Page 8 - PowerE-L05-F

Lesson 2

Feminism

Feminism refers to a political discourse aimed at equal
rights and legal protection for women. Various move-

ments, political and sociological philosophies concerned
with issues regarding gender differences comprise
feminism. According to Maggie Humm and Rebecca
Walker, the history of feminism can be divided into three

waves: the first dates from 19th to the early 20th centu-
ries, the second was 1960’s to 1970’s, and third extends
from the 1990s to the present. Feminist movements
emerged from theories manifested in various disciplines

like feminist geography, history and literary criticism.
Within Western society, feminism has adapted predominant perspectives in a wide range of
areas. Assertive feminists’ activists campaigned for various legal rights such as workplace
privileges including maternity leave and equal pay, rights against misogyny and other forms

of discrimination. Despite the effort, feminism has failed to add equal rights for women to
the United States Constitution. However when Sojourner Truth delivered her speech, in
1851, to American feminists, alternative feminism has been proposed. In the 1960’s this
trend accelerated with the Civil Rights movement in the US and the collapse of European

colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, parts of Latin America and Southeast Asia. Concepts of
post-colonial and third world feminism flourished and developed critics from other feminist
activists. Chandra Talpade Mohanty, a postcolonial feminist criticized the Western feminism
as ethnocentric. Black feminists, Angela Davis and Alice Walker have the same opinion.

Comprehension

1. Where did feminists movements emerge?
2. Name some of the most common workplace issues among women.

Questions

1. Were early women liberation movements triumphant campaigning for women’s rights in

the United States Constitution?
2. Do you think men and women should have equal rights in society?

Vocabulary & Expressions

Assertive - to be confident in stating a position or claim
Post-colonial - the period after being directly controlled by a colonial country
Accelerate - to develop faster
Flourish - to prosper or grow

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