Women's Rights Movements: The Feminist Movement

The women’s rights movements, also known as the feminist movements, happened during the years of 1867 to the present. The first wave of feminism happened between the years of 1867 to 1960. This wave included campaigns in support of temperance, women’s suffrage, pacifism, labour and health rights. During time period feminist activists focused on achieving legal and political equality. The second wave feminism happened from 1960 to 1985. The movements included campaigns in support of equality in education and employment, peace and disarmament, birth control and an end to violence against women. There were also movements for women’s representation from advertising to dress, insisted on respect for non-mainstream identities and demanded reform
Feminists were asking why the majority of women were faced a “triple day” of waged, domestic and caring labour. A small Wages for Housework movement suggested one solution, in the 19070s. Significantly more activists disapproved of the gender pay gap, the absence of support for pregnancy and childcare, and order the cancellation of glass ceilings and harassment. Women made up 32.3% of all Canadian unionists, in the year 1982. Powerful feminists such as Madeleine Parent in the Canadian Textile and Chemical Union had aroused some in the labour movement to women’s specific persecution in employment and in unions themselves. Two separate unions in British Columbia, the Office and Retail Workers Union of Canada and the Association of University and College Employees, improved the feminist challenge.

In the third wave of Women’s Movement, the growing acceptance of lesbian had continued. Their existence helped make feminists leading supporters of new protections and rights for LGBT Canadians in matters ranging from education, employment, and immigration, to adoption and marriage. The appearance of openly lesbian and feminist politicians, for example, NDP Liddy Davies in British Columbia and Liberal Kathleen Wynne in Ontario considered feminism’s impact on shifting the public
The first wave of women’s movements provides reminders of courage, diversity, and frequently conflicting agendas among activists. The struggle for women’s rights/feminism never attracted all women, loyalties, distrust, or fears kept many silent or in opposing camps. The first wave did not solve all women’s rights problems, the struggles for a better deal in education, law, employment, and healthcare confirm that inequality was ongoing. In the second wave of women’s movements many aspects of life were publicly questioned, this included jobs women could choose their physical presentation and vulnerability to violence. There was a growing range of women’s voices during the second wave, from lesbians to Indigenous and minority group activists. This forced mainstream women into being to confront homophobia and racism. The third wave of women’s movement was increasingly marked by many governments embrace of neoliberalism and austerity, with a common disengagement from equality and social justice initiative. Reactionary politics were sometimes summed up as an anti-feminist “backlash.” This took many forms, including assaults on advisory councils on the status of women, on prospects for good childcare, pay equity, legal aid, anti-violence programming, and on women’s centers and health initiative. The women’s rights movement has improved on history,