A brief history of Feminism (Part 1)

Gender

Gender equality: An introduction

Feminism

A brief history of Feminism

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Information: Part 1 of an overview of the history of western feminism, and the main developments in western feminist thought. A version of this article was originally published on the website www.faithnet.org.uk.

Introduction

Mention the word 'Feminist' to many people, and an image of lesbians in kicker boots is no doubt conjured up in their mind. Now this must be a stereotypical image which has arisen due to a lack of knowledge about what feminism is, because many feminists are not like this. Furthermore, there are also many men (such as myself) who are feminists! So if this is the case, what exactly is a 'feminist'? Well, in general we might say that feminists want women everywhere to be able to define and re-define themselves, in a world they believe has been predominantly shaped by men and male interests (patriarchy). However, before settling on this definition we should note there are many feminists who claim that defining people in any way, is also a product of patriarchy. So let us simply say that feminism is about shaking up our thinking; challenging us to see the world from another perspective - in this case, that of women!

'The content of [a] webpage as well as the design of the webpage play an important role in determining whether or not a webpage is liberating or degrading to women... On a typical website, women are portrayed as primarily white women.' (Web designs, Cyberfeminism: A project by Lauren Holladay)

Although we might want to dismiss the idea of feminism as that to do with strong women, we should not forget that there have been many examples of women in western history who have demonstrated extraordinary talents, power and courage (E.g. Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I). However, these appear to be exceptions to, rather than the norm. For in general history has been written predominantly by men and for men, and as such women have been assigned their place in history (and society) accordingly. Thus in noting that 'strong' women are exceptions to what a woman's role in society normally is, might be said to reveal that our thinking has been shaped and formed by patriarchal interests (NB. His-story, not Her-story!).

Background to Modern Feminism

'Feminism is about challenging the division of labour in the world that puts men in charge of the public sphere - work, sports, wars, government - while women slave away unpaid in the home, carrying the whole burden of family life.' (Introducing Feminism, Icon Books, 1994 p.3)

Up until the Industrial Revolution of in the late 18th and early 19th century, 'work' in Britain was usually done near the home, under the direction of land owners and the ruling classes. However, once the manufacturing centres of industry began to develop in the the new cities work began to be separated from the home, and male and female roles began to be redefined as 'breadwinner' (male) and 'housewife' (female). Around this time the new 'urban middle-class' also began to struggle for rights, and sought to remove the yoke of oppression of their feudal masters.

It was within this 'revolutionary context' of social, religious and political change, that women began to express a desire for freedom from the tyranny of men.

Although women’s rights were still largely overlooked at this time, they were championed by Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) who opened a girls school in London in 1783. Despite that fact that this venture was ultimately unsuccessful, it did lead her to gain contact with other 'dissenters', who were championing the cause of all the oppressed (not just women). In 1792 Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which has became the foundation stone for modern day feminism. In it she showed how women had been left impotent to fight for equal rights, due to what she called 'domestic tyranny'. What she meant by this is that women had been 'forced' to stay at home because they were uneducated, had no political rights and were socially and materially dependent on men for almost everything ('She [woman] is brought up to be the toy of man'). In France, noted playwright Olympe de Gouges (1748-93) published Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), in which she called for equal rights in law, government and education.

'Male and female citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, must be equally admitted to all honours, positions, and public employment according to their capacity and without other distinctions besides those of their virtues and talents.' (Olympe de Gouges)

The American Women’s Movement

The European uprising against the aristocracy empowered the feminist agenda. However, in America it was the movement against slavery which gave women, both black and white, the chance to call for changes to their own 'oppression'. One of the most outspoken women was Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), whose speech Ain’t I a Woman? delivered in 1851 at the Woman’s Convention in Ohio, challenged people to think through issues surrounding both black and white women’s oppression.

'Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as man, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and woman! Man had nothing to do with him. If the first woman God made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women altogether ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.' (Taken from Ain't I a Woman?)

As one might guess, the Female Anti-Slavery Society attracted fierce hostility. At their first meeting in Philadelphia in 1833, they were attacked by racist mobs. Their desire to be a part of the whole anti-slavery movement ground to a halt in 1840, when they were refused entry to a male-only convention being held in Britain. On the basis of this experience, Lucretia Mott (1793-1850) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) began to promote issues surrounding the equality of women. These two women also produced the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments (1848):

'We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men and women are created equal… The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation’s on the part of men towards women, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her… He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the effective franchise… He has made her, if married, in the eyes of the law, civilly dead.' (Seneca Falls Declaration, 1848)

Throughout the 1850’s and 60’s, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) became the visible driving force for the Women’s Rights Movement. Amongst many other things, they particularly campaigned for the right for women to vote (suffrage). Their hard work eventually paid off as by 1860, fourteen states in the US had passed voting reforms and many others were sympathetic towards their plight. Other notable campaigners at this time were Lucy Stone (1818-83) and Antoinette Brown (1825-1921), the latter becoming the first woman to be ordained into the Christian ministry in the US (1853), although this was not something officially recognised by her denomination.

The British Women’s Movement

In the late 18th and early 19th century, women began finding employment in the new industrial centres of Britain. Previously women had only worked for their fathers or husbands at home, but now they were able to work independently from home, with other women, and were paid their own wages for doing so. However, despite this new found independence women’s work was longer, less secure and lower paid than men’s. During the late 19^th century, the best financial security a woman could hope for still involved getting married. However, by doing this they would have to forfeit their rights to own their own property and income. Everything would belong to their husband!

The move to allow women the right to basic education, to keep their own earnings and to vote, would take three generations of feminist struggle.

The first British 'agitators' were Barbara Leigh Smith (Later Barbara Bodichon) (1827-91), and Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829-1925). These two women organised a petition for a Married Woman's Property Bill (to do with a wife's right to keep her own property and income), and launched the Englishwoman’s Journal in 1858. In 1859 they founded The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, and a Ladies Institute at 19 Langham Place. In 1865 the ladies of Langham Place organised a petition for a Woman’s Suffrage Bill to be presented to parliament, by John Stuart Mill. He took the issue of women’s right into parliament (something no woman could do), and wrote a book called The Subjection of Women (1869), which argued that men and women are basically equal, and that differences between them were merely the result of upbringing and education.

'What is now called the nature of women is an entirely artificial thing.' (John Stuart Mill)

In the 1870’s and 80’s, discussion moved towards issues surrounding women’s sexual subordination, and the moral division between women of virtue, and women of vice. Josephine Butler (1828-1906) campaigned against the Contagious Diseases Act, which forced prostitutes to undergo a medical examination. She also raised the issue that for some women prostitution was their only work, and that this was fuelled by men’s sexual desires! There were also positive moves being made around this time, towards acknowledging that women should have the right to vote.

In 1892, The Local Government Act allowed women the right to vote in local elections, and the right to stand as councillors. Also at this time there was a rise in 'social purity' feminism, which saw some women claming to be 'morally superior' to men because they had forsaken the 'animal passions' surrounding sex (although as Elizabeth Cady Stanton noted, 'A healthy woman has as much passion as a man'). Some women also took more direct action against the 'male sub-culture', going around smashing up bars (which they believed were the source of male brutality towards women).

Picture of women campaigning for their right to vote

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) grew up in a home, which eventually became the centre for anarchists, suffragists and women's rights campaigners. Her husband, Richard Pankhurst, was a radical reformer, atheist freethinker and supporter of women's rights. The key issue at this time was now a women's a right to vote. Emmeline set up the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903, and began campaigning for the right to vote within the context of the new trade unionism. The WSPU grew rapidly. In 1907 they had 3,000 branches, and their newspaper Votes for Women sold 40,000 copies per week. 250,000 'members' attended a demonstration in Hyde Park, calling for the right to vote. When in 1911 the suffrage issue was sidelined by the Prime Minister (Asquith), they attacked government buildings and protested with hunger strikes. When the dockers and transport workers went out on strike, women joined them demanding better wages and the right to vote! In 1914 war broke out, and although many women opposed it, more and more women were being given 'men's jobs' (E.g. Engineering, making armaments, working in factories etc.). They also got the same pay as men.

In 1918, women in Britain over the age of thirty gained the right to vote in Parliamentary elections (as they were beginning to all over the world).

A brief history of Feminism (Part 2)