The Gender Wars: Part I
Feminism has played a major role in shaping history. Even though women have come a long way in the fight for equality, how equal are they really? Some say that the feminist movement succeeded at its goals, and that women are now equal to men.
The women’s movement in the United States came in three waves, each with goals of its own. In this series, we’ll take an in-depth look at each of the waves and the impacts each has had (or has not had) on the childfree. We will also take a look at the men’s movements and their impacts as well.
In the Beginning
The first movement began in 1840 and ended in 1925. Its main goals were to give women a political voice and a place in the public sphere. Many women wished to be able to vote, as well as to participate in politics and social causes such as prohibition and abolition. Major players in the movement included Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony.
By the early 1900s, birth control became increasingly important to the women’s movement. Before the advent of cheap and effective birth control, the only reliable way for a woman to have no children was to remain celibate. Refusing to marry gave women, such as Florence Nightingale and Susan B. Anthony, a chance to devote their time to causes they believed in.
Margaret Sanger was at the forefront of giving women choice of how they used their bodies. She, along with her sister Ethel Byrne, and Fania Mindell, opened the first birth control clinic in 1916, known as Planned Parenthood. They provided advice for women who needed contraceptive assistance. Although they were jailed and the clinic was shut down, Sanger did not stop in her pursuit to help women. The leaders of the movement realized that women needed to have the determination of how often they had children, and, indeed, whether they had them at all.
By the end of the first wave, the hard work of men and women seeking to secure women’s rights, women had earned the right to vote. Sanger, Byrne, Mindell, and others also continued on their path to women’s reproductive rights. In 1921, the American Birth Control League was founded, setting the course for furthering women’s choices.
A Second Wind
By the time of the second wave, starting from the 1960s and ending in 1995, feminism branched out into different types of feminism, including ecofeminism, lesbian feminism, separatism, and womanism. Women’s issues in the workplace, sex, race, abortion, and other issues moved to the forefront of the women’s movement.
Significant historical events concerning reproductive rights and freedoms happened during this wave, including the first hormonal birth control approved by the FDA in 1960, and the famous Roe v. Wade case.
In 1965, the U.S Supreme court declared in Griswold v. Connecticut that a state law that made it illegal for married couples to use contraceptives was unconstitutional. At long last, married women had the ability to control the timing and number of their pregnancies.
Today
The third wave, the current wave, is more ambiguous than the previous two. It goes beyond sex and race to include class, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disabilities. In this wave, women work together with men.
Newer issues have come to the forefront, such as breastfeeding in public, family benefits in the workplace, and parent entitlement. Is this the new feminism?
Men’s Movements
Any discussion of childfreedom can not discount the input and contributions made by men, who have had their own movements. Within the men’s movement are two different types: profeminist and masculinist.
The first group, the profeminist, discusses masculinity and its affects on culture and traditional roles. Another focus of the group is to stop violence by men against women. The masculinist groups believe that men are discriminated against. They seek to preserve men-only spaces such as the Boy Scouts. Masculinists groups include the Promise Keepers, Free Men, the Mythopoetic Men, and the Million Man March.
Issues of Importance to Men
An important issue for many men includes child custody and paternity fraud, while others focus on abortion. These men believe it is unfair for women to have sole control over the decision to abort or not, while at the same time, they believe women own the bulk of the responsibility for birth control. There is also the marriage strike, in which men do not marry because of the unfairness they receive if the marriage ends in divorce. Men are more likely to have to pay child support, and some have to pay alimony.
Antifeminism
The antifeminist groups did not want the advancement and equal treatment of women. They opposed the changing of women’s roles in favor of staying with traditional ones. Groups considered to be antifeminist included the antisuffrage movement, the STOP ERA campaign in the 1970s, and the Fascinating, Total, Surrendered Women.
Next month in Part II: The First Wave of the women’s movement.
Copyright . Published 1 March 2007 in Features.
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