saved //Roe//.) __**Important Figures**__
 * 1973: Feminism vs. The Religious Right**


 * //Adams, Abigail//** (1744-1818). Adams was a prolific writer, patriot, abolitionist, and early feminist. In her famous correspondence to her husband, she spoke eloquently against slavery, many years before the abolitionist movement, and on behalf of women.

//**Anthony, Susan B.**// 1820-1906. American suffragist. Anthony worked tirelessly for the woman suffrage movement. She lectured on women's rights and organized a series of state and national conventions on the issue. She collected signatures for a petition to grant women the right to vote and to own property. During the Civil War Anthony worked toward the emancipation of the slaves. In 1863 she helped form the Women's Loyal League, which supported U.S. president Abraham Lincoln's policies. She registered to vote in Rochester, New York, on November 1, 1872. Four days later, she and fifteen other women voted in the presidential election. All sixteen women were arrested three weeks later, but only Anthony was brought before a court. Between 1881 and 1886, she and Stanton published three volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage, a collection of writings about the movement's struggle.

//**Stone, Lucy**// (1818-93). American feminist and abolitionist, born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, and educated at Oberlin College. Noted as a lecturer on woman suffrage and as an advocate of the abolition of slavery. A leader of the American Woman's Suffrage Association, she founded (1870) the Woman's Journal, the chief publication of the women's movement. Until her death she edited the journal, assisted by her husband, the American abolitionist Henry Blackwell. Stone created controversy by retaining her maiden name after her marriage as a symbol of a woman's right to individuality. Those who followed her example came to be known as Lucy Stoners. __**Quotations**__ 1. When I see the elaborate study and ingenuity displayed by women in the pursuit of trifles, I feel no doubt of their capacity for the most herculean undertakings. ~Julia Ward Howe This quote shows the importance of women and how most are described as weak and unable to do many things even though the quote has shown power for the women.

2. It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony This quote shows that the United states is not just made up of males but also females and that they should be treated equally as people.

3.  The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. ~Lucretia Mott

<span style="display: inline !important;"><span style="color: #000000; display: inline !important; font-size: 12px;">This quote has shown that our nation will not be at its greatest if men and women are not treated equally in our society.

<span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;"> <span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;">**__Works of Literature__** <span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;">

Tales from the Town of Widows <span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;"> <span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;">This novel is about the story of women without men in their lives. <span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;"> <span style="display: block; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit;"> To Be Real The novel is about how it is to be real with others on how they feel with certain issues.

Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Thinking Gender)

This has to do with the differences between men and women in life.


 * __Pop culture__**

feminist club teamed up at Harvard University to raise awareness about gender equality, the resulting 2010 campaign, **Feminist Coming Out Day**, brought together not only the two organizations, but also the campus community. Inspired by National Coming Out Day, a holiday which encourages awareness of issues affecting the community, the event was an opportunity for alliance, collaboration, bridge-building, and inclusion. This school year, they want to expand the Feminist Coming Out Day to high schools and colleges throughout the United States,