Feminism and Women Rights

Feminism is the set of beliefs and ideas that belong to broad social and political movement
to achieve greater quality for women. As its governing ideology, feminism gives shape and
direction to the equality in all spheres of life and use a broad array of strategies to achieve that
goal. Feminism does not belong to the law alone. Still, the law has figured prominently in the
fight for womens equality, both as a domain to be reformed and as an instrument of reform.
As a result, feminism has become of special concern to the legal community.
The term feminism originated from the French word feminisme, coined by the utopian
socialist Charles Fourier, and was first used in English in the 1890s, in association with the
movement for equal political and legal rights for women. There is some debate as to whether
the term feminism can be appropiately applied to the thought and activities for earlier
women (and men) who explored and chllenged the tradional roles of women in society.
Contemporary feminist historians distiguish three waves in the history of feminism. The
first wave refers to the feminism movement of the nineteeth through early twentieh centuries,
which dealt mainly with the Suffrage movement. The second wave ( 1960s-1980s ) dealt with
the inequality of laws, as well as cultural inequalities. The third wave of feminism ( 1990s
present ), is seen as both a continuation of and a response to the perceived failures of the
second wave.
The feminist movement has effected a number of changes in Western society, including
womens suffrage; the right to initiate divorce proceedings and no fault divorce; acces to
university education; and the right of women to make individual decisions regarding
pregnancy ( including access to contraceptives and abortion ).
According to studies by the United Nations, when both paid emplyment and unpaid
household tasks are accounted for, on average women work more than men. In rural ares of
selected developing countries, women performed and average of 20 percent more work than
men, or an additional 102 minuted per day.
Feminist political theory encompasses a broad scope of approaches. It overlaps with related
areas including feminist jurisprudence/ feminist legal theory, feminist political philosophy,
female centered empirical research in political science and feminist research methods for use
in political science the social sciences.
Feminism or feminist approach to politics has been viewed from different ideological
background which has necessitated its classification into liberal, socialist and radical
feminism. We shall first focus our attention on liberal feminism.
Liberal feminism means both men and women are entitled to same or equal rights, freedoms
and privileges and there is no place of any artificial distinction so far as right are concerned
between men and women. Hence the first point of emphasis of liberal feminism is women like
men are human beings and therefore can claim equal right with them.

The argument of liberal feminists stand on the basic tents of political liberalism.
Distribution of right must no be related with disction of sex or gender. The latter is an
absolutely natural phenomenon and it has nothing to do with the distribution of right or
awarding of privileges.
The pioneer of liberal feminism is no doubt Mary Wolstonecraft. After the publication of
her famous work A Vindication of the Rights of Women(1792) peoples attention to women
s tights was attracted and many people began to think it is seriously. J.S Mill is another
important personality of womens cause and movement. The Subjection of Women was
published in 1869. In the second hald of the twentieh century large number of women took
cudgel of womens cause and Betty Friedan is of them.
Central idea of liberal feminism is basically based on individualism. Every person has the
right to develop his/her personality and inherent qualities and it is the primary responsability
for the authoity to make way for the realisation of this. If rights are essential for men why are
the same not essential for women? Naturally women can legitimately claim equal rights with
men.
To deprive women of rights in an arbitrary manner is absolutely unjustified and this cannot
be allowd to participate in all the affairs of state. Hence the real mening of democracy
indicates that both men and women must have legitimate share in any area participation.
Some feminist activists have endeavoured to associate feminism or equal right for women
concept with happiness.
Education is incuded into rights and the liberal feminists argue that it cannot be the
exclusive province of men. Both men and women have the right to the facilities of education.
Education enlightens mind and broadens the outlook. When that situation arrives the
possession of rights by women will undoubtedly erode the male domination and expand
freedom of women.
It believes that if the present system of male domination distribution of right is refomred in
favour of women then the latter will get full opportunity to develop their personality. Liberal
feminism does not deny the natural distinction between men and women and it also admits
that all sorts of activities cannot be properly performed by women.
This natural distinction must always be kept in mind. What it want to asset is that the door
to all sorts of rights and privileges shall be opened to all and it is the ability and proclivity of
mind that will guide the persons.
Romanian feminism has a long standing tradition, though it was somehow kept in the dark.
It first appeared in our country in the second half of the 19th century, in paralled with other
European countries, but also reflecting local social, cultural and political realities. The first
wave feminism in Romania was synchronic with the western one, due to educated women
with access to international information. It remained by excellence a movement of the elite,
though it promted equal rights for all catefories of women. It was mainly an elitist movement
because industrialism affected only a small proportion of the population before comunism

80% of the popultion of Romania lived in rural areas, therefore they had limited access to
education, which made any attempt for a femisnist movement quite impossible.
Among the outstanding feminine voices of the period one should mention Calypso Botez,
Alexandrina Cantacuzino and Eleonora Stratilescu. They fought for complete political rights
for women, equal pay for equal work, access to education and career, equality between the
spouses, equal civil and political rights. The Constitution of 1920 is the most democratic of all
of Romanians constitutions from the pre-communist period. Nevertheless, it was only the
Constitution of 1946 that the universal right to vote, regardless of sex, was stipulated.
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that women have always played an important role in the
development of history. This paper is based on providing evidence regarding the effects of
social reconstruction of sex and gender on women and their participation in the struggle for
equal opportunities, which has become a historically determined stage of social development.
The history that involves women has been developed over centuries, constantly changing its
goals and forms, increasing the popularity of womens movement, mainly in the 20-th
century, when suffrage and voting rights were popularized. The role of women in the 19-th
century differed from their roles in the 20-th century. The events that occurred in the 1900s
contributed to the developments in the later decades. For example, proto-feminist movements
in Europe of the 19-the century contributed to the development of more independent views on
womens rights and duties. The third wave feminism completely changes womens views on
their role in social development through the relationship between feminist movement and
popular culture. Generally speaking, womens role in the struggle for equal opportunities
throughput the history emphasizes the positive effects of feminist ideas on the social
reconstruction of sex and gender that was caused by a number of important historical
developments, including the development of proto-feminist movements in Europe of the 19the century; passing the Representation of the People Act in 1918; demonstrations on
womens suffrage; womens efforts during the First World War and the Second World War; the
development of the first wave, the second wave and the third wave feminism.

Al-Kafhaji Sarah