her story in history: the evolution of feminism
herstory in
the evolution of feminism
“each time a woman self, without knowing it claiming it, she women.� maya angelou
stands up for her possibly, without stands up for all
6 10 12 20 24 28
tribute: ruth b. ginsburg March 1933-September 2020 U.S. Supreme Court Justice the second woman to be appointed to this position
poem: nikita gill Nikita Gill is a poet and writer. She has written and curated six volumes of poetry. She uses social media as a way to amplify her voice.
2000’s The history with radicals, progressives, liberals and centrists. It is filled with movements and counter movements.
1900’s This decade consist of street marches and new laws in courtrooms.
1800’s Womans liberation intensifies as the fight for justice begins to join forces with the civil rights movement.
1700’s Woman begin to look to work collective fight against national injustice. It begins with a letter from a presidents wife.
“My idea of how choice should have developed was not a privacy notion, not a doctor’s right notion, but a woman’s right to control her own destiny, to be able to make choices without a Big Brother state telling her what she can and cannot do."
of bringing up the next generation."
“i would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of "Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility her ability.”
"I see my advocacy as part of an effort to make the equality principle everything the founders would have wanted it to be if they weren't held back by the society in which they lived and particularly the shame of slavery. I don’t think my efforts would have succeeded had it not been for the women’s movement that was reviving in the United States and more or less all over the world at the time."
“If I had any talent in the world ... I would be a great diva.”
“women belong in places where decisions are made.”
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
“A gender line ... helps to keep women not on a pedestal, but in a cage.”
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
Ruth Joan Bader, the second daughter of Nathan and Cecelia Bader grew up in a low-income, working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Ginsburg’s family was Jewish. Ginsburg’s mother, a major influence in her life, taught her the value of independence and a good education. At James Madison High School in Brooklyn, Ginsburg worked diligently and excelled in her studies. Her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ginsburg’s high school years, and died the day before Ginsburg’s graduation. Bader graduated from Cornell University in 1954, finishing first in her class. She married Martin D. Ginsburg, also a law student, that same year. The early years of their marriage were challenging, as their first child, Jane, was born shortly after Martin was drafted into the military in 1954. He served for two years and, after his discharge, the couple returned to Harvard where Ginsburg also enrolled. At Harvard, Ginsburg learned to balance life as a mother and her new role as a law student. She also encountered a very male dominated, hostile environment, with only eight females in her class of 500. The women were chided by the law school’s dean for taking the places of qualified males. But Ginsburg pressed on and excelled academically, eventually becoming the first female member of the prestigious
legal journal, the Harvard Law Review. Despite her outstanding academic record, however, Ginsburg continued to encounter gender discrimination while seeking employment after graduation. After clerking for U.S. District Judge Edmund L. Palmieri, she taught at Rutgers University Law School in 1963 to 1972. and then at Columbia in 1972 to 1980 where she became the school’s first female tenured professor. During the 1970s, she also served as the director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), for which she argued six landmark cases on gender equality before the U.S. Supreme Court. However, she also believed that the law was gender-blind and all groups were entitled to equal rights. Several expressed concerned over how she could transition from social advocate to Supreme Court Justice. In the end, she was easily confirmed by the Senate. Ginsburg became the court’s second female justice as well as the first Jewish female justice. She continued to promote women’s rights from the High Court and has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in many controversial cases. After 27 years serving as a justice on the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020 due to complications from metastatic pancreas cancer.
“you must never ever let them take those flames from within your soul.” girl, you were born with a fire inside you, and this world is determined to stamp it out. you will see it when you stand up for yourself and you are told how arrogant you are amongst your sex because ‘it isn’t ladylike to raise your voice.’ speak louder when they say things like that to you. let them see how quick a single flame can take hold of an entire forest. you will hear it when you wear something that hugs your body and feel the uncomfortable sensation of being stripped naked by the eyes of men who call you names you are still too young to understand. one day these same men will have daughters with fire spines like yours who will make them understand.
you will know it when a man tries to use his strength to have his way with you the first time,and no isn’t good enough, so you need to use your fists, teeth, legs to get him off. what did he think would happen if he manhandled flames? his burnt fingers are his own fault, not yours. you will feel it when you see your mothers eyes filled with terror because you are two hours later than you said you will be home. she understand so well how dangerous it is to carry a soul made from a firestorm in this broken world. you must understand: they fear you. there is nothing scarier in their mindsthan a girl who knows the power of her flames. your passion is terrifying, your beauty isn’t pretty, it is unashamed, determinedly uncaged and so honest and wild, that they can only think of ways to either own that fire or try their damnedest to stamp it out. but you must never ever let them take those flames from within your soul, instead, you must burn brighter than ever because you are a daughter of the Sun, and you belong only to yourself, not to this world. written by nikita gill
Feminism is a belief in the political, economic and cultural equality of women. It has roots in the earliest eras of human civilization. It is typically separated into three waves: first wave feminism, dealing with property rights and the right to vote; second wave feminism, focusing on equality and anti-discrimination, and third wave feminism, which started in the 1990s as a backlash to the second wave’s perceived privileging of white, straight women. From Ancient Greece to the fight for women’s suffrage to women’s marches and the #MeToo movement, the history of feminism is as long as it is fascinating. More recently, feminists have pointed to prominent cases of sexual assault and “rape culture” as emblematic of the work still to be done in combating misogyny and ensuring women have equal rights. The #MeToo movement gained new prominence in October 2017, when the New York Times published a damning investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against influential film producer Harvey Weinstein. Many more women came forward with allegations against other powerful men—including President Donald Trump. On January 21, 2017, hundreds of thousands of people joined the Women’s March on Washington in D.C., a massive protest aimed at the new administration and the perceived threat it represented to reproductive, civil and human rights. It was not limited to Washington. Over 3 million people in cities around the world held simultaneous demonstrations, providing feminists with a high-profile platforms for advocating on behalf of full rights for all women worldwide.
“ revolutions that last don’t happen from the top down. they happen from the bottom up.� gloria steinem
2006
Congress passes the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, the first law to ban a specific abortion procedure. The Supreme Court upholds the ban the following year.
2008
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin becomes the first woman to run for vice president on the Republican ticket.
2012
The Paycheck Fairness Act, meant to fight gender discrimination in the workplace, fails in the Senate on a party-line vote. Two years later, Republicans filibuster the bill (twice).
2016
Dated July 26, 2016: Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman to receive a presidential nomination from a major political party. During her speech at the Democratic National Convention, she says, “Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come.”
2007
Dated Jan. 4, 2007: U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) becomes the first female speaker of the House. In 2019, she reclaims the title, becoming the first lawmaker to hold the office two times in more than 50 years.
2009
The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act allows victims, usually women, of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck.
2013
Dated Jan. 24, 2013, The U.S. military removes a ban against women serving in combat positions.
2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton secures the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first U.S. woman to lead the ticket of a major party.
Women began to enter the workplace in greater numbers following the Great Depression, when many male breadwinners lost their jobs, forcing women to find “women’s work” in lower paying but more stable careers like housework, teaching and secretarial roles. During World War II, many women actively participated in the military or found work in industries previously reserved for men, making Rosie the Riveter a feminist icon. Following the civil rights movement, women sought greater participation in the workplace, with equal pay at the forefront of their efforts. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was among the first efforts to confront this still-relevant issue. But cultural obstacles remained, and with the 1963 publication of The Feminine Mystique, Betty Frieda who later co-founded the National Organization for Women—argued that women were still relegated to unfulfilling roles in homemaking and child care. By this time, many people had started referring to feminism as “women’s liberation.” In 1971, feminist Gloria Steinem joined Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug in founding the National Women’s Political Caucus. Steinem’s Ms. Magazine became the first magazine to feature feminism as a subject on its cover in 1976. The Equal Rights Amendment, which sought legal equality for women and banned discrimination on the basis of sex, was passed by Congress in 1972 (but, following a conservative backlash, was never ratified by enough states to become law). One year later, feminists celebrated the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a woman’s right to choose an abortion.
1917
1920
1920
1932
Dated April 2, 1917, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a longtime activist with the National Woman Suffrage Assn, is sworn in as the first woman elected to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives.
Dated October 16, 1916, Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the United States. Her clinic was deemed illegal under the “Comstock Laws” forbidding birth control, and the clinic was raided in 1916. When she had to close due to legal threats, she eventually founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, the precursor to today’s Planned Parenthood.
1955
Dated Dec. 1, 1955, Black seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The move helps launch the civil rights movement.
Dated Aug. 18, 1920, Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is completed, declaring “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of sex.”
Dated May 20-21, 1932, Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman, and second pilot ever to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic.
1932
Dated June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signs into law the Equal Pay Act, prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination between men and women performing the same job in the same workplace.
1960
Dated May 9, 1960, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first commercially produced birth control pill in the world. Margaret Sanger initially commissioned “the pill” with funding from heiress Katherine McCormick.
“ tremendous
amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.”
1963 Dated June 30, 1966, Betty Friedan, author of 1963’s The Feminine Mystique, helps found the National Organization for Women (NOW), using, as the organization now states, “grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.”
1972 Dated June 23, 1972: Title IX of the Education Amendments is signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
1973
shirley chisholm
Dated Jan. 22, 1973: In its landmark 7-2 Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a woman’s legal right to an abortion.
1981 Dated July 7, 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor is sworn in by President Ronald Reagan as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She retires in 2006, after serving for 24 years.
1983 June 18 1983: Flying on the Space Shuttle Challenger, Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
1993 Dated March 12, 1993: Nominated by President Bill Clinton, Janet Reno is sworn in as the first female attorney general of the United States.
1994 Dated Sept. 13, 1994: Clinton signs the Violence Against Women Act as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, providing funding for programs that help victims of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, stalking and other gender-related violence.
1997 Dated Jan. 23, 1997, Also nominated by Clinton, Madeleine Albright is sworn in as the nation’s first female secretary of state.
At the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, abolitionists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott boldly proclaimed in their now-famous Declaration of Sentiments that “We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men and women are created equal.” Controversially, the feminists demanded “their sacred right to the elective franchise,” or the right to vote. Many attendees thought voting rights for women were beyond the pale, but were swayed when Frederick Douglass argued that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women could not also claim that right. When the resolution passed, the women’s suffrage movement began in earnest, and dominated much of feminism for several decades. Slowly, suffragettes began to claim some successes: In 1893, New Zealand became the first sovereign state giving women the right to vote, followed by Australia in 1902 and Finland in 1906. In a limited victory, the United Kingdom granted suffrage to women over 30 in 1918.
elizabeth cady stanton
“i would have girls reguard themselves not as adjectives but as nouns.�
1839
Mississippi became the first state to grant women the right to hold property in their own names with permission from their husbands.
1849
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. She graduated from Geneva College in New York with the highest grades in her entire class.
1866
The legislature of the territory of Wyoming passes America’s first woman suffrage law, granting women the right to vote and hold office. In 1890, Wyoming is the 44th state admitted to the Union and becomes the first state to allow women the right to vote.
1869
The 14th Amendment is passed by Congress, with “citizens” and “voters” defined as “male” in the Constitution.
1848
1st women’s rights convention at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. With 300 attendees, 68 women and 32 men sign the Declaration of Sentiments, which sparked decades of activism, leading to the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
1851
A former slave turned abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Sojourner Truth delivers her famous “ Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. “And ain’t I a woman? And ain’t I a woman?”
1869
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton found the National Woman Suffrage Assn, which coordinated the national suffrage movement. In 1890, the group teamed with the American Woman Suffrage Association to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
1890
The first state, Wyoming, grants women the right to vote in all elections.
In his classic Republic, Plato advocated that women possess “natural capacities” equal to men for governing and defending ancient Greece. Not everyone agreed with Plato; when the women of ancient Rome staged a massive protest over the Oppian Law, which restricted women’s access to gold and other goods, Roman consul Marcus Porcius Cato argued, “As soon as they begin to be your equals, they will have become your superiors!” (Despite Cato’s fears, the law was repealed. In The Book of the City of Ladies, 15th-century writer Christine de Pizan protested misogyny and the role of women in the Middle Ages. Years later, during the Enlightenment, writers and philosophers like Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, argued vigorously for greater equality for women.
1769
1777
The colonies adopt the
All states pass laws which
English system decree-
take away women’s right
ing women cannot own
to vote.
property in their own name or keep their own earnings.
“
i hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. none of us want to be calm waters all our lives.” jane austen
Abigail Adams, first lady to President John Adams, specifically saw access to education, property and the ballot as critical to women’s equality. In letters to her husband John Adams, Abigail Adams warned, “If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice.” The “Rebellion” that Adams threatened began in the 19th century, as calls for greater freedom for women joined with voices demanding the end of slavery. Indeed, many women leaders of the abolitionist movement found an unsettling irony in advocating for African Americans rights that they themselves could not enjoy.
never ever “ accept ‘because you are a woman’ as a reason for doing or not doing anything.” chimamanda adichie
h herstory is our story
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Credits: Imagery and Data
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