Portal:Feminism

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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 modern societies are patriarchal—they 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 women 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...)

View new selections below (purge)

edit

Featured article

Since the loosening of government controls over society in the early 1980s, prostitution in the People's Republic of China has not only reappeared, but can now be found throughout urban and rural areas. In spite of government efforts, prostitution has now developed to the extent that it comprises an industry, one that involves a great number of people and produces a considerable economic output. Prostitution has also become associated with a number of problems, including organised crime, government corruption and sexually transmitted diseases. Prostitution-related activities in mainland China are characterised by diverse types, venues and prices. Sellers of sex come from a broad range of social backgrounds. While the PRC government has always taken a hard line on organisers of prostitution, it has vacillated in its legal treatment of the prostitute herself, treating prostitution sometimes as a crime and sometimes as misconduct. Despite lobbying by international NGOs and overseas commentators, there is not much support for legalisation of the sex sector by the public, social organisations or the government of the PRC.

More featured articles

More...

edit

Featured picture

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.

More featured pictures

More...

edit

In this month

June 1949 – First publication of The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, a detailed analysis of women's oppression which became a foundational text of contemporary feminism
June 1996 – Fauziya Kassindja was granted asylum in the United States in order to escape the tribal practice of female genital cutting. This set a precedent allowing the grant of asylum for gender discrimination.
21 June 1947 – Shirin Ebadi - Iranian lawyer and human rights activist who was the first Muslim woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering efforts on behalf of women's and children's rights
23 June 1879 – Birth of Hoda Shaarawi (pictured at right), a pioneering Egyptian feminist leader and nationalist; she founded the Egyptian Feminist Union and led protests, notably removing her face veil for the first time in public.
30 June 1966 – Foundation of the National Organization for Women in the United States, which promotes reproductive freedoms; diversity; the end of racism, rape and domestic violence; economic justice; lesbian rights; and constitutional equality for women.

More anniversaries

edit

Selected quote

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormate or a prostitute.

— Rebecca West

More selected quotes

More...

edit

Related portals

edit

Featured biography

Stamata Revithi was a Greek woman who ran the 40-kilometre marathon during the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Games excluded women from competition, but Revithi insisted that she be allowed to run. Revithi ran one day after the men had completed the official race, and although she finished the marathon in approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes and found witnesses to sign their names and verify the running time, she was not allowed to enter the Panathinaiko Stadium at the end of the race. She intended to present her documentation to the Hellenic Olympic Committee in the hopes that they would recognize her achievement, but it is not known whether or not she did so. No known record survives of Revithi's life after her run. According to contemporary sources, a second woman, "Melpomene", also ran the 1896 marathon race. There is debate among Olympic historians as to whether or not Revithi and Melpomene are the same person.

More featured biographies

More...

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... 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"?

edit

More did you know

...that the use of the word "yeoman" in the U.S. Naval Reserve Act of 1916, rather than "man" or "male," enabled women to enlist in the United States Navy Reserve with the rank of Yeoman (F) (pictured) during World War I?
...that Loretta Perfectus Walsh was the first woman to enlist in the United States military?
...that Justice Leila Seth was the first woman judge on the Delhi High Court and the first woman to become Chief Justice of India?

More did you know facts

General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Simone de Beauvoir (from History of feminism)
Image 2bell hooks (from History of feminism)
Image 3An Antimonumenta, installed in Mexico City on International Women's Day 2019, as photographed the day after. The circle part says "In Mexico 9 women are murdered daily" and the cross part says "Not one more!" On the opposite side, the Antimonumenta reads "We demand a national gender alert", and in the central part "No + Femicides". (from International Women's Day)
Image 4Author and scholar Helen Kendrick Johnson opposed women's suffrage. (from History of feminism)
Image 5Emily Davison (from History of feminism)
Image 6Bessie Rayner Parkes (from History of feminism)
Image 7Betty Friedan 1960 (from History of feminism)
Image 8Frances Cobbe (from History of feminism)
Image 9Sylvia Pankhurst (from History of feminism)
Image 10Marie Stopes (from History of feminism)
Image 11The vandalized Concepción Feminist Mural in Spain, which was vandalized on International Women's Day 2021. (from International Women's Day)
Image 128M 2020 in Spain (from International Women's Day)
Image 13Florence Nightingale (from History of feminism)
Image 14Female members of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation march on International Women's Day 1975 in Sydney (from International Women's Day)
Image 15Huda Shaarawi, founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union (from History of feminism)
Image 16Christine de Pizan presents her book to Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. (from History of feminism)
Image 17Yellow 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 18Gloria Steinem at news conference, Women's Action Alliance, January 12, 1972 (from History of feminism)
Image 198M 2018 in Pamplona (from International Women's Day)
Image 20Women on the street celebrating International Women's Day in Cameroon (from International Women's Day)
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 22Catharine MacKinnon (from History of feminism)
Image 23Lucy Stone (from History of feminism)
Image 24Nellie McClung (from History of feminism)
Image 25Women's Liberation march in Washington, D.C., 1970 (from History of feminism)
Image 26Germaine Greer in June 1972 (from History of feminism)
Image 27Cover of WSPU's The Suffragette, April 25, 1913 (after Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, 1830) (from History of feminism)
Image 28Margaret Sanger (from History of feminism)
Image 29Camilla Collett (from History of feminism)
Image 30A veil-burning ceremony in Andijan on International Women's Day in 1927. (from International Women's Day)
Image 31Ida B. Wells (from History of feminism)
Image 32Irena Krzywicka (from History of feminism)
Image 33John Neal (from History of feminism)
Image 34Suffrage parade in New York, May 6, 1912 (from History of feminism)
Image 35Wealthy 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 36The Nineteenth Amendment (from History of feminism)
Image 37María Elena Oddone holding a banner, on International Women's Day in 1984 in Argentina. The banner says "No to motherhood, yes to pleasure". (from International Women's Day)
Image 38Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) and Susan B. Anthony (from History of feminism)
Image 39
  Official holiday
  Holiday for women
  Non-official holiday
(from International Women's Day)
Image 40Matilda Joslyn Gage (from History of feminism)
Image 41First edition print of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (from History of feminism)
Image 42Clara Zetkin (left) and Rosa Luxemburg (right) in January 1910 (from International Women's Day)

edit

WikiProjects

edit

Topics

edit

Featured content

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.

Featured articles

Featured lists

Good articles

Featured pictures

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