Portal:Feminism

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The Feminism Portal

Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that societies prioritize the male point of view and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women.

Originating in late 18th-century Europe, feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right to vote, run for public office, work, earn equal pay, own property, receive education, enter into contracts, have equal rights within marriage, and maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to ensure access to contraception, legal abortions, and social integration; and to protect women and girls from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. Changes in female dress standards and acceptable physical activities for females have also been part of feminist movements.

Many scholars consider feminist campaigns to be a main force behind major historical societal changes for women's rights, particularly in the West, where they are near-universally credited with achieving women's suffrage, gender-neutral language, reproductive rights for women (including access to contraceptives and abortion), and the right to enter into contracts and own property. Although feminist advocacy is, and has been, mainly focused on women's rights, some argue for the inclusion of men's liberation within its aims, because they believe that men are also harmed by traditional gender roles. Feminist theory, which emerged from feminist movements, aims to understand the nature of gender inequality by examining women's social roles and lived experiences. Feminist theorists have developed theories in a variety of disciplines in order to respond to issues concerning gender.

Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over the years, representing different viewpoints and political aims. Traditionally, since the 19th century, first-wave liberal feminism, which sought political and legal equality through reforms within a liberal democratic framework, was contrasted with labour-based proletarian women's movements that over time developed into socialist and Marxist feminism based on class struggle theory. Since the 1960s, both of these traditions are also contrasted with the radical feminism that arose from the radical wing of second-wave feminism and that calls for a radical reordering of society to eliminate patriarchy. Liberal, socialist, and radical feminism are sometimes referred to as the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought.

Since the late 20th century, many newer forms of feminism have emerged. Some forms, such as white feminism and gender-critical feminism, have been criticized as taking into account only white, middle class, college-educated, heterosexual, or cisgender perspectives. These criticisms have led to the creation of ethnically specific or multicultural forms of feminism, such as black feminism and intersectional feminism. Some have argued that feminism often promotes misandry and the elevation of women's interests above men's, and criticize radical feminist positions as harmful to both men and women. (Full article...)

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792), written by the eighteenth-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to the educational and political theorists of the eighteenth century who wanted to deny women an education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men. Wollstonecraft was prompted to write the Rights of Woman by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord's 1791 report to the French National Assembly which stated that women should only receive a domestic education; she used her commentary on this specific event to launch a broad attack against sexual double standards and to indict men for encouraging women to indulge in excessive emotion.

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Credit: Marion S. Trikosko, U.S. News & World Report

A portrait of Golda Meir from 1973, during her tenure as Prime Minister of Israel. She was the first (and, to date, only) female Prime Minister of Israel, and was the third female Prime Minister in the world, as well as one of the founders of the State of Israel. Born as Golda Mabovitz, she chose her Hebrew name "Meir" upon her appointment as Foreign Minister in 1956. As Prime Minister, Meir oversaw a tumultuous period in Israeli history, with the War of Attrition, Operation Wrath of God, and the Yom Kippur War, all happening during that time.

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In this month

April 1917 – American modern artist Georgia O'Keeffe's first solo art show
April 2007 – Mukhtaran Bibi (pictured) won the North-South Prize for human rights for speaking out regarding her gang rape, taking the rapists to court, and founding the Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization
5 April 1858 – During the Central India Campaign, Rani Lakshmibai helped defend Jhansi and lead the Indian Rebellion of 1857
11 April 1881 – Establishment of Spelman College, the oldest historically black college for women in the United States
22 April 1766 – Birth of Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, a salonnière of political influence, who challenged Napoleon, and an author

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To me, a feminist belongs in the same category as a humanist or an advocate for human rights. I don't see why someone who's a feminist should be thought of differently.

— Suzanne Vega

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The Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria: Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein by marriage; 1846 - 1923) was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Helena was educated by private tutors chosen by her father and his close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar. The intimate atmosphere of the royal court came to an end on 14 December 1861, when her father died and her mother entered a period of intense mourning. On 5 July 1866, Helena married the impoverished German Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple remained in England, in calling distance of the Queen, who liked to have her daughters nearby, and Helena along with her youngest sister, Princess Beatrice, became the Queen's unofficial secretary. However, after Queen Victoria's death on 22 January 1901, Helena saw relatively little of her surviving siblings. Helena was one of the founding members of the Red Cross. She was founding president of the Royal School of Needlework, and president of the Royal British Nurses' Association. As president of the latter, she was a strong supporter of nurse registration against the advice of Florence Nightingale. She became the first member of her family to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary in 1916, but her husband died a year later. Helena outlived him by six years, and died aged 77 at Schomberg House on 19 June 1923.

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... that after dying in her daughter's arms in an asylum in 1897, Maria Trubnikova was remembered as the "heart and soul" of feminist activism in Russia?
... that Margareth Rago seeks to establish a methodology for what she calls "feminist science"?

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..that Emmy Noether (pictured) was called "the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began" by Albert Einstein?
...that Mary K. Shell, the first woman mayor of Bakersfield, California, chided NBC's Johnny Carson for his jokes about "beautiful downtown Bakersfield" and invited Carson to visit the city to see its improvements?
...that the 2008 film Forever the Moment is based on the real life story of South Korea's women's handball team which won silver at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and is also the first film to revolve around the sport of handball?

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The following are images from various feminism-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Christine de Pizan presents her book to Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. (from History of feminism)
Image 2First edition print of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (from History of feminism)
Image 3Women's Liberation march in Washington, D.C., 1970 (from History of feminism)
Image 4Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) and Susan B. Anthony (from History of feminism)
Image 5John Neal (from History of feminism)
Image 6Catharine MacKinnon (from History of feminism)
Image 7Betty Friedan 1960 (from History of feminism)
Image 8Wealthy Chinese women with bound feet (Beijing, 1900). Foot binding was a symbol of women's oppression during the reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries. (from History of feminism)
Image 9Margaret Sanger (from History of feminism)
Image 10Gloria Steinem at news conference, Women's Action Alliance, January 12, 1972 (from History of feminism)
Image 11Lucy Stone (from History of feminism)
Image 12Marie Stopes (from History of feminism)
Image 13Irena Krzywicka (from History of feminism)
Image 14Germaine Greer in June 1972 (from History of feminism)
Image 15bell hooks (from History of feminism)
Image 16Camilla Collett (from History of feminism)
Image 17Female members of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation march on International Women's Day 1975 in Sydney (from International Women's Day)
Image 18Yellow mimosa is the symbol of IWD in Italy as well as in Russia, Ukraine and many other ex-Soviet Union republics (from International Women's Day)
Image 198M 2019 in Spain (from International Women's Day)
Image 20Nellie McClung (from History of feminism)
Image 21Board of directors of "Jam'iat e nesvan e vatan-khah", a women's rights association in Tehran (1923–1933) (from History of feminism)
Image 22Suffrage parade in New York, May 6, 1912 (from History of feminism)
Image 23Emily Davison (from History of feminism)
Image 248M 2018 in Pamplona (from International Women's Day)
Image 25Huda Shaarawi, founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union (from History of feminism)
Image 26Sylvia Pankhurst (from History of feminism)
Image 278M 2020 in Spain (from International Women's Day)
Image 28Bessie Rayner Parkes (from History of feminism)
Image 29Simone de Beauvoir (from History of feminism)
Image 30Cover of WSPU's The Suffragette, April 25, 1913 (after Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, 1830) (from History of feminism)
Image 31Florence Nightingale (from History of feminism)
Image 32Women on the street celebrating International Women's Day in Cameroon (from International Women's Day)
Image 33
  Official holiday
  Holiday for women
  Non-official holiday
(from International Women's Day)
Image 34Frances Cobbe (from History of feminism)
Image 35Matilda Joslyn Gage (from History of feminism)
Image 36Ida B. Wells (from History of feminism)
Image 37The Nineteenth Amendment (from History of feminism)
Image 38Author and scholar Helen Kendrick Johnson opposed women's suffrage. (from History of feminism)
Image 39Clara Zetkin (left) and Rosa Luxemburg (right) in January 1910 (from International Women's Day)

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Feminism}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

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Alice Manfield - Guide Alice, Mt Buffalo, c1900-30, SLV
Alice Park - Records of the National Woman's Party
Alice Paul (1915) by Harris & Ewing
Angela Davis in a half-length portrait by Bernard Gotfryd - crop
Anne Dallas Dudley LOC
Avril de Sainte-Croix - Restored, cropped
Bertha Lutz 1925
Cabinet Card of Sojourner Truth - Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Convicts Lunatics and Women! Have No Vote for Parliament, ca. 1907-1918
Dr. Caroline Spencer 275029v
Ethel Smyth
Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
Fredrikke Mørck
George Charles Beresford - Virginia Woolf in 1902 - Restoration
Henrietta Rodman from the George Grantham Bain Collection
Henry Mayer, The Awakening, 1915 Cornell CUL PJM 1176 01 - Restoration
Hester Jeffrey
Hubertine Auclert 1910
Iris Calderhead
Joy Young Rogers outside the White House
Lucretia Mott, signed photo, by F. Gutekunst
Mabel Vernon, c. 1917, by Edmonston, Washington, D.C.
Marguerite Durand 1910 - Restoration
Marie Stopes in her laboratory, 1904 - Restoration
Mary Garrity - Ida B. Wells-Barnett - Google Art Project - restoration crop
Millicent Fawcett
Mrs. Crystal Eastman Benedict by Edmonston, Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Lillian Ascough, chairman of the Connecticut branch of the Woman's Party
Mrs. Pauline Adams 147002v
Portrett av Gina Krog (6276081582) - Restoration
Poster by Anna Soós Korànyi for the Seventh Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance
Ray Strachey restored
Sojourner Truth, 1870 (cropped, restored)
Victoria Claflin Woodhull by Mathew Brady - Oval Portrait
Voltairine de Cleyre (Age 35)
We Can Do It! NARA 535413 - Restoration 2