Module 7: Feminism
Study Guide - Gender and Society
Module Overview
• Women’s movement made many advances
• Covers both Philippines and abroad
• Intro to history of women’s movement
Learning Objectives
• Outline the development of Western Feminism
• Explain the factors that shaped its development
Feminism
• Way of looking at the world through women’s perspective
• The concept was Popularized in Western societies
• Rooted in Western concept of liberal democracy & equal rights (Kant,
Mill)
• The evolution of Western women’s movement summarized in 3 waves
Western Women’s Movement:
A Brief History
• Feminist history is described in “waves”
• First Wave → Equal rights, women’s suffrage, rooted in liberal thought
• Second Wave → Post-WWII, focused on biological needs & social roles
(radical feminism)
• Third Wave → Recognition of intersectionality & global struggles (Black,
Latin, Asian women, etc.)
• Influenced the Philippine Women’s Movement
First Wave: Women & Civil
Rights
• 18th to early 20th century
• Root: Liberal Feminism
• French Revolution (1789) – women demanded bread & rights
• Olympia de Gouges (1791) – Declaration of the Rights of Women
• Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) – Vindication of the Rights of Women
• Suffrage Movement (Seneca Falls 1848) – fight for vote, education, jobs
First Wave: Women & Civil Rights
The first wave of feminism happened from the late 18th century to the early
20th century. It focused mainly on equality between men and women,
especially the right to vote, education, and work.
•Roots in Liberal Feminism → Philosophers like Kant, Mill, and
Rousseau inspired women to demand equal rights since liberal thought
was about freedom and equality, but it excluded women.
•French Revolution (1789) → Women joined protests for bread and
justice. Although women’s issues were ignored in the Declaration of
the Rights of Man, it sparked feminist writings.
First Wave: Women & Civil Rights
Key Feminists:
• Olympia de Gouges (1791) → wrote Declaration of the Rights of
Women, fighting for justice and equality.
• Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) → wrote A Vindication of the Rights of
Women, called for women’s education and rights in family and society.
• Friedrich Engels (1884) → explained women’s oppression as tied to
marriage and property; women were treated like possessions to
secure wealth and inheritance.
First Wave: Women & Civil Rights
•Anti-Slavery Link → Women like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton realized women were treated almost like slaves, with no voice in
politics. This inspired them to fight for women’s liberation.
•Suffrage Movement → The Seneca Falls Convention (1848) in the U.S.
started the demand for women’s voting rights. Despite resistance (people
thought women were too emotional or uneducated), leaders like Sojourner
Truth and Frances Harper fought for both racial and gender equality.
•Achievements: By the 1920s, upper-class women in Europe and America
gained the right to vote, though struggles for education, labor rights, and
equality continued.
Second Wave: Women’s
Liberation
• After World Wars I & II
• Women gained vote but still second-class citizens
• Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique
• Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex
• Socialist Feminism – oppression in all aspects
• Radical Feminism – patriarchy & biology as root of oppression
Second Wave: Women’s
Liberation
The second wave of feminism happened mainly after World War II (1960s–
1980s). Women had already won the right to vote, but they were still treated
as second-class citizens. This movement focused more on womanhood,
identity, and social roles.
• Background:
– During the World Wars, women worked in factories (symbolized by
Rosie the Riveter).
– After the wars, men returned, and women were pushed back into the
home as “housewives” in the 1950s.
– This led to frustration and the fight for a broader kind of equality.
Second Wave: Women’s
Liberation
• Key Thinkers:
• Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique → described the “problem with no
name,” the unhappiness of housewives trapped in domestic roles.
• Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex → argued that women were reduced
to being “the Other,” always defined in relation to men, never on their own
terms.
• Shulamith Firestone – The Dialectic of Sex → called for revolution to free
women from biological limits (pregnancy, childcare).
• Kate Millett – Sexual Politics → explained how politics, sex, and power
maintain patriarchy and women’s oppression.
Second Wave: Women’s
Liberation
•Theories in the Second Wave:
•Socialist Feminism → Women are oppressed in all aspects (not just economy).
Oppression comes from family, labor, and society; both productive and
reproductive work should be valued and supported by the state.
•Radical Feminism → Focused on patriarchy and biology as roots of
oppression. Believed equality is not about sameness with men but about valuing
women’s differences and breaking structures that keep them inferior.
•Main Focus:
•Challenged the social construction of womanhood.
•Exposed how culture, politics, and economy shaped women’s identity and kept
them dependent on men.
•Pushed for freedom in sexuality, work, and social participation.
Third Wave of Feminism
• 1990s onwards
• Focus: intersectionality & inclusivity
• Globalization & technology shaped issues
• Judith Butler – Gender Trouble (1990) – gender is performed
• Postmodern feminism – challenged universal womanhood
Third Wave of Feminism
The third wave of feminism began in the 1990s. It expanded
feminism to include diverse and global perspectives, recognizing that
women’s struggles are not all the same.
• Background:
– Shaped by globalization, new world order, and technology.
– Criticized the idea of a “universal woman’s experience” (focused
only on white Western women).
– Aimed to include women from developing countries, post-colonial
societies, and marginalized groups (Black, Latina, Asian, LGBTQ+).
Third Wave of Feminism
•Key Characteristics:
•Inclusive and intersectional → embraced differences across race, class,
sexuality, and culture.
•Activism focused on violence against women, trafficking, media
sexualization (“pornification”), body image, and self-expression.
•Influenced by postmodern feminism → questioned fixed ideas of gender,
beauty, masculinity, and femininity.
•Key Thinkers:
•Judith Butler – Gender Trouble (1990) → argued that gender is not fixed,
but a social construct performed through repeated actions.
•Introduced the idea of gender performance → our identity is shaped by
how we act, not by biology alone.
Third Wave of Feminism
•Post-Feminism:
•Critiqued earlier waves for being too focused on white, middle-class
women.
•Still promoted sisterhood, but in a way that respected diversity and
different experiences.
•Reclaiming Power:
•Feminists began reclaiming words like girl or bitch to remove their
negative power.
•Sought to transform society by redefining womanhood on women’s own
terms.
Summary
• Feminism evolved in 3 waves
• Different schools of thought:
Liberal, Socialist, Radical,
Postmodern
• Goal: Uplifting women &
removing structural barriers
• Past efforts gave today’s
opportunities