The feminist movement has come a long way. What started as a great thing– with the first feminist wave fighting for society to recognize women as human beings and not property– has turned into a cultural fight that has reduced what it means to be a woman to nothing more than a label devoid of biological considerations.
First wave feminism achieved voting rights for women and pushed for equality under the law. During the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and 70s, women were inspired to challenge their place in society and break away from traditional gender roles. These ideas formed the basis for what is known as second-wave feminism.
A big win for feminists then was Roe v. Wade in 1973, which stated that women could legally terminate their pregnancies. This so-called-victory is, to this day, extremely divisive. Women are basically split 50/50 on being pro-life or pro-choice.
Third-wave feminism arose after the "successes" of the second wave. In third-wave feminism (which was coined in 1992 by Rebecca Walker), women learned to feel empowered through the free expression of their sexuality. That sexuality, now devoid of reproductive consequences thanks to hormonal birth control methods and legal abortion, was based in pleasure alone.
Women demonstrated their power through sexuality in how they dressed, behaved, spoke and how they presented themselves to the world. This was a time to revel in a sexuality that, far from making women beholden to their bodies, liberated them from it. Women could use sex to gain power without any concern for children, motherhood, or relationships.
But this wave led to a few traps, which are now made clear by the fourth-wave feminism, and both are rather ironic. First came the #MeToo movement. Feminists had empowered women to take control of their sexuality, but they shortly went from flaunting it, using it, to publicly reporting unwanted sexual advances. Using sexuality to gain power suddenly encompassed using the violation of that sexuality to gain a different kind of power.
Fourth-wave feminism also brought about the end of any reasonable definition for the word woman. In this new and improved fourth wave, feminists are tackling more than just women's issues. This wave is more focused on the struggles of intersectional feminists and transgender individuals, primarily trans women.
In 2021, if someone calls themselves a feminist, they are also very likely to call themselves an ally of those in the LGBTQ+ community. The feminist movement seems almost entirely based in transgender issues.
We are seeing women being pushed away from the conversation and trans issues being lifted up and showcased, as though biological males who identify as trans gender and present themselves in a feminine way are what being a woman is all about.
The first-wave feminists fought for a voice in society and now fourth-wave feminists are handing the mic over to, out of all people, biological men who self-identify as women. When women speak up, claiming that men are not women, they hear from progressives that anyone can be a woman, that gender is fluid and can be non-binary, and that "woman," basically, is a feeling.
Which leaves the question, what happened to real women?
Well, real women are being left in the dust. Feminism has gotten women to the point of being unrecognizable and undistinctive. Female athletes are being beaten by transgender competitors for the sake of equality. Even women's beauty pageants and crowns are being won by male-born individuals.
Real feminism has joined the progressive culture war and has left many women behind. Feminists shame other women for taking on even the slightest expression of traditional gender roles.
Feminism is erasing what it means to be a woman. Woke progressives claim anyone can be a woman and that there isn't any particular way a woman should be. Biological-men are now in female sports, bathrooms and beauty pageants and women are expected to accept this.
Whether it be abortion rights, gender roles or identity, feminism continues to alienate women on every stance they push for. Feminism today is far from what it started as. Wave after wave feminism pursues more and more woke ideology while abandoning real women along the way.
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