Where in history did women rise to struggle, and where are they going?
Where in history did women rise to struggle, and where are they going?
Maryam Tahmasebi, Journalist at Traces&Dreams
Paris in the late 18th century was a city where discussions about changing social and political structures broke out in every corner. Cafes were filled with slogans of liberty and equality. It was during this time that the first declaration of women’s rights was written by Marie Gouze (Olympe de Gouges). She believed that basic human rights should include all members of society. That same movement continues to struggle today, with the difference that concepts are constantly being redefined and changed based on the complex layers of modern life.
Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. The World Bank, in its 2024 and 2025 reports, states that women globally enjoy, on average, only 64 percent of the legal rights that men do. This statistic was obtained by examining laws such as mobility, the workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pensions. Currently, no country in the world has provided full legal equality, and only 4 percent of women live in countries that are close to legal equality.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we decided to travel through the historical evolution of the path of feminism in the world and its contemporary developments. We all know that the goal of feminism is to dismantle and eliminate the boundaries of traditional gender roles and to defend women’s equal rights. However, this demand has had different stages throughout history that we can summarize in four waves. Each of these waves targeted a part of the structures of inequality with the motivation of creating a fair environment.
The first wave of feminism began with the demand for equal legal rights. In the second wave, issues such as education, equality in the workplace, and reproductive rights were raised. The third wave appeared by introducing the concept of intersectionality and distinguishing between different lived experiences. Now that we are in the fourth wave, it is digital feminism that drives this wave more than anything else.
Feminism is nothing but the struggle for equal rights, but the negative connotation of the word and the wrong perception of it have caused many people to disavow this movement and say they are not feminists. Anyhow, this movement continues its path and has had many achievements to date. Achievements such as equal civil rights, equal pay, reproductive rights, the fight against sexual harassment, and global solidarity against gender discrimination throughout the world, especially in societies where the patriarchal system still prevails.
Looking at the history of women’s movements allows us to defend women and their rights more effectively by learning from the past path, trials and errors, victories, and defeats.
1st Wave: Awakening Awakens
The first wave of feminism, which began in the late 19th century, focused on the demand for legal rights. This wave peaked in 1948 with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations. This declaration states in its first and second articles that all human beings are equal and deserve freedom without any distinction. During this period, pioneer women such as Susan B. Anthony in the United States were able to change laws through the suffrage movement and create a space where women could participate in the political destiny of their country. And later, women like Emmeline Pankhurst and Millicent Fawcett became its torchbearers in England.
2nd Wave: Equality Should Not Be Limited
With the passage of time, demands went beyond the ballot boxes. In the 1960s to 1980s, the second wave of feminism, led by figures such as Gloria Steinem, brought new topics into public debate. They believed that equality should also be manifested in education, the workplace, and reproductive rights. This period was like a mirror for the awakening of women’s consciousness.
Stories such as Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables with characters who rebelled against patriarchal systems and sought independence were early inspirations for this wave. The dominant discourse of this period of feminism was that the rational ability of human beings is unrelated to their gender.
3rd Wave: Women’s Suffering is Different
In the 1990s, the concept of intersectionality was born and created the third wave of feminism. Thinkers like Kimberlé Crenshaw raised the concern that women’s experiences are not identical and that the background and lived experience of each person must be viewed differently. They believed that past movements mainly considered the concerns of white middle-class women in the Western world and ignored the issues of women of color or the working class. This stage of the movement tried to make diversity and inclusion the core of its activities.
4th Wave: Every User, a Feminist
Today we are in the middle of the fourth wave. The main characteristic of this period is its inseparable link with technology and social media. Digital tools have allowed women to spread their messages with unprecedented speed. Through social networks and various platforms, they have taken feminist discourses from intellectual spaces into different layers of society.
For example, the “Me Too” movement in 2017 showed the power of these tools in breaking the silence around systematic harassment. Time magazine named the activists who spoke out against sexual abuse as the Person of the Year that year.
Feminism on the internet has provoked mixed reactions. Part of these tensions stems from the belief that because current laws protect the rights of citizens, there is no longer a need for rights-seeking movements. However, it should be noted that this view ignores the structural differences and unequal responsibilities that society places on the shoulders of women.
The root of these disagreements can be found in a misunderstanding of the goals of equality. Feminism does not seek enmity with men and has no goal other than creating fair relationships in work and life. In fact, the freedom of men is also tied to the rights of women, as men also suffer from traditional gender roles and imposed stereotypes. Still, while virtual space fights increase tension, if we look at them positively, they ultimately lead to awareness and finding the roots of gender inequality problems.
What Does the Future Look Like?
“The Future of Feminism” (a report by VICE Media Group in 2023), shows that the feminist movement’s structure is basically transitioning to a direction to make inclusiveness and intersectionality the center of activities. 82 percent of women demand the representation of diverse groups, including women of color and individuals from different economic backgrounds. Also, 51 percent say that feminism should follow equal freedoms for all gender identities, including transgender and non-binary individuals.
What clearly stands out is that the society’s definition of gender is moving from traditional molds toward individual and internal expression. Findings say that 53 percent of young people consider femininity an individual choice and not a fixed biological state. This attitude paves the way for a future where 55 percent of people imagine a society in which no gender leads over another and identities are measured based on human values. Despite the obstacles arising from the politicization of concepts, 81 percent of the new generation say that they are optimistic about the final realization of gender equality in the future.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the world, like the Middle East and North Africa, the movement is advancing differently. We can say it is moving toward a rooted and democratic approach that sees women’s rights not as a separate issue, but as part of the struggle for social justice in general. In past decades in this region, laws have focused on religious structures, and authoritarian rulers used the drip-feeding of rights to women as a tool to gain international legitimacy and suppress political opponents.
A new generation of activists, relying on Democratic Feminism, demands equal citizenship and has bypassed the traditional polarities between secularism and religion. Their movement has turned gender equality into a grassroots and bottom-up demand where the solidarity of women from different backgrounds stands out, as we saw in the 2022 protests in Iran (following the death of Zhina Amini by the morality police). In most parts of the Middle East, feminism is tied to the desire for democracy, and the liberation of women is grouped with the struggle for the whole of society, and not just women.
The path of the evolution of feminism is a winding path of resilience and change. This path represents a collective awakening for all of human society. The future of this movement is intertwined with hope and determination. Feminism is a global ideal that promises a fairer world and strives to ensure that no group is ignored in this struggle. Feminism today looks to recreate a world where equality is a tangible reality in the daily lives of all human beings. This is a journey that all members of society must take together to create a brighter tomorrow.
Happy International Women’s Day!
Sources:
Global History of Feminism (2023), Lucy Delap.
Le Monde Website (2023).
The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir.
VICE Media Group (2023).