Introduction
There is no better way to start this article than first defining what feminism truly means. The Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines it as a belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.[1] The Cambridge dictionary defines it as the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state: an organized effort to give women the same economic, social, and political rights as men.[2] Therefore, to sum it up in simple words feminism simply means equality to all sexes. However, why is it that, in common parlance, this basic definition seems to be different from each perspective? Why is it that some of us are truly against this, that we hate it in the mere mention of the word feminism?
That brings us to our second question, what is pseudo-feminism? Pseudo means not actually but having the appearance of; a pretended; false or spurious; sham[3].[4] Pseudo-feminism, also known as “fake feminism” or “performative feminism,” refers to actions or statements that appear to support feminist principles but are not grounded in a genuine belief in gender equality. To a greater extent, these days sadly, pseudo-feminism is on the rise. However, who is really to blame for this large miscreancy? When did the definition change to something true feminists would not even stand for? True, most feminist movements stand for uplifting women’s position in society and probably talk less on issues for example: men’s mental health. But truly, who does this idea support? Women? And how? Does gender equality equal gender sameness? For example, issues like the number of false rape cases or domestic violence claims by women were increasing at one point in time. Are these happening in the name of women’s empowerment or feminism? We cannot pinpoint it. However, what we can do is educate ourselves, research more on the topic and present it to you in a truthful, better manner. Let us learn more on this with the help of this article.
“There are varieties of feminisms we’ve seen like Marxist feminism, 3rd world feminism, standpoint feminism, play radical feminism etc. But the dark and horrible side of feminism that exists is what we call pseudo-feminism. Pseudo-feminism is very different from feminism. Play pseudo-feminists have a deep desire to remedy all the injustice inflicted on women, often by lashing out demeaning at men. It desires to resolve all the injustices committed on and demeaning men. Pseudo feminism suggests that women deserve more respect, or people of other genders do not deserve respect. A few rotten eggs tarnishing the true sense of feminism. Feminism is giving equal importance to everyone not caring about its gender. It gives equality to male, female and transgender.”[5]
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.[6] Feminism holds the position that societies prioritize the male point of view and that women are treated unjustly in these societies.[7] 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.[8] Changes in female dress standards and acceptable physical activities for females have also been part of feminist movements.[9] 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.[10]
Brief History of Feminism:
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.[11] 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.[12] Feminist theory is an extended version of feminism but restricted to only theory. It examines women’s and men’s social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis,[13] political theory, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy.[14]
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.[15] Liberal, socialist, and radical feminism are sometimes referred to as the “Big Three” schools of feminist thought.[16] Mary Wollstonecraft is seen by many as a founder of feminism due to her 1792 book titled A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in which she argues that class and private property are the basis of discrimination against women, and that women as much as men needed equal rights.[17]
A Utopian Socialist named Charles Fourier, who was also a French Philosopher is believed to have coined the word feminism as “Feminism” in the year 1837. The variations of the word feminism goes something like feminism, feminist (feminist) originated in France and then later followed by the Netherlands in the year 1872. The word caught in Great Britain in the year 1890’s, and in 1910 in the United States of America. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance in English in this meaning back to 1895.[18]
The history of the modern western feminist movement is divided into multiple “waves”.[19] The first wave mainly involved itself with women’s suffrage movements, for example promoting women’s right to vote and began in between 19th to early-20th centuries. In the United States of America as well as the Great Britain, the first wave movement mainly focused on the promotion of equal contract, marriage, parenting, and property rights for women.[20]
Legal Scenario:
New legislation included the Custody of Infants Act 1839 in the UK, which introduced the tender years doctrine for child custody and gave women the right of custody of their children for the first time.[21] Other legislation, such as the Married Women’s Property Act 1870 in the UK and extended in the 1882 Act.[22] With the turn of the 19th century, activism focused primarily on gaining political power, particularly the right of women’s suffrage, though some feminists were active in campaigning for women’s sexual, reproductive, and economic rights too.[23] In Britain, the suffragettes and suffragists campaigned for the women’s vote, and in 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who owned property. In 1928, this was extended to all women over 21.[24] In the US, first-wave feminism is considered to have ended with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1919), granting women the right to vote in all states.[25]
During the late Qing period and reform movements such as the Hundred Days’ Reform, Chinese feminists called for women’s liberation from traditional roles and Neo-Confucian gender segregation.[26] Later, the Chinese Communist Party created projects aimed at integrating women into the workforce, and claimed that the revolution had successfully achieved women’s liberation.[27] In 1899, Qasim Amin, considered the “father” of Arab feminism, wrote The Liberation of Women, which argued for legal and social reforms for women.[28] He drew links between women’s position in Egyptian society and nationalism, leading to the development of Cairo University and the National Movement.[29] In 1923 Hoda Shaarawi founded the Egyptian Feminist Union, became its president and a symbol of the Arab women’s rights movement.[30]
“Even as late as the early 20th century, women could neither vote nor hold elective office in Europe and in most of the United States (where several territories and states granted women’s suffrage long before the federal government did so). Women were prevented from conducting business without a male representative, be it father, brother, husband, legal agent, or even son. Married women could not exercise control over their own children without the permission of their husbands. Moreover, women had little or no access to education and were barred from most professions. In some parts of the world, such restrictions on women continue today.”[31]
As of 2023, the United States is ranked 17th in the world on gender equality.[32] The first wave of feminism in the United States began with the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention, held at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19 and 20, 1848.[33] In the year 1840, Seneca Falls Convention was conducted in London, which was inspired by an American writer and activists who were a prominent leader of the women’s rights movement in the United States till late 19th century. However, ironically none of them were allowed to enter the convention because of their gender. Some of the participants at the Seneca Falls Convention organized the Rochester Women’s Rights Convention two weeks later on August 2 in Rochester, New York.[34] It was followed by other state and local conventions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.[35] The first National Woman’s Rights Convention was held in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1850.[36] Women’s rights conventions were then held regularly from 1850 until the start of the Civil War.[37]
By the end of the 19th century only a few western states had granted women full voting rights,[38] though women had made other significant legal victories, gaining rights in areas such as property and child custody.[39] In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the American Equal Rights Association, an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to the goal of suffrage for all.[40] In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was passed, this was the first Amendment to ever specify the voting population as “male”.[41] “In 1869 the women’s rights movement split into two factions as a result of disagreements over the Fourteenth and soon-to-be-passed Fifteenth Amendments, with the two factions not reuniting until 1890. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the more radical, New York-based National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and Julia Ward Howe organized the more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which was centered in Boston. In 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment enfranchised black men. NWSA refused to work for its ratification, arguing, instead, that it be “scrapped” in favor of a Sixteenth Amendment providing universal suffrage. Frederick Douglass broke with Stanton and Anthony over NWSA’s position.”[42]
The second-wave feminism in the United States began in the early 1960’s.[43] This movement grew with legal victories such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which banned sex discrimination in employment), and the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court ruling of 1965 (which legalized birth control for married couples).[44] Among the most significant legal victories of the movement in the late 1960s after the formation of NOW in 1966 were a 1967 Executive Order extending full affirmative action rights to women, Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972), in which the Supreme Court ruled that unmarried people had the same right to birth control as married people.[45]
“Some scholars see feminist campaigns as a major force behind major historical societal changes in women’s rights, especially in the West, where they are credited almost universally with achieving women’s suffrage, gender-neutral language, women’s reproductive rights (including access to contraceptives and abortion), and the right to contract and own property. Although feminist advocacy is, and has been, focused primarily on women’s rights, some feminists, including Bell Hooks, argue in favour of including men’s liberation within their goals, because they believe that men are also harmed by traditional gender roles. Feminist theory, which emerged from feminist movements, aims at understanding the nature of gender inequality by examining the social roles and experiences of women; it has developed theories in a variety of disciplines to respond to gender issues.”[46]
[1] Feminism Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster [2] FEMINISM | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary [3] Feminism and Pseudo Feminism | Difference Between These Two - Law Legum [4] PSEUDO Definition & Usage Examples | Dictionary.com [5] Adhilakshmi Santhosh, The Pseudo Feminism, retrieved from: mygov-10000000001667407038.pdf [6] Laura Brunell and Elinor Burkett (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019): "Feminism, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes." [7] Gamble, Sarah (2001) [1998]. "Introduction". The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism. Routledge. pp. VII. ISBN 978-0-415-24310-0. [8] Echols, Alice (1989). Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967–1975. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-1787-6. [9] Roberts, Jacob (2017). "Women's work". Distillations. Vol. 3, no. 1. pp. 6–11 [10] Messer-Davidow, Ellen (2002). Disciplining Feminism: From Social Activism to Academic Discourse. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-2843-8. [11] hooks, bell (2000). Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-629-6. [12] Chodorow, Nancy (1989). Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-05116-2. [13] Chodorow, Nancy J., Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory (Yale University Press: 1989, 1991) [14] Brabeck, Mary; Brown, Laura (1997). "Feminist theory and psychological practice". In Worell, J.; Johnson, N. (eds.). Shaping the Future of Feminist Psychology: Education, Research, and Practice. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. pp. 15–35. doi:10.1037/10245-001. ISBN 1-55798-448-4. [15] Artwińska, Anna; Mrozik, Agnieszka (3 June 2020). Gender, Generations, and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-09514-2. [16] Maynard, Mary (1995). "Beyond the 'big three': the development of feminist theory into the 1990s". Women's History Review. 4 (3): 259–281. doi:10.1080/09612029500200089. [17] M Wollstoncraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) ch VII, "From the respect paid to property flow, as from a poisoned fountain, most of the evils and vices which render this world such a dreary scene to the contemplative mind." Mary Wollstonecraft, Pedagogy, and the Practice of Feminism. Routledge. 18 July 2013. ISBN 9781136753039. [18] "feminism". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. 2012. Advocacy of equality of the sexes and the establishment of the political, social, and economic rights of the female sex; the movement associated with this. [19] Humm, Maggie (1995). The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-0133553895. [20] Feminism - Wikipedia [21] Wroath, John (1998). Until They Are Seven, The Origins of Women's Legal Rights. Waterside Press. ISBN 1-872870-57-0. [22] "Married Women's Property Act 1882". legislation.gov.uk. UK Government. 1882. [23] Freedman, Estelle B. (2003). No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women. Ballantine Books. p. 464. ISBN 978-0-345-45053-1. [24] Phillips, Melanie (2004). The Ascent of Woman: A History of the Suffragette Movement and the Ideas Behind it. London: Abacus. pp. 1–370. ISBN 978-0-349-11660-0. [25] Feminism - Wikipedia [26] Ko, Dorothy; Haboush, JaHyun Kim; Piggott, Joan R. (2003). Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23138-2. [27] Dooling, Amy D. (2005). Women's Literary Feminism in 20th-Century China. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6733-6. [28] Stange, Mary Zeiss; Oyster, Carol K.; Sloan, Jane E. (2011). Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World. SAGE. pp. 79–81. ISBN 978-1-4129-7685-5. [29] Golley, Nawar Al-Hassan (2003). Reading Arab Women's Autobiographies: Shahrazad Tells Her Story. University of Texas Press. pp. 30–50. ISBN 978-0-292-70545-6. [30] Golley, Nawar Al-Hassan (2003). Reading Arab Women's Autobiographies: Shahrazad Tells Her Story. University of Texas Press. pp. 30–50. ISBN 978-0-292-70545-6. [31] Feminism | Definition, History, Types, Waves, Examples, & Facts | Britannica [32] "These Countries Have the Most Gender Equality". U.S. News & World Report. [33] Keller, Rosemary Skinner; Ruether, Rosemary Radford; Cantlon, Marie (2006). Encyclopedia of women and religion ... – Google Books. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253346865. [34] "Women's Rights National Historical Park – Women's Rights Movement (U.S. National Park Service)". Nps.gov. August 17, 2010. [35] Ibid 34. [36] Ibid. [37] "Legacy '98: A Short History of the Movement". Legacy98.org. September 19, 2001. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. [38] Rebecca J. Mead, How the Vote Was Won: Woman Suffrage in the Western United States, 1868–1914 (2006) [39] Glenda Riley, Inventing the American Woman: An Inclusive History (2001) [40] "Votes for Women: Timeline". Memory.loc.gov. August 26, 1920. [41] "Votes for Women: Timeline". Memory.loc.gov. August 26, 1920. [42] Id 41. [43] "Second Wave Feminist". Association of Women Professionals. Jan 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. [44] Hornig, Lilli S. (Jan 1, 1979). Climbing the Academic Ladder: Doctoral Women Scientists in Academe : a Report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy from the Committee on the Education and Employment of Women in Science and Engineering, Commission on Human Resources, National Research Council. Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences. p. 135. ISBN 0309028809. [45] Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972). [46] Nehal Misra, Feminism and Pseudo-Feminism: Clarifying the differences, retrieved from: Feminism and pseudo feminism : clarifying the differences - iPleaders
