Feminism: An Outcome of Gender Discrimination

Discriminatory attitude towards men and women exists in the society for generations. Nature has divided human beings into two halves and even wife is designated as “Better half”, but this better half is never given her better rights. This society portrays women as an idol of sacrifice; she is supposed to be submissive and tolerant. Not to think about the rights given to a women but she had some specific roles and responsibilities or you can even call it as her duty towards her family. These include cooking and serving her husband and her family, well dressed and looking beautiful just for herself because she was not even allowed to show her pretty face to the world and her role ends up by giving birth to a male child. Problem of gender biased was not just a problem of India.
It was indeed a very real problem throughout the world. There was a need of a revolutionary movement and “Feminism” evolved to revolutionize women to fight for their rights.

“Feminism can be defined as a collection of movements and ideologies that aims at establishing equal economic, social and cultural rights and opportunities for women and a feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.”

Feminism is a belief that all people must have equal civil rights and can be equally intellectual regardless of the gender. The word Feminism was coined by Charles Fourier, a Utopia socialist and a French Philosopher in 1837 and feminism and feminist first appeared in France and Netherlands in 1872. Feminist movements around the world had different causes and goals depending on their historical movement, culture and country. Most western feminist historians asserted that the movements started to obtain women’s right should be considered as feminist movement even when they don’t apply this term by themselves. Feminist movements is divided into three waves: (each wave deals with different aspects of the same feminist issue)

        I.            First Wave

     II.            Second Wave

   III.            Third Wave

First wave feminism was during nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It was started in the UK and USA which focused on the promotion of equal contract, marriage, parenting and property rights for women. This period also raised voice for right of women’s suffrage (right to vote) in particular. Women’s suffrage began in Britain Australasian Colonies, when self-governing colonies of New Zealand granted the right to vote to women in 1893, thereafter in 1895 South Australia also granted this right to women and in 1902 female suffrage was granted in whole Australia. Some of the notable activist of that time was Emmelina Pankhurst, Elizabeth Candy Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott. They campaigned for the abolition of slavery and claimed spiritual equality which asserts men and women are equal under god. The first wave ended with the 19^th amendment in United Nations Constitution in 1919 that granted voting rights to women in all the states.

Second Wave Feminism is associated with the ideas and actions of the “Women Liberation Movement” that started in 1960s. Hoda Shaarawi founded the Egyptian Feminist society. The wave spread in the Arab countries and Iranian women’s fought for the equal rights of education, marriage and other legal rights. Second-wave feminists see women's cultural and political inequalities as inextricably linked and encourage women to understand aspects of their personal lives as deeply politicized and as reflecting sexist power structures. Howsoever, all the movements could not achieve the desirable success for one more time voice of females were suppressed by the patriarchal society.

Third Wave Feminism started as a continuation to the perceived failure of second wave feminism. Second and third-wave feminism in China has been characterized by a re-examination of women's roles during the communist revolution and other reform movements, and new discussions about whether women's equality has actually been fully achieved.

By looking over these waves it is clearly predicted that India still lack in feminism, there are few examples but the movement remained confined to a small area or it was for a personal cause, there is yet an urge for a mass movement. Howsoever, women of Arab countries or Muslim nations participated in the movement, in spite of the fact that these countries are looked upon as hard core patriarchal countries.

Apart from all these movements and waves many authors did remarkable job in upgrading feminism. Notably “Le Deuxieme sexe” (or The Second Sex) by French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir magnificently express the feminists’ sense of injustice. John Austen and George Eliot had significantly depicted women’s misery and frustration.

This was all about the growth of feminism in the world. Today feminism and gender discrimination both exist in the society. Women have achieved the constitutional rights and laws but the real sense of equality is yet to be developed. In many countries till today there is a clear discrimination. In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive. Yemeni women are some of the least empowered women in the world. In Nepal there is a very lenient attitude towards rapist and punishment depends on the victim’s age. There is actually a need of self- empowerment and self- confidence because it is very clear that if you want to make your own identity you will have to stand for it first. It was never easy for all those women who fought for their rights against the society.

This page enlists such powerful personalities. http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/womenofpower/Top-20-Influential-Women.html