Feminism is often referred to in ‘waves’, which basically means periods of time across history. The wave metaphor has become a useful way to describe and distinguish between different generations of feminism. 

It’s important to recognise that the feminism discussed in this article is rooted in a Western perspective, encompassing North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. This framework may not be applicable or relevant in every socio-cultural or local context. While women’s rights are universally important, the values of the West do not always take precedence over the culturally specific needs of different communities.

First wave feminism: 1840s-1920s

Feminist ideas aren’t anything new — people have felt the need to stand up for women’s rights since ancient times. But ‘first wave feminism’ refers to the West’s first sustained political movement dedicated to achieving political equality for women, and it happened from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. 

First wave feminists were known as the suffragettes, who campaigned for women’s right to vote. Imagine living in a ‘democracy’ where only half the population (i.e. men) can vote! During this period, women had very little control over their lives. Many believed that women should focus on raising children and doing housework and that men should make all the decisions. Whilst many poor women and women of colour had to work, they were still disadvantaged and underpaid in the work force. This is why the suffragettes fought long and hard to gain the right to vote. 

It all began with the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, where almost 200 women met in upstate New York to discuss “the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women”. After much discussion, they came up with 12 resolutions calling for specific rights, including the right to vote. The suffragette movement soon gained traction in other Western countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Apart from voting, reproductive rights and the right to own property were important issues that early feminists fought for. 

After decades of feminist campaigning, in 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world where women could vote. In 1902, all non-Indigenous women in Australia gained the right to vote, and in 1921 Edith Cowan became the first female member of an Australian parliament. 

A huge problem in the suffrage movement, however, was that it focused on the rights of white women. In Australia, First Nations women were excluded from the movement and only gained the right to vote in 1962. Sadly, while first wave feminists made big gains for white women, the movement was rife with racist discrimination. 

In the US, women of colour like Sojourner Truth and Maria Stewart were influential forces early on in the movement. They advocated not just for women’s suffrage but were also active members of the abolitionist movement, which sought to end slavery. But despite the important contributions these women made, the suffragette movement in the US became one that focused on the rights of white women while excluding others. This exclusion would become a problem to haunt feminism for years to come. 

Second wave feminism: 1960s-1980s

The second wave of feminism came in the 1960s, and was influenced by things happening in society at the time like the civil rights movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and the gay liberation movement. It was also spurred on by the immense popularity of Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique. 

Second wave feminists had a much broader scope of rights they were campaigning for. They built on first wave feminism by calling for the restructuring of traditional gender roles and an end to sexist discrimination. Second wave feminism is also known as the ‘women’s liberation movement’. 

In The Feminine Mystique, Friedan argued that the reason women are disadvantaged isn’t women’s fault — rather the world and its systems weren’t built for women (such as workplaces, family structures, unpaid work, healthcare systems, education). Friedan explains that this means sexism is ‘systemic’, which doesn’t allow women to exercise their own creativity and intellect. This was an important feminist book for its reach — it sold millions of copies and many everyday women read it. 

Other influential books of this time include The Female Eunuch (1970) by Germaine Greer and Damned Whores and God’s Police (1975) by Anne Summers, both Australian women. 

Second wave feminists wanted more than political equality — they also wanted social equality. They fought for many things, like the right to equal pay, the right to live free from physical and sexual violence, and reproductive rights like access to contraception and safe and legal abortion. Many important gains were made — in Australia, second wave feminism brought legislative change that criminalised rape in marriage, decriminalised abortion, created paid maternity leave and more! But there is still lots of work to be done, and feminists around the world are still fighting for these rights today.

Despite these great gains, the feminist movement still had a race problem. Like the suffrage movement, second wave feminism largely centred privileged white women, while excluding First Nations women and Women of Colour. While attempts were made to be inclusive of all women, First Nations women in Australia continued to face discrimination and exclusion from feminist circles. In the US, Black women and other Women of Colour also felt alienated by mainstream feminism, leading some to form their own feminist organisations such as The Combahee River Collective. 

Even though women of colour were discriminated against within the second wave feminist movement, they contributed many insights that have paved the way for the movement to progress into what we know today. Scholar and activist Angela Davis released Women, Race, and Class in 1981. The book is a fundamental assessment of the historical and present interconnected systems of oppression that lead to the discrimination of women of colour and financially disadvantaged women. In Australia, Aileen Moreton-Robinson published Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism in 2000. It was a groundbreaking book that spoke of Indigenous women’s experiences within the feminist movement.

The important role of lesbian women in the feminist movement

Lesbian women also played a large role in the women’s liberation movement. They added the liberatory goals of the gay liberation movement and expanded definitions of what it meant to be a woman. Unfortunately, lesbians were not accepted by many within the movement – especially Betty Friedan who referred to them as “the lavender menace”. This name then became a calling card for political lesbians who aimed to disrupt the narrow-minded nature of some of the movement. 

To learn more about lesbian culture and history, you can read this article. 

During this time, three major types of feminism emerged: 

• Mainstream/liberal

• • • Liberal feminists focus on achieving gender equality by changing existing societal structures. 

• Radical

• • • radical feminists believe sexism is so ingrained in society that true equality can only be achieved through a complete overhaul of current societal systems.

• Cultural

• • Cultural feminism is the separatist idea that women possess an evolved ‘essence’ that distinguishes them from men, which gives them advantages that society has historically seen as weaknesses. 

Learn more about different types of feminism here. 

Third wave feminism: 1990s – ? 

In the 90s, a new generation of feminists began calling for action on ongoing issues like sexual harassment and a lack of women in leadership positions — a movement which soon became known as the third wave. Third wave feminism embraces inclusivity by integrating ideas like intersectionality, the distinction between sex and gender, and trans inclusivity.  

Third wave feminism emerged due to the Anita Hill case, which gained a lot of media coverage. In 1991, American woman Anita Hill testified that she had been sexually harassed at her workplace by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. This inspired other woman to speak up about sexual harassment, resulting in many allegations surfacing. 

Decades later, the #MeToo movement became a global phenomenon, and in Australia sexual harassment in parliament has come to light with the Brittany Higgins case. This only goes to show that sexual harassment is still a huge problem and the fight continues.

Intellectually, third wave feminism is hugely influenced by the work of feminist theorists in the 80’s, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Judith Butler. Crenshaw came up with the term ‘intersectionality’ to describe how different forms of oppression intersect. Butler argues that gender and sex are separate and gender is performative. These ideas have become foundational to third wave feminism, as it embraces fighting for trans rights as an integral aspect of intersectional feminism. 

The emergence of riot grrrl bands is another defining feature of third wave feminism. Riot grrrl can be described as feminist punk music, and involves highly political lyrics. Some well known riot grrrl bands include Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Bratmobile. In 1991, Bikini Kill frontwoman Kathleen Hanna wrote in the Riot Grrrl Manifesto: 

“BECAUSE doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we need in order to figure out how bullsh*t like racism, able-bodieism, ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-semitism and heterosexism figures in our own lives.”

While second wave feminists fought to be called ‘women’ rather than ‘girls’, third wave feminists embraced the word ‘girls’ and reclaimed it as an empowering or even threatening thing to be — hence the word ‘grrrl’. Third wave feminists embraced feminine aesthetics, and argued that femininity is just as valuable as masculinity and androgyny. This has given women, girls, and feminine-presenting people more freedom to express themselves however they like while being feminists.

Some people argue we are still in the third wave, while others think we are now at a stage of fourth wave feminism. 

Fourth wave feminism 

Some people believe that a fourth wave of feminism has arrived, which builds on key ideas of third wave feminism like intersectionality but increasingly takes place online. Activists now meet and plan their protests in online spaces, and a lot of feminist debate takes place on social media. #MeToo can be considered a defining feature of fourth wave feminism, where allegations of sexual harassment come out against powerful men in Hollywood like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. This hashtag has become widely used by women, gender-diverse people, and other victims of sexual violence to speak out about their experiences online. 

Other fourth wave campaigns include SlutWalks, which protests the idea that the way to prevent rape is for women to “stop dressing like sluts”, and The Everyday Sexism Project, where people can share their experiences of sexism and abuse online. 

Feminist blogs can also be seen as a product of fourth wave feminism. Rookie was a popular feminist blog started by Tavi Gevinson in 2010, which allowed teenagers to learn about feminism and share their stories and views online. Other online spaces that follow this lineage include gal-dem, Feminist… and of course, Rosie! 

Intellectually, feminist thinkers continue to reckon with intersectionality, and often critique white feminism for ignoring the unique struggles of Women of Colour. Queerness and trans rights are also a big part of the conversation. Fourth wave feminists continue to work towards an inclusive feminism and value hearing from a diversity of voices. There are some amazing Australian scholars that have contributed to this conversation, including Sara Ahmed and Ruby Hamad! 

As this article aptly explains, fourth wave feminism is queer, sex-positive, trans inclusive, anti-misandrist, body positive and digitally driven. 

So… where to from here? 

Hopefully this article has given you a useful overview of how the feminist movement began and the fascinating ways in which it has developed. Learning about the history of feminism is a great way to understand what being a feminist is all about, and the endlessly exciting possibilities for where it might be headed in the future. It’s up to us to decide what happens next!