Mary Wollstonecraft is often regarded as the catalyst for Western Feminism, hence her nickname as its ‘mother’. Her revolutionary book ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ altered the future of women in the West. Not only did it attack the existing patriarchy, but it pushed for a more equal society and encouraged the recognition of women as valuable assets, just as much as men were. Of course, this was instantly rejected, if not ignored, by the systems of power in Britain at the time. Why would men willingly give women power when they control everything, right? The irony is, when Wollstonecraft initially published ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Men’ in 1790, she did so anonymously. The initial response to her critique of Edmund Burke and his views of tradition, customs and social hierarchies was electric. That is until it was revealed she was a woman Undeterred, Wollstonecraft pushed for equality feminism. She planted the seed which eventually led to the Suffrage Movement in the early 20th century. There is no doubt that Wollstonecraft lit a fire amongst women at the time.
To suggest women were equal to men was close to blasphemy at the time, because how dare a woman ever think she can do what a man does, right? Wollstonecraft not only proved them wrong but laid out the foundations for the feminist movement. Wollstonecraft simply explained that women had more to them than being child bearers and shiny objects to be paraded around by men. She believed women and men were entitled to free and equal education and that perhaps if women are shamed for having sex before marriage, then men should be painted with the same brush. She also believed women should stop being viewed as ‘masculine’ for using their voices; she believed that women and men were no different aside from what society has imposed on them.
She asked whether there is truly a difference between men and women, or whether perhaps this difference was constructed by the patriarchy. She believed women were inherently rational just as men were, and fostered discussions about women’s right to vote and their participation in the civic sphere. This was the beginning of Western feminism.
Amongst women there was a racial and class hierarchy, with middle-class white women inhabiting the top tiers, mirroring the male system. As a working-class woman of colour myself, I must note that, what was termed equality feminism at the time, is now referred to as white feminism as it largely discriminated against and excluded women of colour, as well as only really including middle-class women.
This first-wave feminism is often regarded as ending when white women were granted the right to vote in the Western superpowers (the US and the UK). Though this was not enough. Whilst Wollstonecraft pushed for women and men to be equal and independent, feminists during second-wave feminism criticised Wollstonecraft for remaining ‘a prisoner of the category she most vehemently tried to reject’ – that of motherhood in a bourgeoise society. Critics accused Wollstonecraft of having the disease of ‘feminist misogyny’. They believed Wollstonecraft did not push hard enough for women and that is exactly what the second wave set out to do.
The second wave critiqued a much wider range of issues, such as the role of women as housewives and mothers, the difference between sex and gender, patriarchy, and capitalism.
This wave drew in women from all backgrounds and coined the phrase ‘the personal is political’. In my humble opinion, I believe this is when feminism really flourished. Women were angry, they wanted more, and they made it known. This time, women wanted social equality as well as political equality. The second wave wanted to deconstruct existing views of women as ‘domestic and deconstructive’. The movement had some legal successes, such as the USA’s Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Roe v Wade (which has since been repealed in 2022). Second-wave feminism wanted to free women from the shackles of patriarchy imposed on them, from the right to have mortgages under their own name, to being able to achieve justice for domestic abuse and sexual assaults.
However, this movement was frequently destabilised by men. President Raegan and his government labelled women as ‘humourless, hairy-legged shrews who cared only about petty b***** like bras instead of real problems’, because getting sexually harassed and objectified wherever you go is ‘petty’, right? This narrative prevailed, with stereotypes of feminists as hateful women who make problems out of nothing remaining today, which is of course, untrue. This belief used existing stereotypes of women as over-emotional and irrational to paint the feminist movement as just another example of female hysteria, thus creating the idea that feminism is a negative trait in women, rather than seeing the fight for women’s equality with men.
The Third Wave (1991 -?) is hard to define, there is no set agreement on what it really is. But what matters is that we need feminism more than ever. The current repealing of Roe V Wade has caused insurmountable distress for us all. It highlights that men will actively take our rights away and we must keep pushing. What started with a middle-class women’s rights activist, has led to a mass movement that is still fighting today. Wollstonecraft was radical for her time, and we must be radical in ours.