What is feminism

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.
Historians of feminism have identified three waves of feminist thought
and activity.[3][4] The first wave, in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, focused primarily on gaining legal rights, political power.
The second, in the 1960s and 1970s, encouraged women to understand
aspects of their own personal lives as deeply politicized, and was largely
concerned with other issues of equality, such as the end to discrimination
in society, in education and in the work place.
The third arose in the early 1990s as a response to perceived failures of
the second-wave, and a response to the backlash against initiatives and
movements created by the second-wave.

Feminism comprises a number of social, cultural and political

movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender
inequalities and equal rights for women. In its narrowest interpretation,
it refers to the effort to ensure legal and political equality for women; in
its broadest sense it comprises any theory which is grounded on the
belief that women are oppressed or disadvantaged by comparison with
men, and that their oppression is in some way illegitimate or unjustified.

Feminism is basically a set of ideologies, social movements as well as

political movements which are known for sharing a common motive i.e.
to create, believe as well as achieve equal economic, cultural, social,
political, personal and professional social rights and authorities for
women as enjoyed by men from all over the globe.

Indian feminism
With the rise of a new wave of feminism across the world, a new
generation of Indian feminists emerged. Increasing numbers of highly-
educated and professional Indian women have entered the public arena
in fields such as politics, business and scientific research. Contemporary
Indian feminists are fighting for individual autonomy, political rights,
social freedom, economic independence, tolerance, co-operation,
nonviolence and diversity, abortion and reproductive rights, divorce,
equal pay, education, maternity leave, breast feeding; and an end to
domestic violence, gender stereotypes, discrimination, sexism,
objectification, and prostitution. Medha Patkar, Madhu Kishwar, and
Brinda Karat are some of the feminist social workers and politicians who
advocate women's rights in post-independent India. In literature, Amrita
Pritam, Sarojini Sahoo and Kusum Ansal are eminent Indian writers (in
Indian languages) who link sexuality with feminism, and advocate
women's rights. Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan, Leela Kasturi, Sharmila
Rege, Vidyut Bhagat are some of the essayists and social critics who
write in favor of feminism in English.

Arguments in favour

Feminism is not (and never has been) about female superiority or

taking away the rights of men. Its about EQUALITY. Its not just
about voting rights or getting jobs. Its about the way women are
treated in everyday life. When GENDER itself is no longer a
 detriment to someone's ability to do something (i.e. Females can't
handle leadership) then feminism will no longer be needed.

If we ignore history it is doomed to repeat itself. We can't

ignore inherent qualities in men.

Less than one hundred years ago women did not have the right to
vote weren't able to have jobs and in the event that their husbands
died they were left with nothing and no way to care for there
children. Men were allowed to beat women and there are still
many, many more women than men being raped and kept as sex
slaves. The movements and protests are not needed because the
issues are not as serious as they were (in the U.S. Middle East is a
completely different story) but it still must be a part of education
because men, for as long as history has been recorded, have been
violent, domineering and controlling and any research will show
that men make up the majority of the prison system and commit
the majority of the crimes. I'm not saying men are all evil and I'm
not saying women are better. I'm saying that men obviously are
aggressive and controlling in nature and that we can't allow
ourselves to fall back into that kind of barbaric way of living.

Feminism in India has changed this mentality of having a boy child

or girl child.

Exploitation of women rights is more often observed in urban areas

where people area more and educated and aware as compared to
rural areas
 All the issues such as female safety, dowryare responsibility of
law enforcement but it was swept under the rug, but FEMINISM
has helped highlighting these issues , the government
is taking steps.

Women are being empowered by feminism they were seen as

dependents but now theyre supporting and sponsoring their
husband.

When women are given equal power due to feminism, they develop a
self of belongingness which encourages them to contribute more to the
people around them both personally as well as professionally
Feminism carves the path of self- respect as well as admiration for
women when they are given equal social status in the society

Arguments against

Acknowledge that women cannot have it all because men cant either,
but ensure that both can take on fairly shared responsibilities for
essential paid and unpaid roles.

Feminism has been hurt by social media instead of helped. The

communication advantages brought by these new platforms have helped
feminism gain nothing but one million new adversaries.

men and women are inherently, fundamentally,

and irreconcilably different. Any political movement based on such a
spectacularly incorrect assumption about human nature that men and
women are and should be identical is doomed to failure.
In a forthcoming article in the American Economic Journal: Economic
Policy, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers of the Wharton School of
Business at the University of Pennsylvania show that American women
over the last 35 years have steadily become less and less happy, as they
have made more and more money relative to men. Women used to be a
lot happier than men despite the fact that they made much less money
than men. The sex gap in happiness (in womens favor) has declined in
the past 35 years as the sex gap in pay (in mens favor) narrowed.
It is made up of out dated issues

Its forced upon to people through.

Important links

http://jezebel.com/time-apologizes-for-including-feminist-on-list-
of-wo-1659418745
http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-feminism-still-relevant
On 9 September 2005, the Hindu Succession (Amendment Act), 2005 (Amendment Act) came
into effect and daughters in a joint Hindu family, governed by Mitakshara law, were granted
statutory right in the coparcenary property (being property not partitioned or alienated) of their
fathers. Historically, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA), did not confer any rights on a
daughter to the ancestral property of her father.