Main Post: January/27th

The idea of having Feminism split into three different waves, as taught in the last class, has been the core around today’s readings. The first article by Ellen DuBois titled “Feminism Old Wave and New Wave” is an article about the definition of feminism and how the definition has been modified throughout each wave. As mentioned in class, there seems to be a misunderstanding or misleading clarification as to how many waves there are and in what time period or wave does society today fall under. In DuBois reading she states that there are only two waves, the first wave that ignited in 1835 and lasted to about the 1940s and the second DuBois argues occurred around the sixties and is still currently happening today. After reading DuBois I am not sure if I agree with this understanding of the waves. I believe that woman in society have come a long way since the first wave and even since the sixties when the second wave began. At the start of the second wave women were just beginning to obtain freedom from the kitchen. They were branching out and getting the opportunity to pursue a career, which before this time was impossible. Opportunities have only increased today and we see in many situations where females are main contributors to family income. We also are seeing male figures staying home and being stay-at-home fathers to their children. These men are taking over the roles of the women at home while woman gain the opportunity to explore careers outside the home. At the point in time of the first wave, women were fighting to win and demand having the opportunity to vote. DuBois states that feminism is an analysis which tries to explain why and how women are oppressed. She also feels that it is a vision of a society in which women are liberated and sex role stereotypes are made. Lastly, she suggests that feminism also is defined as a conviction, that the oppression of women is a primary contradiction in society.

Elizabeth Stanton’s piece on the “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” states all of facts of how women have been subordinate to men and the resolutions that have attempted to be made. I really enjoyed Sojourner Truth’s piece because it was in a form of a personal speech that I believe has more power than some of the other formal writings. I was really impressed by how and somewhat flattered at Truth’s passion towards fighting towards equality. It was interesting to read that Isabella was a slave for half of her life and free for the other half, and at the age of 80 would fight another 20 years for women's right and freedom.

I liked how passionate she was about her arguments. She argued that she had the same amount of muscle that men have, could complete the same amount of work, and could possibly even eat the same amount of food if given the opportunity. She also argues that fine, some people believe that Eve manipulated and caused Adam to sin, if this is the case, why not give women an opportunity to set it right again? Her main focus is for women to have their rights. Women at this time (1867) were not able to vote, but coloured men just received the right to vote which helped encourage these women to fight for their own rights.