Kyra Krall. Edited by Aashika Ravi. Although the concept of feminist waves may sound familiar to those swimming within anglophone feminist waters, its concrete meaning often evaporates from our minds into a vague, nebulous notion. In essence, the waves of feminism seek to analyse the trajectory of modern feminism by subdividing it into several time frames, starting in the late 19 th century with the fight for women suffrage, up to the plurality of movements coexisting in our current day.
The concept was popularised by a New York Times article by Martha Lear, in which she distinguished the feminist movement of her time, the second wave, from the previous generation of activists. Just like any feminist issue, the wave-metaphor is subject to various debates and opinions: How many waves of feminism are there? Which one are we riding right now? Do we even need this categorisation? To spare you from drowning in a sea of confusion, we hereby toss you this lifebuoy of a blog post.
This article provides an overview of the timespan and distinct features of each feminist wave, and will then discuss criticism on the relevancy of the concept as a whole. Please bear in mind that this line of analysis reflects a Western-centric view on modern feminist movements, and therefore the focus lies on American and European events. At this time, the main objective for women was to attain legal rights. The Seneca Falls convention of marks the beginning of the American first wave.
A mural commemorating the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention in the United States of America. Towards the end of the 19 th century, the focus shifted to demanding women suffrage, with the hope that the right to vote would preface the access to further rights. Many advocates in the US, especially women of colour such as Sojourner Truth or Maria Stewart, fought for this to be paralleled with universal suffrage.
However, the established feminist movement, members of which include Susan B. Anthony, ignored these voices and instrumentalised racist argumentation for its own cause, for example after the 15 th Amendment of , which theoretically gave voting rights to African American men, causing outrage among many white suffragettes. The first wave came to a close in around , when some white women of a certain age and economic background had been granted the right to vote in the US and the UK.
