The Origins of Feminism

Sarah asked: "What do you think the feminist movement sprung from? Could it have been envy or jealous, or something else?"

This question is much more complex than it may seem, and requires a complex answer to do it justice.

As a political movement, feminism traces its roots back to the late 19th century. In the changing, industrializing world, there was less of a need for women to be dedicated solely to the raising of their children. Industrialization, coupled with the development of the public school system, meant that women had less duties at home. They were no longer required to produce everything the household needed and educate the children. As a result, women began to receive an education, and with that growing education came an awareness of their status as second-class citizens.

The original feminist movement, the suffragette movement of the late 19th and early 20th century, was, I believe, based not so much on envy or jealousy, but on righteous outrage in the face of a clear injustice. As barriers fell, and women proved themselves to be just as intelligent and capable of men, given the opportunity to do so, it came as a natural consequence that they would be given the right to vote.

The 1960's saw a resurgence of the feminist movement. African Americans stood up to the continued injustices inflicted upon them 100 years after their supposed freeing of slavery, and women joined their ranks to press for the removal of institutional biases against them. Again, this is not envy, but a reaction to oppression of a historically underprivileged group of people by the (predominantly white male) group that was in power.

And so we come to the feminism today. It is, I think, hard to truly define what "feminism" means, as it has blossomed into a very wide-ranging movement, fighting, among other things, against workplace discrimination against women, sexual assault and harassment of women, discrimination against minorities (and minority women in particular), discrimination against homosexuals, etc. The key here is that it the fight has its same roots -- to win for an underprivileged group of people the right of equal access to resources (government involvement, education, etc) so that these groups are given equal opportunity to succeed.

To end with a question: In what ways might questions of civil rights be questions of envy or jealousy, and are these legitimate positions to put forward?