by Utebor Paul
Feminism earlier identified as a movement has been in existence for a long period in time. It may surprise you to know that most people who claim to be part of this movement, are ignorant of what this movement is all about. The movement of feminism dates back to the 19th century.
Feminism is defined or understood as a movement aimed towards the equal right and legal protection for women, it is concerned with issues of gender difference and advocation for women’s interest in society.
The origin of feminism cannot be categorically targeted to a particular date in history, but have been divided into three waves based on advocations by various women years ago in the course of history.
The first waves of feminism movement focused on the right of women to vote and are dated from the late nineteenth century to 1930s. The second wave of feminism is dated from 1960 to 1980, this wave focused on the issues of discrimination and inequality. It condemned the idea that women can only find fulfilment in training a child and maintaining a home. The third wave of feminism, which began in the 1990s till the present date, seeks to address the failures of the second wave of feminism as well as to address the condemnation of second-wave feminism. The third wave feminism also addresses issues that relate to women’s life on an international basis.
From the history of feminism, you can deduce a bit what the movement stands for, in our present day, they have been a whole lot of misconception that has risen from the word feminism. When someone identifies his or herself as a feminist, the perception we have of that person is wrong. it even beats my imagination that people who identify themselves with the word feminism have little or no idea what the movement is all about.
Firstly, a feminist is not a group of women who cannot find a man or husband. This idea of feminist is common with, majority of African men. They see a woman who is single and not in a relationship as a feminist. Most times they use these words on women they fail to win. The word, when used by these set of men, is more or less a way of mocking such women.
Secondly feminist are not haters of men nor do they promote women to hate men, this is wrong. People tend to see feminist or promoter of feminist ideas as “haters of men”. It is not so, as a matter of fact, they are major promoters of the feminism ideas who are happily married with children. A typical example is the famous writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Lastly, it is pertinent to state that feminist are not angry women neither do feminist prefer to train a child alone, as such they don’t need men in their life. this is a wrong notion about feminism. it is important, for people who intend to identify their selves as feminist to understand what feminism is all about, and what it preaches, so as not to mislead others in seeing the concept of feminism in a wrong light.