The trends of early women’s rights campaigns and feminist organizations have created the modern world of feminism. The initial wave of feminism found roots in violence, social organizations and conventions to rattle the authority and bring women’s rights issues into the light. Those philosophies are deep-seeded in today’s marches, campaigns, and international holidays. As Coretta Scott King once said, “There is a new understanding, a new sisterhood against all injustice that has been born here. We will not be divided and defeated again.”Why are the motives behind modern equality movements still the same as they were so long ago? Although women have gained more political, social and economic rights in the second wave of feminism, there will still be action as long as injustice and inequality are present. The trends of the past have created the modern world of fighting for equality, carried out by women and their allies.
The organization that assembled millions of women around the world in 2017 for a series of protest marches planned another set of marches that were carried out on January nineteenth and twentieth of this year. The main goal of these public demonstrations was to speak out for the rights and justice for women and their allies, including LGBTQ+ and other oppressed peoples. The event that drove the organization to unite again was the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, alleged sexual assaulter. Riots and protests took place all around the country when Kavanaugh was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice despite eighty three ethics complaints against him. According to the Court’s disciplinary system, all charges were dismissed upon his confirmation. His confirmation hearings were full of controversy and protests from angry citizens.
Women have been subjected to an inferior status in social and political institutions right from the start of said institutions. However, no one saw a problem with that status until questioning was raised by humanist poet Christine de Pisan on the eve of the French Revolution. The arguments set forward by Pisan and enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire for equality of the sexes are the same philosophical underlyings of the French Revolution. The Third Estate, that had represented the oppressed sector of French society, had a strong front of women during socio-political battles. During the extreme times of change that surrounded the French Revolution, women found a voice in public arena. Olympe de Gouges, a forerunner in the women’s emancipation struggles, drafted a Declaration on the Rights of Man, Woman and the Citizen. An excerpt from the preamble apptly summarizes the woman’s emancipation demands:
Consequently, the sex that is as superior in beauty as it is in courage during the sufferings of maternity recognizes and declares in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following Rights of Woman and of Female Citizens.
What follows is practically an article-for-article spinoff the National Assembly’s Declaration on the Rights of Man and the Citizen, but with more emphasis on including women in the fight for basic human rights.
Alongside powerful female individuals, women’s suffrage organizations have played a huge role in advancing women’s suffrage and emancipation efforts. An especially prominent organization was the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), founded by passionate campaigner Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. The increasingly militant tactics of the WSPU turned away some women that didn’t wish to participate in violent ways. The rogue feminists of the WSPU were not afraid to break the law and become physical with authority. Their motto “deeds not words” helped to women’s suffrage high on the political agenda:
Human life for us is sacred, but we say if any life is to be sacrificed it shall be ours; we won’t do it ourselves, but we will put the enemy in the position where they will have to choose between giving us freedom or giving us death.
In 1903, Pankhurst died and women were granted equal voting rights with men.
The use of crowds and large public demonstrations to disrupt the world is a very efficient tactic that feminists use to shake the world. The violent and destructive actions of the WSPU and French Revolution may not have been the most positive style of protest. Their militant tactics caused some people of the opposition to push harder against the women, making every move in the right direction have an equal and opposite impact on women’s rights. The International Women’s Marches don’t use violence. Instead, they use posters, voices, and bodies to illustrate their demands. Despite the different stratagems, the main goal of socio-political organizations, revolutions and marches is to bring awareness the struggle by assembling and showing just how strong and important women can be when they stand together.
Towards the beginning of Pankhurst’s career, she spent a year visiting workhouses in London and discovered the extreme levels of poverty in her hometown. The working conditions for women and young children have gotten better in the years since but women and young girls are still forced into factories in some third world countries. This years theme for the International Day of the Girl Child is With Her: A Skilled Girlforce”. The movement grew from the Plan International “Because I Am A Girl” campaign, highlighting the need for education , medical care, and legal rights for young women in developing countries. The initiative, running since 2012, was launched by the UN to address inequality, child marriage, and gender-based violence. According to UNICEF, 90% of girls in developing countries will join the workforce in the next years and be placed in roles where they experience exploitation and abuse. The main goal of the International Day of the Girl Child is to provide girls with the tools they need to make a professional path and to encourage female entrepreneurship via social media.
Social media was not available for first-wave-feminists to share their campaigns on the worldwide stage. With this form of instant communication and trending hashtags, the internet provides oppressed peoples with a platform to share their stories. A huge hashtag that popped up a few years ago advocated for the victims of sexual assault and relationship violence. The movement called #MeToo gives the survivors confidence and support to come forward and share their stories. The victims of sexual assault are more and more coming forward and taking their cases to the legal system. Small, understaffed human rights agencies are unable to handle the influx of cases. There was a legislation that would have given the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities enough money to fill empty positions in local agencies but the legislation was unsuccessful. The complaints began piling up on the agencies after allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017. The broken system of human rights agencies can take years for a case to be processed.
The turning point between the initial women’s suffrage movement and modern feminism happened in 1977 Houston. Over 20,000 women convened at the 1977 Convention on Women’s Rights, also called the International Women’s Year (IWY) Conference, to discuss issues concerning abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Supported by Republican Richard Nixon and the 92nd Congress, the ball was rolling for women’s rights bills. WOmen almost got their big break when an Equal Rights Amendment was proposed. However, the Amendment was not made because Phyllis Schlafly, a very loud opponent of the ERA, led a number of anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ rallies.One of her rallies was composed of 15,000 supporters and drew a line in the sand between Liberal and conservatives:
“The decisive turning point in the war between Women’s Liberation and those who are Pro-Family. Houston was the Midway battle that determined which was the winning side.” -Phyllis Schlafly
Although the ERA was not passed, women had overwhelming support in the political arena, backed by President Gerald Ford and the Congress. Ford appointed a National Commission of $5 million to fund an organization of regional conferences, the most revolutionary taking place in Houston. The Citizen’s REview Committee (CRC) gathered at the Astro Arena for a Pro-Family rally just a few blocks away from the IWY Conference was being held. The crowd consisted of almost entirely whites with a high number of men and children. It was difficult for women to reach an emancipation that reflected the interests of everyone, especially when there were women on both sides of the argument.
It is easier now than ever for people from opposite sides of the world to unite. All it take is one click of a button and you can communicate with anyone. In 1977, it was not as easy for women to rally together and talk with one another, but that didn’t stop them from trying. The #MeToo movement and the International Women’s Year Conferences brought together women from all walks of life to converse, debate, share, and empower one another. The strength of unity is perhaps the strongest force in feminism: it is essential for women to support, empower, listen, and rally behind each other.
The past trends of first-wave feminism have deep-seeded roots in today’s movements and institutions. Although their had been immense improvement to women’s rights in the past two hundred years, the fight for equality is far from over. The battle started by Emmeline Pankhurst and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) is not over. The French Revolution is long gone but the revolutionary spirit is still thriving. The International Women’s Year ended in 1978 but now every year is a year for women. Women are unifying, rallying, marching, celebrating, fighting, and changing everyday. We women of our generation are indebted in every way to those who beat the path of freedom for us. Even so, every day is a challenge for women for equality.
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