The term “waves of feminism” has likely become familiar to many of us. Some historians argue that modern feminism can trace its origins back to ancient Greek civilization with Sappho (c. 570 BCE), or to the medieval period with figures such as Hildegard of Bingen (1179) and Christine de Pisan (1434). In addition, Mary Wollstonecraft (1797) and Jane Austen (1817) are often regarded as the “founding mothers” of the feminist movement. However, the first officially recognized feminist movement is generally considered to have begun in the mid-nineteenth century. So, what defined the first and second waves of the feminist movement worldwide?
Going back in time to the period between the years 1830 - 1840, women’s rights were still mostly stereotyped in the United States, which is known as the “land of democracy”, in which they were prohibited from voting and lived primarily in the kitchen and the bedroom. Even more tragically, ladies had to be “incarcerated” in the house with their children while the overjoyed men were out to vote for their president. Those poor women’s minds appeared to be “confined” within those four walls, filled with numerous problems and concerns. That was the topic that the original feminist movement endeavored to confront.
The Seneca Falls convention, which was held in 1848 and brought together 300 women to fight for women’s equality under the direction of Elizabeth Canton Stanton and Lucretia Coffin Mott, officially commenced the first wave of feminism. In her “Declaration of Sentiments”, Elizabeth Stanton beautifully quotes: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” When the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ultimately approved in 1920, it can be said that the Seneca Falls Conference in 1848 was the first step taken by women in the more than 70-year-long battle for their own rights. Amendment was finally passed in 1920 and that is when American women received their very first freedom to vote.
It can be observed that the first wave of feminism focused primarily on women’s political rights, especially the right to vote.
As mentioned earlier, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most representative and pivotal figures of this wave. Born in 1815 in Johnstown, New York, she was introduced to basic legal knowledge at a young age by her father, a lawyer. Stanton grew up in one of the most prominent families in Johnstown and studied at the Johnstown Academy and Emma Willard’s Female Seminary.
When she and her husband, Henry Stanton—a lecturer and abolitionist—attended an anti-slavery convention in London, Stanton had a fateful encounter with fellow abolitionist Lucretia Mott. The two quickly found common ground, united by their shared outrage at the exclusion of women from political conferences. They vowed to organize a convention dedicated solely to women, and eight years later, the Seneca Falls Convention was held.
Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, skillfully adapting the United States Declaration of Independence by inserting the word “women” into every assertion of rights. The document emphasized the need to elevate women’s status in society and presented 18 grievances, ranging from women’s lack of control over property and wages to the difficulties they faced in securing child custody after divorce. Although only about one hundred out of three hundred participants signed the declaration, the Declaration of Sentiments nonetheless became a landmark document, paving the way for subsequent social and legal reforms.
Beyond this achievement, Elizabeth Stanton went on to co-found the National Woman Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony, and together they launched the newspaper The Revolution as a powerful tool in their struggle. In her later years, Stanton devoted herself to writing; among her most notable works are The Woman’s Bible and History of Woman Suffrage.
She passed away in 1902, eighteen years before American women cast their first ballots. Nevertheless, her contributions as a pioneer in the nearly seventy-year-long movement for women’s suffrage remain permanently inscribed in history.
However, to write about this period in the most comprehensive way, it must be situated within the broader historical context of the world.
This was a time when another major movement was unfolding in the mid-nineteenth century—the abolitionist movement. Sojourner Truth was a remarkable Black female activist who successfully bridged these two movements.
Born into slavery, Truth was sold at the age of thirteen to John Neely, and later came under the ownership of John Dumont, a slaveholder notorious for his violent treatment of enslaved people. After gaining her freedom following the enactment of New York’s anti-slavery law in 1827, she joined the Northampton Association of Education, an abolitionist community, where she began her career as an activist in 1844.
Her speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio, titled “Ain’t I a Woman?”, stands as the most significant address of her career and a landmark in the history of the struggle for women’s rights. The speech introduced a powerful new approach to arguing for women’s suffrage. The tragedies Sojourner Truth endured during slavery—from brutal beatings and exhausting labor in the fields to the anguish of watching her children sold away—became compelling evidence of women’s strength, challenging the notion that women were weak or undeserving of dignity and care.
If women could endure physical punishment and hardship just as men did, there was no justification for denying them the right to vote. As Truth declared: “I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well!” Drawing from her own lived experiences, she presented an irrefutable argument for the suffrage rights of both women and people of color.
Sojourner Truth passed away at home in 1883, yet her words and legacy have continued to inspire countless activists for women’s rights and racial equality in the generations that followed.
Following the first wave of feminism is the start of the second, lasting from 1960 to the 1990s. Established during the post-war period - when the mainstream mindset was that women were obliged to stay at home and do housework, this wave sparked the desire to free women from the confines of their homes. They used philosophy and literature to condemn the domestic and public threats women encountered, such as rape, domestic abuse, workplace harassment, and birth rights violation, ect, and bring awareness to the oppression and discrimination they were constantly under. Was it freedom that they craved - the freedom of body, of occupation, of conscience? The second wave spreaded across the globe and received participation from women of all races, even those in the LGBTQ+ community. It had also achieved great success in various aspects: the legislation of birth control pills was passed by the U.S Food and Drug Administration in 1960, women were equipped with more control over birthright, and the usage of credit cards and registration for mortgage loans were permitted. Above all, the second wave had significantly increased women’s awareness of the oppressing social prejudices.
The second wave was signified by the appearance of new ideologies and attitudes towards feminism and the value of women. The crucial publication that contributed to the initiation of the wave, as well as set the ground for all future beliefs was “The feminine mystique” from writer and activist Betty Friedan. Betty Friedan was born on February 4th, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois state, in the United States, in a family of Jewish origin. She attended Smith college and was one of the top students with outstanding academic performance. Friedan graduated in 1942 and during a get-together after 15 years of graduation, she gave out a survey to female students, who were now stereotypical housewives, about their level of happiness. The survey’ results implied the high levels of dissatisfaction amongst women despite having acquired all the things the general public deemed that would make them happy. These results became the premise for “The Feminine Mystique” - a book that cleared out the confusion surrounding femininity - that all women needed was a man, children and marriage. The book raised objection towards the current mentality that in order for a woman to be feminine, they shouldn’t work, study or have any political views, and was linked to the dissatisfaction of women with societal and historic cores. It touched the hearts of thousands of U.S women and gradually raised their awareness about the value of women, prompting the rise of the second wave feminist movement, aspiring to break the “mystique” that obstructed women during their process of regaining freedom. Friedan also cofounded and was the President of the National Organisation for Women (NOW) and organized the nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality on August 26th, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote, attracting over 50,000 people of both genders. She passed away on December 4th, 2006. The second wave followed the first in the protection of basic rights for women and specifically emphasized the importance of bodily autonomy.
Each wave of feminism brought different mindsets and each pioneer had their distinct ideal. Supposedly, we can instantly recognize which one is fallacious and old-fashioned and which still holds its value even until today. We may easily criticize those innovators due to their outdated way of thinking, but we should also take into consideration that each women activist strive for a higher purpose of improving the lives of women, giving them the rights to live, to love, to protect themselves. The rights we take for granted in this day and age are the result of ferocious struggle that cost blood, sweat and tears, of countless women before us.
Author: Tran Ha Phuong
Translators: Nguyen Han, Tra My
English 
Vietnamese
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