While the presentation my group worked on focused on the failings of development in protecting women against gender-based violence, I think it is important to look at the current events of feminism. From the change in most cultures that women “belonging in the kitchen” to women becoming global leaders in politics and in business, prime examples being in my opinion Hillary Clinton and Meg Whitman. However, I would also like to mention the ill effects of globalization and development on feminism, creating what the world calls today as “feminazi”, derogatory term to describe “hardcore feminists” on social media. Therefore, in this essay I would talk about how each feminism wave is influenced by development and globalization and how the impacts on the understanding of feminism caused by the “4th” wave.Globalization, according to Globalization 101 “is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world.” Through this definition, we can see that through the use and advancement of technology the world is being increasingly interconnected, to the point that the spread of information is enough to change cultures, environments, the economy and the peoples’ thoughts and values.
Through understanding what globalization it, we can see how globalization helped the struggle for women to reach equality. First wave of feminism occurred in 1830s and spanned through the early 1900’s. At this time, women were heavily oppressed, where their main use in the family was to cook and clean, and were also viewed by males as unequal in terms of them in their intelligence, worth ethics, significance to the society etc. Instead, wifehood and motherhood were their most significant occupation. Only in the late 1800s did women start working outside home, majority of them worked in textile mills, garment shops, certain types of nursing, and factory work. Through the development of technology such as typewriters, allowed women to work in the office as well. By the 20th century, women were becoming educated and were taking over men’s jobs.
In the end, they won the right to vote, increased education and job opportunities. As it can be seen through history, the turning point for women’s rights started through the development of the manufacturing industry, where the sudden supply of low-skilled labour allowed women to use their skills to work without education, which then allowed women to reach for more rights, such as those mentioned above. This could be seen today, with Women all over the world enjoying the freedom of voting, the right to choose to get education as well as numerous job opportunities without discrimination. Through globalization, even in countries where women are heavily oppressed such as Saudi Arabia, in 2015 women could vote in municipal elections, as well as other more advancements towards equality.
Second wave feminism which spanned between the 1950s into the 1980s according to Khan Academy was influenced and inspired by the Civil Rights Movement in America, where women of all ages began the fight to secure a stronger role in American society. Unlike the first wave where it was more focused on rights, the second wave was more focused on a variety of topics from reproductive freedom, gender equality in the workplace and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.(Conger n.d.). Their struggle for equality and the success that comes from it can be seen all over the world.
For example, the US set the example of equality in the workplace, through globalization, people all over the world called onto their governments to enact a similar legislation. This can be seen in Hong Kong, through the formation of the Equal Opportunities Commission established in 1996, where the Hong Kong government produced guidelines and enacted policies such as sex discrimination in, codes of practices for employment etc. The government even goes as far as providing legal assistance against the perpetrator.
Through globalization, university courses where people can look into the struggle of equality for women can be taken. Third wave feminism According to the Britannica, third wave feminism started in the mid-90s, led by a self- proclaimed X-Generation group, who grew up in the developed world, although they benefitted significantly from the massive amount of opportunities which had been obtained by first- and second-wave feminists, they also critiqued the positions and what they felt was “unfinished work” of second-wave feminism, and on top of that, the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the supreme court of the United States who sexually abused Anita Hill, gained public outcry and thus started the third wave, a fight, according to the Britannica, was about the sexualization of women as well as female empowerment. The Britannica further states that the “third wave was much more inclusive of women and girls of colour than the first or second waves had been. In reaction and opposition to stereotypical images of women as passive, weak, virginal, and faithful, or alternatively as domineering, demanding, slutty, and emasculating, the third wave redefined women and girls as assertive, powerful, and in control of their own sexuality.” The outcome of third wave feminism can be greatly seen, from the inclusion of people of colour in issues relating to equality, as well as the change of the stereotype on woman that women are stronger than what the society sees them as. This development allowed for women to take “take control over their bodies” and be proud of what they have, and to band together to become sisters can be seen even in Hong Kong through Nike holding events that cater to women. However, this wave of feminism has opened themselves up to multiple criticisms, one being that feminists were divided in their points of view.
For example, while some feminists thought that women doing sexual acts in the media were degrading and oppressing women, others saw it as empowering that women were owning their sexuality and having the freedom to make their choices. From 2012 onwards, there has been so called 4th wave influenced by social media. Promoted by the likes of Emma Watson in HeforShe and Michelle Obamas speech on female learning. However, through the development of different types of social media as well as the ease of which information is transported around the world, a new meaning of feminism is produced. It is very apparently seen on youtube, where youtubers such as the likes of feminist frequency, who makes videos bashing different aspects of the media. For example, she bashes the makers of Grand Theft Auto for including sex as a reward for the male character, while she doesn’t bash the makers of Call of Duty for only including men as targets. Her large following on social media on both twitter as well as YouTube shows that people agree with her arguments. This unfortunately causes mass misunderstandings of what feminism is all about, with people even rejecting the term feminism, even after its rich history of females struggling for equality, due to how it is defined in the current day due to social media.
To conclude, although development and globalization allows women across the world to enjoy the rights we have today through the 3 waves, the 4th wave, due to the development of social destroys the essence and the meaning of what feminism is, the strive for women’s equality. While the presentation my group worked on focused on the failings of development in protecting women against gender-based violence, I think it is important to look at the current events of feminism. From the change in most cultures that women “belonging in the kitchen” to women becoming global leaders in politics and in business, prime examples being in my opinion Hillary Clinton and Meg Whitman.
However, I would also like to mention the ill effects of globalization and development on feminism, creating what the world calls today as “feminazi”, derogatory term to describe “hardcore feminists” on social media. Therefore, in this essay I would talk about how each feminism wave is influenced by development and globalization and how the impacts on the understanding of feminism caused by the “4th” wave.Globalization, according to Globalization 101 “is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world.” Through this definition, we can see that through the use and advancement of technology the world is being increasingly interconnected, to the point that the spread of information is enough to change cultures, environments, the economy and the peoples’ thoughts and values. Through understanding what globalization it, we can see how globalization helped the struggle for women to reach equality.
First wave of feminism occurred in 1830s and spanned through the early 1900’s. At this time, women were heavily oppressed, where their main use in the family was to cook and clean, and were also viewed by males as unequal in terms of them in their intelligence, worth ethics, significance to the society etc. Instead, wifehood and motherhood were their most significant occupation.
Only in the late 1800s did women start working outside home, majority of them worked in textile mills, garment shops, certain types of nursing, and factory work. Through the development of technology such as typewriters, allowed women to work in the office as well. By the 20th century, women were becoming educated and were taking over men’s jobs. In the end, they won the right to vote, increased education and job opportunities. As it can be seen through history, the turning point for women’s rights started through the development of the manufacturing industry, where the sudden supply of low-skilled labour allowed women to use their skills to work without education, which then allowed women to reach for more rights, such as those mentioned above. This could be seen today, with Women all over the world enjoying the freedom of voting, the right to choose to get education as well as numerous job opportunities without discrimination. Through globalization, even in countries where women are heavily oppressed such as Saudi Arabia, in 2015 women could vote in municipal elections, as well as other more advancements towards equality.
Second wave feminism which spanned between the 1950s into the 1980s according to Khan Academy was influenced and inspired by the Civil Rights Movement in America, where women of all ages began the fight to secure a stronger role in American society. Unlike the first wave where it was more focused on rights, the second wave was more focused on a variety of topics from reproductive freedom, gender equality in the workplace and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.(Conger n.
d.). Their struggle for equality and the success that comes from it can be seen all over the world. For example, the US set the example of equality in the workplace, through globalization, people all over the world called onto their governments to enact a similar legislation.
This can be seen in Hong Kong, through the formation of the Equal Opportunities Commission established in 1996, where the Hong Kong government produced guidelines and enacted policies such as sex discrimination in, codes of practices for employment etc. The government even goes as far as providing legal assistance against the perpetrator. Through globalization, university courses where people can look into the struggle of equality for women can be taken. Third wave feminism According to the Britannica, third wave feminism started in the mid-90s, led by a self- proclaimed X-Generation group, who grew up in the developed world, although they benefitted significantly from the massive amount of opportunities which had been obtained by first- and second-wave feminists, they also critiqued the positions and what they felt was “unfinished work” of second-wave feminism, and on top of that, the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the supreme court of the United States who sexually abused Anita Hill, gained public outcry and thus started the third wave, a fight, according to the Britannica, was about the sexualization of women as well as female empowerment. The Britannica further states that the “third wave was much more inclusive of women and girls of colour than the first or second waves had been. In reaction and opposition to stereotypical images of women as passive, weak, virginal, and faithful, or alternatively as domineering, demanding, slutty, and emasculating, the third wave redefined women and girls as assertive, powerful, and in control of their own sexuality.” The outcome of third wave feminism can be greatly seen, from the inclusion of people of colour in issues relating to equality, as well as the change of the stereotype on woman that women are stronger than what the society sees them as. This development allowed for women to take “take control over their bodies” and be proud of what they have, and to band together to become sisters can be seen even in Hong Kong through Nike holding events that cater to women.
However, this wave of feminism has opened themselves up to multiple criticisms, one being that feminists were divided in their points of view. For example, while some feminists thought that women doing sexual acts in the media were degrading and oppressing women, others saw it as empowering that women were owning their sexuality and having the freedom to make their choices. From 2012 onwards, there has been so called 4th wave influenced by social media. Promoted by the likes of Emma Watson in HeforShe and Michelle Obamas speech on female learning. However, through the development of different types of social media as well as the ease of which information is transported around the world, a new meaning of feminism is produced. It is very apparently seen on youtube, where youtubers such as the likes of feminist frequency, who makes videos bashing different aspects of the media. For example, she bashes the makers of Grand Theft Auto for including sex as a reward for the male character, while she doesn’t bash the makers of Call of Duty for only including men as targets.
Her large following on social media on both twitter as well as YouTube shows that people agree with her arguments. This unfortunately causes mass misunderstandings of what feminism is all about, with people even rejecting the term feminism, even after its rich history of females struggling for equality, due to how it is defined in the current day due to social media. To conclude, although development and globalization allows women across the world to enjoy the rights we have today through the 3 waves, the 4th wave, due to the development of social destroys the essence and the meaning of what feminism is, the strive for women’s equality.
