feminism

feminism A broad-based movement concerning the social, political, and economic rights of women. Its advocates have for the most part demanded equal rights for both sexes, although some have asserted the right of women to separate development. Throughout the ages women had generally been subordinated to men and largely excluded from education, from the ownership of property, from economic independence, and from political representation. A recognizable movement to rectify woman's subordinate position began at the end of the 18th century, finding its British mouthpiece in Mary WOLLSTONECRAFT, whose classic A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) has remained a key work.

Contemporary feminism has its roots in such works as Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949); The Feminine Mystique (1963) by the US feminist Betty Friedan; Sexual Politics (1969) by the US writer Kate Millett; The Female Eunuch (1970) by Germaine Greer; Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born (1977); and Gyn/Ecology (1979) by Mary Daly. In particular, the later 1960s saw the advent of women's liberation (popularly known as Women's Lib), arguing that male domination is implicit in all personal and professional relationships. It demanded the improvement of women's status in society and was concerned with changing stereotypes of both sexes. Women's liberation was especially vocal and active as a movement in the USA; in 1966 the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in the USA and has remained active since. Practical demands were focused on the right to equal pay and opportunities. In Britain the Sex Discrimination Acts (1975 and 1986) and the creation of the Equal Opportunities Commission in 1975 gave legal effect to some demands, although some employment practices and financial rewards still fail to achieve equality.

During the 1970s women's liberation gave way to a broader feminist movement, which sponsored public campaigns on such issues as abortion, childcare provision, pornography, and domestic violence against women. Other aspects of the movement have aimed to integrate the interests of women who are not of the dominant culture (for example, women of colour, working-class women, and lesbians, who individually have contributed much to the movement) into mainstream feminism, while continuing to strive for gender equality in the workplace and at home.

In developing countries, feminists have been faced with a different order of problem. Women in such countries generally suffer from a greater degree of inequality than their counterparts in Western countries. Their participation in the paid labour force and their literacy rates tend to be lower, and their fertility rates and maternal mortality rates tend to be higher. Less access to education, combined with religious or social traditions, is responsible for women's limited role in economic, public, and political life. The revival of Islamic fundamentalism, with its enforced social isolation of women Purdah, has led to the establishment of segregated systems of banking, commerce, and education in Muslim communities. Nevertheless, in many countries women have tried to improve their status, for example by opposing devisive legal and seclusion codes, and by campaigning against genital mutilation (female circumcision). In Africa, development groups are now supporting women agriculturalists (who produce 70% of the continent's food) by giving women greater access to and control of technology.