Echoes of feminists over the eras

Réka Tulassay 

Have you ever wondered where the voice came from? Or are the voices of feminists just like the small devil’s advocate? Well, the echoes been here for some time now. It has already had three waves so far – never back down never what? 

Before we jump into this tremendous mystery, you have to know what the voices have been screaming for: it’s the belief in the political, cultural and equality of women in society. Rings for this cause have been around even in the great ancient times of Plato who was advocating that women have natural abilities to the same level as men in leading and safeguarding ancient Greece. Even though not everyone was a fan of the idea, the protests against the Oppian law which would have restricted women’s access to gold and other goods, managed to get the law repealed. The rage did not stop during the Enlightenment either; writers and philosophers like Margaret Cavendish and Mary Wollstonecraft fought actively for greater equality for their peers. Feminism believes that women deserve equal social, economic, and political rights and freedoms – the exact things that the voices have been echoing about. 

First wave: Women’s Suffrage & The Seneca Falls Convention 

In the very first attempts, when our story begins, we are in in the 1800s when women were second class citizens and considered too unintelligent to vote. The journey of women's rights began with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, where advocates like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott stressed equality by proclaiming "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal" and demanding the right to vote. Despite the resistance, Frederick Douglass supported women's suffrage, enflaming the movement. This led to milestones such as New Zealand granting women the vote in 1893, and later Australia and Finland. US involvement in WWI highlighted women's abilities, paving the way for icons like Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt to secure the 19th Amendment. Fast forward to the post-WWII world, the female echoes increased the roles in the workforce, from traditional to male-dominated jobs, lifted by Rosie the Riveter's symbolic image. Inspired by the civil rights movement, women pushed for workplace equality, leading to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, addressing wage disparities. These developments ended in American women securing the right to vote, leading the voices to start the beginning of the second wave for women's rights. 

Second wave: Women’s liberation 

In the era all focus was on equality and discrimination. In 1963, Betty Friedan wrote a book called "The Feminine Mystique," exposing how women felt stuck in roles that didn’t make them happy, like homemaking and childcare. Loudly and passionately, the echoes made people calling feminism as "women's liberation." Then, in 1971, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Bella Abzug started the National Women's Political Caucus to help women in politics. In 1976, Ms. Magazine, led by Steinem, talked a lot about feminism, which was a big deal. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was passed by Congress in 1972 to make sure everyone was treated fairly and to stop discrimination based on sex, but it didn't become a law in the US because not enough states agreed upon it. In 1973, the Supreme Court decided in Roe v. Wade that let women have the right of abortion in the United States. This was a fundamental step as these empowered women to make their own life changing decisions regarding their own lives, especially their body – something so subjected to the male gaze for too long. 

Third wave: Who benefits from the Feminist Movement? 

Th echoes haven’t stopped yet, we are still going strong these days still. However, in feminism’s history, critics have pointed out that it often primarily focuses on white, college-educated women, neglecting the concerns of women of colour, LGBT, immigrants, and religious minorities. The voices were very loud especially in the 2010s, when attention surged on sexual assault cases and "rape culture," underscoring the need for women's equal rights. The #MeToo movement gained momentum in October 2017, sparked by sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, encouraging more women to speak out against influential men, including Donald Trump. Echoing loudly in the years to come, The Women’s March on Washington in January 2017 saw hundreds of thousands protesting perceived threats to reproductive, civil, and human rights by the new Trump administration. Globally, over three million people joined simultaneous demonstrations, giving feminists a powerful platform to advocate for comprehensive women's rights worldwide. In spite of the successes of the movement, the fact that many of the echoes of aching women being heard, there has been a rising backflash against it thanks to the occasional exploitation of it. The most famous one that overflowed the internet was the Johnny Depp trial – already rings bells, right? Jack Sparrow winning his defamation case against Amber Heard, who had accused him of domestic violence, made many people question the purity of the cause. Recent surveys reveal that there's an increasing disapproval of feminism thanks to the #MeToo movement backflash, particularly among young men. A study by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2022 discovered that 62% of young Republican men think feminism has negative influences on society, with 46% of young Democratic men agreeing with this. This is in contrast to a Pew study in 2020 which showed that 60% of men, regardless of political association, believed feminism to be empowering and only 34% viewed it as outdated. 

Sooo … 

Feminism has already achieved and allowed women to gain so many great things, like the right or vote or anatomy decisions with abortion rights. However, we still need to resonate for so much and so simple things – payment gaps, representation, gender-based violence …. 

What do YOU think about this? Will you join the big voices and be part of the fight? Or would you rather be an echo of history?