American History

Feminism movements are campaigns that are aimed at championing reforms that would give women equal rights with men. They were designed to addressing issues like domestic violence, equal pay, reproductive rights, maternity, voting rights, sexual violence and harassment. Different movements have different goals depending on their country of origin. The movements have a wide history that has undergone various phases in its development. It was started in the 18th century after which its development underwent three different stages called waves.  

The first wave involved white middle together with upper class women of which they were advocating for suffrage and equality, politically. The second wave was aimed at addressing inequalities that existed both culturally and socially while the third wave was a continuation of the second wave through taking post-structural assessment of femininity in which they argued that there was no comprehensive single feminist initiative. The third wave opposed essentialist description of femininity that assumed a general female identity and emphasized on discursive and uncertainty of gender. The third wave comprised of some aspects of queer theory, hall marks of current progressivism. Through this movement, numerous changes in cultures and social practices impacting families relations, gendered language, relationships among men and women, and also religion has changed the way women used to be treated by society in general (Allen, p. 74).

History
As mentioned earlier, it is divided into three different waves. The events that took place in the different waves were influenced by the type of individuals that were at that time and the culture that existed. It worked against what society perceived to be normal and tried to reduce sexiest oppression. It was and it is still a struggle that is aimed at getting rid of the idea of dominance that existed and still exists in various levels and reorganize the society in general so that development can take preference over imperialism, material desires and economic expansion (Russo, p.53).

First wave This is the movement that existed between 18th and 20th centuries. It dealt mostly with suffrage. It was aimed at addressing the issue of male dominance where by women were perceived as victims of both themselves and men. Social constructs that existed were identified through the use of literature. In countries such as Britain, suffragettes advocated for womens vote, which was finally given to some of them in 1918 and to the rest in 1928 because of the role women had played in the First World War. In the U.S, its leaders advocated for elimination of slavery before they started championing for their voting rights. The movement in America was comprised of a wide group of women with others belonging to Christian groups like Womens Christian Temperate Union. After the Nineteenth amendment of the US constitution, the first-wave of feminism ended with the women being granted the right to vote (Arora, p.278).

Second wave this took place between 1950s and 1980s. It was concerned about gender inequality that existed both in law and culture. It capitalized on the achievements of the first wave and started adapting its ideas. The second wave was triggered by a book whose author was Betty Friedan titled The Feminine Mystique. At the time, Betty was a house wife and a mother although she had previously been involved in political activism. Through the book, she expressed the dissatisfaction among the middle class educated women like her who were just housewives and wondered if that was all life had to offer to them but instead she chose not to put the blame on an individual but the society as a whole. This made feminists to campaign against both cultural and political inequalities. The movement enabled many women to understand their selves as deeply politicized and the chauvinist structure that was in placed. This wave was mainly concerned with issues of inequality (Russo, p.53).

Third wave the third wave is seen to be a continuation of the second wave in which it addressed the failures of the second wave. It started happening as from 1990s up to the current day. This wave was greatly interested in enhancing the various achievements that American Women had accomplished. The movement expanded during this wave to include many other women who previously had not associated themselves with their goals that they had established at the beginning of the movement. Although most felt that it was a continuation of the second wave, it made its own significant contributions like the movement that arose in the 1990 that rooted for the second wave and other feminists calling for a fresh prejudice in feminism influence. They decided to bargain for more space among feminists. This interest on attaining equality between gender and race remained high all through the hearings of Thomas-Hill but began reducing during the freedom ride of 1992. This drive that was aimed at encouraging voter registration among the poor communities was accompanied by public speeches that aimed at rallying young feminists (Allen, p. 74).

Scope
According to Ferree and Beth, (p.83), as a movement, it helped bring a lot of change in the American society and enlisted many more participants. Underlying issues concerning culture together with political economy made issues about gender count more than before to both the ordinary citizens and activists. Family Wage System fate was one of the things that made the change in gender order appear necessary. This reflected in the governments policies that were based on the idea of male bread winner and female housekeeper.

Women ensured that the goals that they had set out to accomplish were achieved during this period. They were able to secure protection against employment discrimination, they brought about changes in laws regulating abortion, there acquired a greater representation in the media, they could be able to access to school athletics just like their male colleagues and many other achievements (Hayden, p.34).
Changes started being felt across the industrial society there was an increase in the life expectancy, a decrease in birth rates and large numbers of women got into the paid work force and new policies were enacted that were in accordance with the changing individual and family cycles. This significantly changed understanding of marriage and life as a whole. It was through the good organization of women that feminism became a success. All women including those working, Native Americans, Jews, Catholics, sex workers and those with disabilities figured out what equality could be of significance to them and joined hands to achieve it (Ferree and Beth, p.83).

Social changes
According to Wilcox and Ted (p. 169), it brought about a number of social changes to women they were granted the right to file divorce proceedings and they could make decisions concerning pregnancy including the use of contraceptives and procuring an abortion. They were granted the right to own property. More women were able to secure employment at equitable wages and also university education was made easily accessible to them.

By 2004, the United Nations Human Development report had estimated that women were working more compared to men when both paid and unpaid employment were put into consideration. In some remote areas among third world countries, women performed an average of 20 more work than that which men did or worked an average 20 minutes more than men. According to the United Nations 21st international meeting of Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Womens Association, it was estimated that 66 of all the wok was done by women. They received 10 of the income generated and they had less than 1  property under their ownership. A language that did not appear non sexist was advocated for by use of words such as Ms to both single and married women. The use of gender-neutral words was encouraged which was aimed at reducing assumptions about human biological referents. Roles at home were affected due to the increased employment of women, where both couples were expected to carry out household duties equally (Hayden, p.34).

Feminism movement also affected religion with theology significantly. Some liberal branches among protestant churches began ordaining female priests. In other groups, women have further contested for positions that were previously reserved for only men. Because of the efforts that have been made by this movement, future generations will be able to have equal opportunities in terms of access to education, employment and positions of power. Society is changing gradually from the previous culture that gave men more advantages as compared to their female counterparts.