The Women's Movement: The Feminist Movement

The Women's movement from the beginning unified women to closely inspect several issues that were and are basic rights for all of the citizens; some examples would be: the right to vote, to own property without a husband, access to a higher education, and the reproductive rights of their bodies. Women's right to vote (suffrage) was one of the most controversial rights issue of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century and divided early feminists on ideological lines. Right’s for women have come a long way since then, many have been won and some we still fight for to this day. The Women’s Movement better known as the feminist movement is made up of three waves. The first wave is known as the Suffrage Movement,

W. Harper, who fought for the rights of women of color. The first wave is said to have ended when the Nineteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution was passed, granting women the right to vote. This incredible victory for the feminist movement also included reforms in education, in the workplace and professions, as well as in healthcare.

The second wave of feminism is known as the Women’s Liberation Movement, it began in the 1960s and continued into the 90’s. The Second Wave was a very powerful, social, and political movement that bettered the lives of women. It extended from the outlook of the anti-war and civil rights movements and the increasing self-consciousness of many of the minority groups around the world. Similar to the anti-slavery movement that happened in the nineteenth century, the modern movement encouraged activism of all sorts. This lead to the rise of feminism in the mid to late 60s, especially community-based methods of women’s liberation, was based partly on young women recognizing sexism within much of the movements, largely made up of male-dominated groups like Students for a Democratic Society, among others. The voice of the second wave was increasingly sweeping the nation. In this wave, the