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What is feminism? Feminism is a belief system, a movement, a piece of history, and so much more. Throughout the course of this semester, we have studied feminism, discussing feminist scholars, visual media, and our own experiences as women. Feminism is a commonly misunderstood movement, as some people don’t understand what feminists stand for. Last spring, I won the Lorch Award for my feminist work in our local community. I started out my speech defining what a feminist is, so I think that would be a great way to start this final exploration. I wrote, “When asked ‘Are you a feminist?’ during the first week of my women’s health class at the beginning of this semester, many of the men in that class originally said no! But then, when they found out that a feminist is someone who is anti-sexist and wants equal rights for all genders, they realized that perhaps they are a feminist. Many men can get so caught up in playing the part of the successful masculine zombie (as mentioned by Herb Goldberg), that they don’t even take the time to research what a feminist is. They see the ‘fem’-part of feminism and believe that one must be ‘girly’ to be a feminist. Or that they might be looked at as not man enough if they were to take on the identity of a feminist” (Nagel, 2024). In introduction to this final exploration, I want to emphasize the anti-sexist nature behind feminism and how it isn’t an anti-man movement, but a movement pushing for equity of all genders and all identities. 

The first time feminism was actually defined as a word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary was in 1892. Today’s definition of ‘Feminism’ states, “belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests” (Merriam-Webster). In Merriam-Webster’s definition, they focus on women’s rights and interests in relation to gender equality. John Hoffman (2001) defined feminism as “a movement towards greater equality and freedom.” In my definition, I argue that feminism is a belief system of advocacy for the equity of all genders on a global scale. Similar to Beauvoir’s idea of the social norms of gender changing over place and time, feminism also changes over place and time. 

In our learning this semester, we learned about the early stirrings of feminism in the Medieval Period, alongside the four distinct waves of the feminist movement and how feminists learned and grew from each previous generation of feminists. In the Medieval Period, we learned about Gerda Lerner’s book, The Creation of Feminist Consciousness from the Middle Ages to Eighteen Seventy, where she stated, “From the beginning of patriarchy, every philosophical system has defined women as inferior and marginal. For thousands of years, women’s subhuman-ness was taken as a given without question or any need for explanation” (Lerner, 1993). This discussion of subhuman-ness can be seen in every American history book, as women were seen as monsters dehumanized by powerful men during the Salem Witch Trials, with smart and independent women being burned at the stake for not following the social norms of the time. 

In first-wave feminism, women were fighting for the right to education and being able to vote. In 1850, women couldn’t do many things including vote, initiate divorce, have control of their children, pursue higher education, have a bank account, initiate lawsuits, have control of their wages, and bring charges against a man for marital rape. As with the start of any movement, women fought for basic rights but only for certain women, as it would be seen as too radical if they were to fight for much more. Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929) came out around the time of the formation of the feminist movement, arguing for economic freedom for women so they could have a room of their own in order to think and write fiction. This wave focused on women’s suffrage which was granted in 1920, yet there was still so much more for women to do after achieving their first goal. 

Second-wave feminism began to include lower-class women and some Black women, as consciousness-raising meetings became a key mode of information for feminists. At these meetings, women would meet and discuss the experiences of women including the lack of child care to let women go back to school or work, how to find a divorce lawyer, and where to get abortions. Before Roe V. Wade was passed in 1973, “the feminist movement worked through word of mouth and by handing out flyers/pamphlets. They used back-alley abortions and underground abortion services to help women in need of abortions” (Nagel, 2023). By using consciousness-raising meetings and codewords, women were able to get abortions. In 1973, Roe V. Wade was passed, making abortions and other reproductive care much more accessible. 

Third-wave feminism is not a uniform perspective as it includes many diverse and analytically distinct approaches to feminism including class, race, age, sexuality, etc. The Combahee River Collective’s Black Feminist Statement (1977) is a perfect example of feminism during the third wave. The Combahee River Collective emphasizes that “the personal is the political,” a phrase coined by Kate Millet. While Kate Millet coined the phrase, many modern feminists use this phrase such as Judith Butler in their works. In this case, the Combahee River Collective is referring to the oppression of women, Black women included, requiring that we do an analysis of our everyday lives and experiences to become aware of this identity politics. In both Bell Hooks’ Feminism is For Everybody and the Combahee River Collective’s Black Feminist Statement, they highlight the importance of addressing multiple systems of oppression (pluralism, as we discussed in class), including, sexism, racism, classism, and homophobia, with both works stressing the necessity of grassroots activism and consciousness-raising. 

In my cyberfeminism analysis paper, I argued that there is a fourth wave of feminism that focuses on global feminism including the accessibility of cyberfeminism by using digitized zines (Nagel, 2024). The fourth wave started in the 2010s with the rise of social media activism and other online-based zine communities. With Gen-Z leading the fourth wave, we have pushed for gender-inclusive language in order to create a wave of feminism that includes everyone, no matter their gender, sexuality, age, race, nationality, class, etc. In creating an accessible and gender-inclusive wave of feminism, we are able to reach the global scale of feminism that Delap wrote about in Feminisms: A Global History (2020). By reviewing and analyzing feminism over time including medieval, first-, second-, third-, and fourth-wave feminism, we can argue the ever-evolving and differentiating definitions of feminism, learning from and expanding upon each previous definition. 

Now that I have proven that feminism has changed over place and time, it is crucial to define key terms within feminism, as they are defined today. Simone de Beauvoir argues that gender is socially constructed by writing “one isn’t born a woman, one becomes a woman” (Beauvoir, 1949). In addition, Judith Butler argues that sex is also socially constructed. In defining gender, it is all the social indicators of gender including clothing, hair, stride, and other feminine/masculine/androgynous qualities. Sex is defined as the biological indicators marking someone as male, female, or intersex, including the indicators of chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia. Gender is a performance according to Butler in Gender Trouble (1990), while sex is a box that doctors check off after birth. Sex has not changed over time, yet gender has. People who were transgender, nonbinary, genderfluid, or agender were seen as social outcasts historically, yet these terms became more well-known in the 20th and 21st centuries, normalizing genders other than men and women. In our heteronormative world that we live in, the gender binary and heterosexuality are still seen as the default, yet laws such as Proposal 1 in New York State (and other state’s ERA amendments) allow people to live more freely, not being discriminated against due to their gender and/or sexuality. The definition of these terms is relevant to my argument of feminism because as these terms have evolved over time, so has the definition of feminism. 

Overall, feminism is a belief system of advocacy for the equity of all genders on a global scale. Feminist ideas have evolved over time as the movement has listened to all genders, races, sexualities, classes, etc., and followed through by fighting for equity for all people on a global scale. In the early days of feminism, Mary Astell wrote A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, which analyzed the patriarchal power system we are under, arguing for the education of women in order to create more equality between men and women. With the original goal of education, feminists used learning as a foundation for this movement, continuing to listen, learn, and evolve throughout time. We learn through listening and through having conversations with others, so I emphasize talking and listening in order to become the best feminist you can be. In conclusion, each wave of feminism learned and built upon each wave that came before it. By reading from feminist scholars and listening to each previous generation of feminists, the movement can continue to become more inclusive and accessible to all who want to be involved.