Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: feminism from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1895) 1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes 2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

fem•i•nist \-nist\ n or adj

fem•i•nis•tic \॑fe-mə-॑nis-tik\ adj


Feminism

From Encyclopedia of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations
The concept of feminism is not universal and has many forms (e.g., liberal, radical, womanism) and definitions. However, there are three characteristics that are shared by most, if not all, forms of feminism. First is the recognition that women are treated differently than men, and are in the subordinate role in society. Second, feminists view gender and gender roles as socially constructed (and thus capable of change) and as differentially valued within society. Third, feminism holds that women can be autonomous and self-reliant. The main goal of feminism is gender equality. Discussions of women's position relative to men's go back at least as far as the 12th century, although “feminism” did not emerge until the mid-18th century. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women , published in 1792, is considered the first feminist text. Early North American feminists struggled with competing loyalties: family vs. self, abolition vs. suffrage, and change vs. comfort, among…
4,450 results

Full text Article FEMINISM

From Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language
Feminism is a hotly contested term but it can broadly be described as a range of social movements and theories that have discrimination on the basis of gender as their key concern. Feminist linguistics explores the interrelationship between language and gender. See also : Conversation Analysis ; …
| 1,403 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article FEMINISM

From Dictionary of Leisure Studies
Feminism is the social, academic and political assertion that women should be seen and treated as equal to men. As a political movement, feminism can be understood to have gone through several key periods or ‘waves’ of action. Significant starting points in ‘first wave’ feminism were the publication…
| 1,052 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Feminism

From Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies
Though embracing different perspectives and schools of thought, fundamentally feminism is concerned with the advancement and achievement of equal social and political rights for women, and the fight against sexism . Feminism challenges many traditional, patriarchal assumptions about the different…
| 301 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Feminism

From The Social Science Jargon-Buster
Core definition Political, social, and intellectual doctrines, perspectives and movements that, while diverse, have at their core a desire to criticize, evaluate and transform the rights, conditions, and status of women. Longer explanation There really isn't a universally accepted definition of…
| 602 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article feminism

From Political Philosophy A-Z
Feminism in political philosophy involves a commitment to the equality of women, or, in more radical forms, the emancipation of women. What that equality means is subject to wide differentiation. Wollstonecraft ’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is an early tract arguing for women’s…
| 357 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Feminism

From The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies
Feminism can be understood both as a diverse body of theoretical work and as a social and political movement. In either case, feminism has sought to examine the position of women in society and to further their interests. Feminism has become a major influence within cultural studies and indeed they…
| 555 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Feminism

From Encyclopedia of Women's Health
To speak of feminism in the context of a set of overarching ideals that define a unified movement is a misrepresentation. It is more accurate to speak of feminisms , which highlights the fact that identifying oneself as a feminist can mean different things. Characteristic of any expanding movement, …
| 888 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article feminism

From Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics
Feminism provides the most direct challenge to the gendered world, as well as to patriarchy , capitalism, and the sexist assumptions that women's differences from men render them inherently inferior. Feminism is a complex and somewhat paradoxical ideology that defies a single definition. In fact, …
| 698 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Feminism

From The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education
bell hooks defined feminism simply as a movement to end sexism. Yet, scholars argue that while ending sexism and the patriarchy is at feminism’s core, feminism is not a singular concept; rather, there are feminisms. Further, feminism or feminisms are as relevant in higher education today as they…
| 2,092 words

Full text Article FEMINISM

From Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements
The belief that women should be treated as social and political equals to men. In theoretical analysis, feminism looks at patriarchal society and institutions that make women racial and economic minorities, and lesbians second-class people, and the need, therefore, for societal change to make women…
| 484 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources