The feminist movement is broken up into three waves: women's suffrage, inequality with laws and culture, and the response to the shortcomings of the second wave and social inequalities. The start of the second wave in the '60s is usually credited to Betty Friedan's 1963 book The Feminine Mystique. Women that were involved with the second wave dealt with sexist power structures. The term 'Women's Liberation' was first coined in 1964 and first printed in 1966. Feminism has effected many changes in Western society, including women's suffrage, broad employment for women at more equitable wages, the right to initiate divorce proceedings and the introduction of "no fault" divorce, the right to obtain contraception and safe abortions, and access to university education.
(2008, September, 13). The triumph of feminism; Lexington. The Economist, Retrieved November 9, 2008, from https://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T5194891763&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T5194891768&cisb=22_T5194891767&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=7955&docNo=9
This article from The Economist reflects on how the course of the election has shown advancements towards feminism and a woman's perception in the political arena. The first being Hilary Clinton, who remained the strongest opponent to Barack Obama until she conceeded from the Democratic race. The second, and more surprising 'feminist' is Sarah Palin. While many consider her to be the 'anti-feminist' it does speak volumes that a woman would be chosen for the vice-president ticket for the traditionally conservative Republican party.
Women's liberation was meant to open doors and create equality for future generations of women. Somewhere along the lines being proud of being a woman turned into self-objectification. When Miley Cyrus was on the cover of Vogue the public was shocked that a 15-year-old was portrayed as sexual. However I don't think that the problem was with the Vogue cover, but with her own personal Myspace pictures. She took many pictures of her in suggestive poses and in bikinis. This isn't an isolated incident since most junior-high, high school, and college girls post similar pictures of themselves online. Young girls are learning that it's okay to themselves at earlier and earlier ages.
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