Shahin Sultana

5103009
ENG-424

Feminism
Feminism word comes from the Latin word Femina which means woman. It was first used
consider to the issues of equality and women’s Rights and Movement. Feminism is a wide scope
of social developments, belief systems, and political developments that offer a shared objective
to characterize, establish and accomplish political, financial, individual, and social equality of
genders.
At the beginning of human civilization, women have been given a secondary status by male-
dominated social discourse and western philosophical tradition. The history of every civilization
shows that women have been subordinated to a position where they have no means to reclaim
their identity, experiences, and insights. Women have to define themselves against the male
informed ideas and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. These beliefs
have produced a dominant system by creating female subjects who are conditioned to accept the
values of the system. Feminist literary theory is the extension of feminism into the philosophical
framework to analyze causes behind women’s less status and to explore the literary tradition of
women.
The history of the modern western feminist movement may be divided into three waves. It was
Maggie Humm who divides the rise and the growth of the modern western feminist movements
into three waves. All three feminist waves deal with different aspects of the same feminist issues.
The first wave feminist movement started in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. During
this period women raised their voices for equal right to vote and equal access to the parliament.
The second-wave feminist development started during the 1960s and was related to the thinkers
who campaigned for equivalent legal and social rights for ladies. In this period many feature
works arrived in the literary arena, making the powerful advocacy for women’s liberation from
masculine coded language and philosophical system.
The third-wave feminist movement was a continuation and reaction to the realized failures of
second-wave feminism. This movement began in the 1990s and extended into postcolonial
feminism, ecofeminism, and gender studies. The feminist scholars related to this development
pushed social equity for ladies.
Cultural Feminism supports that there are biological differences between men and women. They
believe that the primary personality differences between men and women. If women rule the
world it would be a better place to live in as women are gentler and kinder than men. They also
think women’s special qualities believing that women’s way is much better.
Eco- Feminism proves that patriarchy is harmful to women, children, and other living beings and
things. It searches for the destruction of all forms of social injustice against women and the
environment.
Material Feminism serves to free women from their daily household work like cooking, washing,
and other traditional female domestic chores. Socialist Feminism says economic dependence on
men is the main reason women are dependent on men. They believe women's liberation can be
achieved by being economically free.
Liberal Feminism focuses on the equality of men and women through political and legal reform.
Women’s capacity to prove their value by their own behavior. The baseless and false natural
notion of women being called weak both mentally and physically tends to create discrimination
between men and women. They try for sexual equality in society.
Feminism was a social movement, introduced through a series of resistance movements against
the notion of patriarchy, social inequality, and the role of capitalism in the oppression of women.
Women were always taught to help men and derive their existence in relation to them. Women
have enjoyed lesser rights than men. Women were discredited to perform social roles in the
public and private sector which would have enhanced their economic condition. It is clearly seen
that literary works as society’s portrait can human’s values and actions which are shaped by both
feminist thoughts and gender inequality.