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Introduction

Mary Wollstonecraft

Susan B. Anthony

Simone de Beauvoir

The right to vote. Equal pay for equal work. Reproductive rights. Equal access to educational opportunities. Maternity leave. Those are just a few of the political and social advances feminism has made. Essentially, feminism is the belief and advocacy of equal rights for women. One of the first people to take such a stance was the Englishwoman Mary Wollstonecraft. Her treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) outlined the complaints and paths for social equality that has been emulated around the world. “First Wave” feminism came to the United States in the late 1800s. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony tirelessly worked for suffrage (the right to vote) until it was won in 1920. In the 1950s to 1980s, “Second Wave” feminism worked toward cultural integration and was led by activists such as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem in America and Simone de Beauvoir in France. Although many gains have been made, feminists still strive today toward the goal of complete social equality.

Essential Facts

1. Seneca Falls, New York, was the location of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s 1848 speech, “A Declaration of the Rights of Women,” which called for full political and social rights for women.
2. Margaret Sanger began advocating for women’s reproductive rights in 1912 and is the founder of what is now known as Planned Parenthood.
3. The National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in 1966 and is the largest feminist organization in the United States. Betty Friedan was its first president.
4. In the United States, feminists helped push through Title IX legislation in 1972, which gave young female athletes the same opportunities and access to funding as their male counterparts.
5. Feminists still hope to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would guarantee protection under the law. The ERA has been before every session of the U.S. Congress since 1982 but has yet to pass.