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• Feminist Theory


  • Focuses on social inequalities from gender bias
  • Centers on the female viewpoint
  • Strives for fairness, not female empowerment over men
• Mary Wollstonecraft


  • Advocate for women
  • "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (1792) outlines her beliefs
  • Criticized training women to be frivolous
  • Argued for equal educational opportunities to produce capable women in various professions
• 1st Wave Feminism


  1. 1848–1920

  2. Focused on women's suffrage (right to vote)

  3. Advocated for equal property rights
• 2nd Wave Feminism


  1. 1963–1980s

  2. Women's liberation movement

  3. Criticized women's fulfillment solely through child-rearing and home-making

  4. Raised awareness about workplace equality, birth control, abortion, and women's education
• 3rd Wave Feminism


  1. 1990s

  2. Criticized Second Wave for over-emphasizing experiences of upper-middle-class white women

  3. Embraces inclusivity

  4. Focuses on intersectionality
• 4th Wave Feminism


  1. 2012 to present

  2. Empowering women, utilizing online tools

  3. Advocates for greater gender equality, including equal pay for equal work

  4. Opposes sexual harassment, body shaming, and sexist imagery in media
• Liberal Feminism


  • Equality through legal reform
  • Advocates women's rational agency and right to choose their socio-political economy
• Radical Feminism


  • Focuses on cultural change
  • Seeks revolution
  • Aims to dismantle patriarchy
• Marxist Feminism


  • Inequality in terms of both class and gender
  • Class struggle of women
  • End to capitalism
• Cultural Feminism


  • Believes men and women have different approaches to the world
  • Highlights how society is harmed by promoting "masculine behavior" like aggression and competitiveness
  • Argues that embracing "feminine behavior" would benefit society
• Post-Colonial Feminism (Black Feminism)

  • Acknowledges the intersections of sexism, racism, and class discrimination
  • Recognizes the unique struggles faced by black and brown women