The First Wave Of Feminism: The Oppression Of Women

The oppression of women has been a large issue in the past 150 years. The first wave of feminism was a movement during the late 1800s and early 1900s with the name ‘first wave’ was given during the second wave – symbolising the constant inequality that will imaginably preoccupy the female gender for years to come. This initiation of women’s rights was focused on a political change including the successful and historical change of women’s right to vote, known as the suffragette movement. The second wave began during the 1960s and was remembered as a broad socio-political movement focused on gender issues, women’s liberation and economic parity. By time the third phase arose in the 1990s, sexual freedom and job opportunities were among women,
It wasn’t until the second wave when women's liberationist was the original preferred term, yet the appropriate name for first wave feminists is Suffragettes. During 1897, Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women’s Suffrage and believed in peaceful protest for her campaign. She felt that violence, hatred or trouble towards the issue would persuade men into believing women could not be trusted with such power as voting. In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters founded the Women’s Social and Political Union and the women in this movement were prepared to use violence to get the justice they deserved. The film Suffragette, directed by Sarah Gavron shows an insight on the movement from one woman’s point of view. It shows how a peaceful issue grew into a violent, demanding process that encountered many extreme associations. The film is an insight to how resilient Suffragettes worked to gain just one aspect of equality, contrasting with the other waves of
Despite workplace changes after the war, women’s wages were still averages 57%^ of men’s wages, and females were encouraged to go back to working at home as house wives, cooks and cleaners. These encouragements did change how these women felt. Women wanted to stay in their professions instead of going back to their previous ‘jobs’ and this pursuit of change sparked the beginning of the women’s liberation movement known as the second wave. As the second wave moved along, there was a feeling of separation between women of colour and white women. Women of colour had felt their needs were not fully addressed and there was a battle of intersecting oppressions, rather than just a gender issue. This was around the time of the civil rights movement. One film that highlights how intersecting women felt during these times is The Color Purple based on the novel by Alice Walker. The protagonist, Celie, acts as a powerful example of how women were treated by men, and the oppression she displays mirrors what women in second wave feminism were attempting to eradicate. From first glance, the film was more of a fight for black rights in America, but there any many aspects important for second wave feminism that contrast appropriately to third wave. The patriarchal emotion of the movie reflects all waves of feminism and the constant struggle for female equality. The force of marriage was, and still is a