Feminism is the psychological theory which proposes that social, political, and economical rights for females should be equal to the rights of men. Active feminists advocate for rights such as the right of contract and property, women’s right for protection against domestic violence and discrimination, and women’s autonomy in decisions such as abortion, birth control, and reproductive rights. Although feminism has a concrete message and goal, many women develop different opinions about certain feminist approaches and beliefs. Their viewpoints are based on factors such as location and race. These different beliefs have created divisions between the feminist movement; however, many people still believe there is a strong sisterhood bond amongst all feminists of the world.
Feminism beliefs emerged through three “waves” of time frames, the first wave starting during the nineteenth century. It started in places like the United States and Britain. This wave introduced the women's suffrage movement, which is the movement to increase the right for women to vote. John Mill was a significant leader in the suffrage movement. In 1865, he stressed his support of women’s suffrage in his election platform and had both men and women united together for the same fight. This wave also introduced property ownership and education for women. In effect, the Abolition Movement, Ohio Women’s Conference and the Society Opposed to Women’s Suffrage were all created. The second wave of feminism occurred between the 1960s and 1970s. The wave aimed to end women discrimination and push for women’s liberty. The women in this time period saw improvements to the end of discrimination for women in the workforce. There was also a rise in women education and job opportunities. Possibly the biggest event to happen in this time period was in 1973 when abortion was legalized in the United States. Many feminists saw this as the greatest achievement towards women. The third wave of feminism started in the 1990s because of the defeat of the second wave. It was also a reaction to the movements of the second wave, such as the Civil Rights Movement that sprouted from the legalization of abortion. This wave caused some tension between different feminists. The feminists in this movement did not have a shared “priority list.” Some believed there were huge differences between the sexes. Others argued that there are no differences and women can do the same thing that men can do.
These waves created different types of feminists with disagreements amongst each other. One type of feminism is the radical feminist which emphasizes the corrupt capitalist hierarchy of society. They believe society is considered patriarchal, man-based, and sexist towards women, which consequentially causes women oppression. The majority of radical feminists believe the best solution towards women oppression is the total displacement and reassembly of society that aims to terminate patriarchy. Another type of feminism is the liberal feminist or individual feminist. Unlike radical feminists, liberal feminists believe that the structure of society does not need to be changed dramatically. They believe that gender inequality can be fixed through political improvements. A type of feminism we did not discuss in class is the black feminist. Black feminists argue that sexism, class oppression and racism are entirely connected through race. They claim that white women are not as oppressed as black women. Black feminists believe they are significantly oppressed more than whites because of their skin color, in addition, their gender.
Many white women discuss ‘the global sisterhood of the oppressed’ because they believe male dominance is the primary factor that connects women to each other. In reality, women need to connect through other issues than only being oppressed by men. Another debate between feminists is the “double struggle.” Black feminists believe that they have the double struggle because they are looked down on for being a black and a woman. According to the article, The Double Struggle, a black student stated, “[White women] cannot understand, they cannot have our experiences.” The student explains that while white women think they understand black women's struggles, they actually have no idea. Black feminists claim that even if sexism is abolished, black women will still not be liberated due to discrimination towards their race. In A World Away from Women’s Liberation, Soon-Young Yoon critiques western feminists. She says that western feminists are too focused on sexual issues that they are unaware of what is going on to third world feminists. She states, “The histories of women’s struggles and their socio-political contexts are different, and when third world women say that they do not want to carry on their movement like ‘western feminists,’ they are expressing this simple truth” (Yoon). Yoon explains that third world feminists do not want to be associated with the beliefs of western feminists. The location of feminists over the world has created tension between many types of feminists and does not create a unified feminist movement.
The term “global sisterhood” refers to the belief that all feminists should advocate for the same awareness across the world. I would not consider feminism “global sisterhood” because many western feminists have extremely different viewpoints than third world women, whether the views may be about rape, circumcision or contraceptives. Western feminists have more freedom and rights than third world women. The difference makes it hard to have the same beliefs because third world women do not have the right to freedom of speech. The feminists in charge of the feminist movements are the same feminists that are not putting all feminists concerns into consideration. The third world feminists are in isolation and cannot voice their opinions. In the near future, even with all of these different beliefs, I believe that “global sisterhood” could be a reality and a majority of feminists will be connected. This might take time and genuine conversations, but it will happen.
In today’s society, western feminists are against some of the beliefs of other feminists around the world. One major belief is the practice of female genital cutting which is defined as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or another injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons" (World Health Organization). This practice is concentrated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Canada. The western feminists believe that female genital cutting should be outlawed because it is rooted in inequality between sexes and causes massive amounts of discrimination towards women. Many people who practice FGC believe it is difficult to talk about this topic to western feminists without encouraging the stereotype that their culture is oppressed. For example, western feminists created a cake that emphasized the issue of FGC. The cake was designed as a naked African woman and when it was cut, it was filled with blood red cake. This practice is judged and many feminists do not understand the real reasons behind this. Many think this practice is completely against the woman’s will, but the majority of the time this is not true. This divides the different types of feminists, and do not unify them like the feminists are supposed to be.
In conclusion, active feminists support for rights such as the right of contract and property, women’s right for protection against domestic violence and discrimination, and women’s autonomy in decisions such as abortion, birth control, and reproductive rights. The different firmly held opinions have created separations between the feminist campaign; however, many people still believe there is a prevalent sisterhood vow amongst all feminists of the world.