Waves of Feminism and the #metoo Movement
“The history of mankind's a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of men toward, women, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.”
SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK 1848, from the Declaration of Sentiments. Signed on the first women’s rights convention
Stated in the Declaration of Sentiments1848, Women have always been oppressed by men. The Declaration of Sentiments was outlining the rights that American Women should be entitled to as citizens. This document was the first step towards women’s rights. To understand the feminist culture and the correlation with the #MeToo movement we must consider the definition of objectification of women and look at the Four Waves of feminism in the United States.
There is evidence to show that women are objectified in society by their body and what it portrays. It is possible to see how today’s society continues to view women as prizes to win. We are taught that an entire gender exists only to satisfy other’s needs. The female form can be looked at as an object. We have been told that the female body is designed for others to judge. That we are inferior to men, seen as fragile and weak. The belief that women are trophies continues throughout our culture. It has been suggested that women must behave in a way the society demands.
Feminism began in the 1800’s when the founding feminists declared that ALL men and women are created equal as stated in the Declaration of Sentiments in 1848. The First Wave of the women’s movement fought for women’s right to vote, reproductive freedom and equal opportunities for all including blacks and women. In 1916 Margaret Sager opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S.
The Second Wave of feminism occurred from 1963 to the late 1980’s. This wave grew out of real problems encountered by women in society. Women won victories through the passing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title IX, the amendment which states no person on the basis of sex will be discriminated in any federally funded program, and Roe vs Wade, the decision issued that legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Women rejected traditional ideas of what men thought women should be. They were involved in taking control of their own reproductive and sex lives.
The Third Wave of feminism started in the early 1990’s. It is assumed the Anita Hill testimony and the rise of the Riot Grrrl groups in Washington State were the beginning of this wave. The Riot Grrrl movement started when women musicians and activists joined the punk rock scene to expose violence against women. Music was a means to get this message across. In “Becoming the Third Wave” a 1992 article in Ms. magazine, Rebecca Walker argued “she is done with conforming with a way of living that doesn’t allow for individuality, complexity, or less than perfect personal histories. I am no a post-feminism feminist, I am the third wave” (Walker,1992).
The Fourth Wave began in 2012 and is associated with the start of social media and is defined by technology, with the use of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The focus was raising awareness to sexual violence and harassment The #MeToo movement is to organize social change through social media It has caused women to come together and discuss their stories. As #MeToo unfolded, many high profile people were found to be abusing power. The product of this movement proved that women were not valued as equal to men in many industries. Women’s issues were put to the forefront and united all women.
According to USA TODAY NEWS, state legislators have introduced around 200 bills to address workplace harassment and approximately 5,000 people have requested help from the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.