1. INTRODUCTION TO THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

2. What is feminism?
Full equality between the sexes Theoretical and political perspective which aims to end the oppression of women on the grounds of their sex
It’s about changing the ways we structure power and challenging patriarchal domination. It places women as subject and takes their experiences as valid, meaningful and important; instead of the inhuman ‘other object’ from the centrality of man.
Also known as the Women’s Movement.

3. First wave: suffragettes, right to vote
History of Feminism?
“Three Waves”
First wave: suffragettes, right to vote
Second wave: 70s feminism, classic era
Third wave: 90s to present, responding to backlash & new forms of oppression
The history of feminism in Britain dates to the very beginnings of feminism itself, as many of the earliest feminist writers and activists—such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Barbara Bodichon, and Lydia Becker—were British.

4. women achieved full equality regarding suffrage in 1928
Representation of the People Act 1918
In 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed which allowed women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification to vote. Although 8.5 million women met this criteria, it only represented 40 per cent of the total population of women in the UK.
The same act abolished property and other restrictions for men, and extended the vote to all men over the age of 21. Additionally, men in the armed forces could vote from the age of 19. The electorate increased from eight to 21 million, but there was still huge inequality between women and men.
Equal Franchise Act 1928
It was not until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that women over 21 were able to vote and women finally achieved the same voting rights as men. This act increased the number of women eligible to vote to 15 million.

5. THE Women’s liberation movement was part of a wider social and cultural revolution in the 60s AND 70s
The 7 demands of the UK Second Wave Women’s Liberation Movement:
1 – Equal pay now 
2 – Equal education and job opportunities 
3 – Free contraception and abortion on demand 
4 – Free 24hr nurseries 
5 – Financial and legal independence 
6 – An end to all discrimination against lesbians and a woman’s right to define her own sexuality 
7 – Freedom from intimidation by threat or use of violence or sexual coercion, regardless of marital status and an end to all laws, assumptions and institutions which perpetuate male dominance and men’s aggression towards women
Civil rights movement generally. Key change in Britain from old Victorian era. 7 demands.
1968 – “The problem with no name” Betty Friedan.
Demanding action – 70s
First notion of a women’s movement

6. Third wave feminism – “is feminism dead
Third wave feminism – “is feminism dead?” to “resurgence in young feminists heralds new wave of feminism”
There was a huge backlash against women and feminism in the 1980s (Susan Faludi’s book, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women, 1991)
Then, in the early 1990s the ‘patriarchy’ tried to claim that feminism was dead. They went to great lengths to convince us all that since women were equal now there was nothing else to debate.
Yes, gains but we see newer and more complicated forms of oppression. Still haven’t really achieved all of the 7 demands of the 70s, depressingly.
Younger women are now taking up the mantle – yaay!
More sinister / more subtle and undermining. E.g mainstreaming of porn in our culture, the perpetuation of ‘rape culture’ where emphasis is placed on the victim ‘not getting raped; rather than don’t rape’ and on the reduction of young women to sexual objects who exist only for male consumption. Also, ladette culture. Battleground over women’s bodies and in their portrayal in the media.
HOWEVER, resurgence in feminist thinking and especially among younger women. Riott Grrll scene punk rock in the west coast of America. Using social media to communicate and share ideas among other women. Greater education and expectations among young women now millenial ages (born after 1980) who don’t have a lot of patience with the systems of oppression and who largely, didn’t grow up in the same oppressive world of their grandmothers.
Spice girls….
Is Feminism Dead Time article 1998

7. Key feminists
Emmeline Pankhurst - was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.
Simone de Beauvoir - was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist
Gloria Steinem - is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist, who became nationally recognized as a leader and a spokeswoman for the feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Germaine Greer - is an Australian-born writer, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century.
Judith Butler - is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics and the fields of feminist, queer and literary theory.
Zoe Fairbairns - is a British feminist writer who has authored novels, short stories, radio plays and political pamphlets.
Jessica Valenti - is an American blogger and feminist writer, founder of the Feministing blog in 2004.
Laura Bates - is a British feminist writer. She founded the Everyday Sexism Project website in April Her first book, Everyday Sexism, was published in 2014.

8. Key terms Patriarchy: Gender
“is a social system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.” Dictionary
“is a social system in which males predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. In the domain of the family, fathers or father-figures hold authority over women and children.” Wiki
“is the term used to describe the society in which we live today, characterised by current and historic unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed.” London Feminist Network
Gender
“the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones).” Dictionary
“gender is a kind of improvised performance” Judith Butler

9. Key issues
Why has women’s history been overlooked? When talking of history and thinking of women we need to remember it was completely different back then. Systems of power and control were crippling. Stemmed from religious doctrine on marriage and women’s role in the family. So a big reason why women’s history was hidden is because it didn’t fit the narrative at the time. It’s amazing women accomplished so much given the barriers and restrictions they faced.
Is the women’s movement one set thing? No. There are and have been different strands to feminism and they didn’t always agree e.g. white-middle class college feminism, black feminism, lesbian feminism, radical feminism, marxist feminism.

10. We’ve come a long way….
1916
2016