Feminist Movement

Feminism and the Feminist Movement in Historical Context

Barbara A. Crow points out that the term feminist emerged on the scene in the late 19th century in Europe, in France initially and then in England. By the beginning of the 20th century, according to Crow, the idea that gender oppression was the oldest form of inequality was taking root. It was increasingly being seen as the primary form of oppression. This shifted the focus to the idea of women's liberation, rather than women's rights, to dismantle deeply rooted gender inequality required liberation in theory and practice.

The term feminist was more problematic for women of color, and African American women often questioned the inability of the White feminist [Page 897]movement to focus on race and racism. The idea of womanism emerged in the writings of Alice Walker as a counterbalance to White feminist thinking. Indeed, womanism became a more acceptable approach to feminism for some Black feminist thinkers. Womanism seemed to more authentically capture Black women's self-definition rooted in Black culture. The idea that women's oppression is more than gender based, and was deeply connected to racism and classism was a major contention of Black women and other women of color feminists. Most importantly, the idea of the intersectional nature of gender was a key theoretical contribution to the feminist movement by Black feminists. Intersectional thinkers asserted that race is embedded in gender and class, and the systems are relational. This is the major analytical frame of the approach, articulated most extensively in the writings of Patricia Hill Collins. Despite critiques of the idea by women of color, the word feminist had come into widespread usage by the late 1960s, at least among White women and a number of Black women.

Given this brief genealogy of feminism, the question remains: What is the feminist movement? The movement changes over time in theory and action, but as Rory Dicker points out, second wave feminists were not the first to conceptualize the feminist movement in terms of liberation. Indeed, Dicker points out, women's rights activists in the 19th century wanted the freedom to gain an education, to work for pay, and to liberate themselves from confining and constraining social roles. This frame carried over into the second wave of feminism that emerged in the 20th century. Focus was given to freeing selves from patriarchy, breaking from social roles that were conventional and stifling, and opening up spaces and places that had been denied. The White liberal feminist movement certainly pressed for equal opportunity, with the emphasis on opening doors to professional fields and ensuring occupational mobility in jobs that historically were closed to women.

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