Meaning of feminism (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Feminism:

Feminism is a social movement that demands equal rights for women against men. The word comes from the Latin femĭna , which means 'woman', and is composed with the suffix - ism , which denotes 'doctrine' or 'movement'.

Feminism, currently, is constituted as a current of thought that brings together a set of movements and ideologies, both political and cultural and economic, with the fundamental objective of achieving gender equality and the transformation of power relations between men and women..

In this sense, some achievements of feminist movements have been access to education, the right to vote, the protection of their sexual and reproductive rights, among many others related to citizen and democratic values.

As such, feminism tends to be viewed, from a chronological perspective, as a sequence of historical waves. However, these stages were preceded by various works with a feminist tendency before, even, this social movement was determined as feminism.

The first wave arises in various countries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, both in Europe, mainly England, and in the United States and other Latin American countries. At that time, women fought, in principle, for obtaining equal rights in marriage and later, for the right to vote.

The second wave was determined by claiming family, sexual, labor and reproduction rights.

For its part, the third wave, covers from the 1990s to the present day, and seeks to amend the errors of the second wave. Consequently, it seeks to demonstrate that women can assume various risks and obligations, develop in multiple spaces, and be highly competitive and independent; therefore, it is related to the liberation of women.

In this sense, this third wave is sometimes called "the struggle for the empowerment of women" through solidarity and support between them, expressed in sorority.

See also:

• Gender equality. Types of feminism.

Radical feminism

Radical feminism is called the current of thought that proposes to end patriarchal dominance, that is, male supremacy, through the opposition of gender roles and a complete social restructuring.

This trend originated in the United States during the seventies of the 20th century, after various political, social and intellectual movements, when women decided to fight for themselves against the social inequality produced by the domination of men over women.

Some criticisms that are made of the so-called radical feminism is that it ends up incurring in attitudes typical of feminism, that is, contempt and discrimination towards men and what they represent.

Feminism and machismo

Feminism is a current of thought that arises for critical and vindictive purposes of the role of women in traditionally macho or patriarchal societies and, its main objective is the equality of rights between men and women.

The sexism, meanwhile, comprises a set of attitudes, behaviors, practices and beliefs that deny equal rights of women in society and establishing social structures of male supremacy.

As such, it manifests itself regardless of culture, tradition, or religion. It is precisely this type of behavior that has fostered female emancipation through the feminist movement.