Feminism and Women's Movements

• Module II focuses on feminism and women's movements

Feminism and Women's Movements

• Women's movements are broadly defined as women organizing to make a sort of social change
• Mobilizations of women arise out of gendered structures of oppression and opportunity
• "Feminism" emerged as a key term and practical framework for women's groups
• The module explores ideologies related to gender, like feminism
• Cases of women's movements in the United States and the Philippines are tackled
• The module introduces gender equality and equity as foundational ideas

Objectives of the Module

• Acquire knowledge of Feminist Ideologies and core principles of feminism
• Understand significant events of women's movements in the United States and the Philippines.
• Identify key figures contributed to the relative success of these movements
• Appreciate the importance of social movements as key to affecting change in society
• Explain the difference between gender equality and gender equity

Feminism and Feminist Ideologies (Lesson 1)

• Feminism aims to define, establish, and defend equal political, economic, and social rights for women
• Feminism seeks equal opportunities for women in education and employment
• Feminism is "the doctrine that women should have the same economic, social, and political rights as men"
• Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights, body integrity and autonomy, abortion and reproductive rights, protection from violence, harassment, and rape, workplace rights, and against discrimination
• Feminist ideologies aim for equal rights between men and women in all aspects of society

Feminist Ideologies

• Liberal feminism seeks equality through political and legal reform, not altering the structure of society
• Radical feminism sees the male-controlled capitalist hierarchy as the source of women's oppression and needs total uprooting and reconstruction
• Conservative feminism rejects the politicization of sexuality, supports families, gender differentiation, femininity, and mothering
• Libertarian feminism sees people as self-owners and entitled to freedom, rejects gender role stereotypes
• Separatist feminism does not support heterosexual relationships, gives alliance to other women outside patriarchy
• Ecofeminists see men's control of land as responsible for the oppression of women and destruction of nature
• Materialist feminism grew out of western Marxist thought and critiques capitalism and ideology's relationship to women
• Marxist feminism argues capitalism is the root of women's oppression
• Socialist feminism argues that women's liberation can only be achieved by working to end economic and cultural sources of women's oppression
• Anarchic- feminists believe class struggle and anarchy is required against patriarchy
• Black and Postcolonial feminists pose a challenge to the organizing premises of Western feminist thought
• Womanism emerged after early feminist movements were largely white and middle-class
• Postcolonial feminists argue that colonial oppression and Western feminism marginalized postcolonial women
• Third-world feminism is related to postcolonial feminism, corresponds with ideas in African feminism
• Lipstick feminism attempts to respond to the backlash of second-wave radical feminism of the 1960s and 1970s by reclaiming symbols of "feminine" identity
• Feminism prevents events that could happen to women

Main Discourses of Feminism

• Opinions on the sex industry vary among feminists, some see it as exploitative, others believe it can empower
• The "Feminist Sex Wars" were debates within feminism in the late 1970s-1980s involving feminism, sexuality, sexual representation, pornography, role of transwomen
• Feminist views on prostitution vary, anti-prostitution feminists see it as violence against women
• Patriarchy is a social system where the male is the primary authority figure
• Sexism is the idea and doctrine that women are made just for sex
• In 1946, the UN established a Commission on the Status of Women
• The UN issued its Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, protecting "the equal rights of men and women"
• Since 1975, the UN has held world conferences on women's issues
• Poverty is a feminist issue, women find a greater struggle to get out of poverty

Reactions to Feminism

• Different people have responded to feminism, with both supporters and critics
• Among American university students, support for feminist ideas is more common than self-identification as a feminist
• The US media tends to portray feminism negatively
• Pro-feminism supports feminism without being a member, the term is used in reference to men
• The activities of pro-feminist men's groups include anti-violence work with boys and young men in schools
• Anti-feminism opposes feminism in some or all of its forms, mainly opposing women suffrage
• Herstory is history written from a feminist perspective
• Feminist history in the United States can be divided into three waves
• The first wave during the 19th and early 20th century was mainly concerned with women's right to vote
• The second wave was during the 1960s and 1970s, and refers to the women's liberation movement for equal legal and social rights
• 3rd wave began in the 1990s, reaction to second-wave feminism

Women's Rights Movements in the United States (Lesson 2)

• A historical approach conceptualizes "Women's movement" highlighting experiences in the United States and the Philippines
• Tracing the historical context of these movements helps understand why countries aspire for gender equality and equity
• Rhetorical movements to define women's nature and rights have been informed by two ideologies
• Liberal feminism holds that women & men are alike and equal, thus, should have equal rights, roles and opportunities
• Cultural feminism holds that women & men are fundamentally different, and therefore, should have different rights, roles and opportunities
• The following discussion largely based on work by Julia Wood (2014) of the first, second & third wave of women's movements in the U.S.

First Wave of Women's Movements

• First-wave feminism occurred during the 19th and early 20th century
• First-wave feminism focused on legal issues, primarily women's suffrage (the right to vote).
• There was a connection between the slavery abolition movement and the women's rights movement
• The first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York from July 19-20, 1848
• 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton, based it on the form of the United States Declaration of Independence

Second Wave

• First-wave feminism in the U.S. revolved around promoting political rights of women
• First-wave feminism ended with passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1919, granting women voting rights
• Second-wave feminism began in the early 1960s in the United States, lasting through the early 1980s
• 2nd Wave focused on suffrage and overturning legal obstacles to gender equality
• 2nd Wave broadened to a wide range of issues on civil rights: sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, inequalities
• 2nd wave also drew attention to domestic violence and marital rape issues
• Major effort was the attempted passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution
• Oral contraceptive pill in 1960 made it easier for women to have careers
• President Kennedy made women's rights a key issue of the New Frontier
• In 1963 Betty Friedan wrote "The Feminine Mystique", in which she objected to the mainstream media image of women
• Cultural ideology that women and men are different are: (a) Radical Feminism, (b) Lesbian Feminism, (c) Separatism, (d) Revalorism and (e) Ecofeminism.
• Liberal ideology that women and men are fundamentally alike are: (a) Liberal Feminism, (b) Womanism, (c) Multiracial Feminism and (d) Power Feminism

Third Wave

• Second-wave feminism of the 1960s-1990s primarily focused on issues of equality and discrimination in the realm of the civil society
• “The Personal is Political,” identified women's cultural and political inequalities as linked, encouraged women to understand personal lives reflected sexism
• Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, responding to perceived failures of the second wave
• arguing that over-emphasized experiences of upper middle-class white women
• It sees women's lives as intersectional, examining issues on an international basis
• According to Julia Woods (2014), it is characterized by (a) focus on “intersectionality of oppression”, (b) engagement in everyday resistance, (c) being media savvy and (d) promotes “individualism”

The Role of Women and Women's Movements in the Philippines (Lesson 3)

• Women's movement in the Philippines is the product of struggle and participation in various historical conjunctures
• It is important to locate the role of women in the quest for independence, struggle for democracy, equality, and social justice
• Hega et al (2015) provides a discussion on the role of women and women's movements

Filipino Women in Pre-Colonial Philippines

• The babaylan was the major representation of the status accorded to women in a balangay or barangay
• The babaylan was mostly concerned with culture, religion, medicine and theoretical knowledge
• The datu and the babaylan worked together on important social activities
• The persona of the babaylan embodied the traditional role of women in pre-colonial Philippine society

Filipino Women in Hispanic Period

• The Spanish colonial era pushed the image of the new ideal Filipina: a good mujer christiana, which meant lesser freedom and rights, being submissive, shy and reserved
• With the arrival of the Spaniards, the status of the babaylan was drastically transformed and seen as anathema
• The Spanish friars demonized them and claimed that the babaylan were endowed with powers from the black magic
• The friars took the liberty to widen the scope of the Christian doctrine on prohibitions of adultery, labeled other sexual activities as sinful

War Period: Women as Part of the “Revolution”

• Women's participation can be traced back to the Philippine Revolution against Spain (1896-1898) and the Filipino-American War
• Some of the women published poems in revolutionary publications and also led troops into battles themselves
• Women who fought in the battlefield during the Filipino-American war like Aguada Kahabagan of Laguna, Trinidad Tecson of Bulacan, and Teresa Magbanua of Iloilo
• Armed resistance was fought by the Huk Amazons during the Japanese occupation
• Women have fought in the battle-fields, giving them an equal space in historical representation
• AFF (Asosacion Feminista Filipina), organized as a women's suffrage movement in1905, is considered as the birth of Feminism in the Philippines

Women's Movement during the Dictatorship

• Women's movement is rooted in the First Quarter Storm (FQS) of 1970
• Massive protests marches and violent confrontation with police by student movement
• Raised the collective consciousness of the masses with respect to 'imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism'
• gained new momentum as it developed along Marxist-inspired lines
• Feminist Groups were formed: MAKIBAKA, KABAPA, PILIPINA, and KALAYAAN

Post-dictatorship Years up to present

• The 1987 Philippine Constitution has various mandates that recognizes the role of women
• Policies have been instituted including the VAWC, formation of the National Women's Commission and even GAD
• All of which is a continued effort of the government to forward the long march of Filipino women towards 'equality'

Gender 'Equality' and 'Equity' (Lesson 4)

• Discussions and debates about the concept gender equality, and how it should be used
• Gender equality and gender equity are related terms but have different meanings
• Gender equality is the preferred wording for equal rights, life prospects, opportunities and power for women and men, girls and boys
• Used in UN agreements, from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979 to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015
• Covers women's empowerment, non-discrimination and equal rights regardless of gender.
• Embraces a multi-dimensional and intersectional view on inequalities between women and men, girls and boys

Gender Equity

• Puts the focus on fairness and justice
• Correction the historical wrongs that have left women behind
• Equity leads to equality

Module Summary

• Module II taught about feminism and women's movements in the world with emphasis in the United States and the Philippines
• Lesson 1 directed your attention to the basics of feminism, feminist ideologies, discourses and reactions
• Lesson 2 engaged to look at the historical events that helped shape gender-related issues in the United States
• Lesson 3 focused on the Philippine experiences
• Lesson 4 provided a discussion on the goals of these movements--- gender equality and gender equity