Feminism Meaning and History With MasterClass Instructors

Feminism is a form of activism rooted in the political and social equality of the sexes, often fighting particularly for the status of women who the patriarchy has marginalized. The word “feminism” (from the French “féministe”) as it relates to gender equality came about in 1892 during the First International Women’s Conference in Paris.

Despite the feminist movement’s long history, when journalist Gloria Steinem began her activism work in the 1960s, “there was vast confusion about the word ‘feminist,’” she says. “So we just sent everybody to the dictionary and said, ‘A feminist is just someone who believes in the full humanity of all people regardless of race, of sex, of gender, of class.’ That’s it.”

“If we weren’t coming out of a long patriarchal, racist period, you wouldn’t need the word ‘feminist’ at all. It would be assumed.” —Gloria Steinem

The women’s movement in the United States arguably began with Mary Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1791), which introduced the idea that women are not inferior to men. Wollstonecraft’s essay inspired first-wave feminists like Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth to fight for their human rights.

“When white women were struggling for women’s suffrage, Black women were right there, fighting for the right of women to vote,” author and activist Angela Davis says. “People like Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell, and so many others were in the forefront of the suffrage movement. But when women’s suffrage was finally passed [with] the nineteenth amendment in 1920, it was white women who got to experience that right, and Black women did not really get to vote until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed.”

The second wave of feminism pushed more broadly for equal rights: equal pay in the workplace, equal opportunities in the home and public sphere, and reproductive rights. The movement was also concerned with indirect and direct injustices affecting white middle-class women, including domestic sexual abuse and everyday sexism. The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique in 1963 brought women’s issues to light.

The rise of third-wave feminism, beginning with the Anita Hill testimony and the riot grrrl movement, brought greater inclusion. Activism in academia expanded the scope of gender studies and feminist theory in critical discourse and study areas. These studies focused on the concept of “intersectionality,” a term Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined in 1989. “The great virtue of the term ‘intersectionality’ is that it allows us to envision many things coming together in one place,” Gloria Steinem says. Intersectional feminism “allows us to discuss the intersection of race, of gender, of class.”

“If it isn’t intersectional, it’s not feminism.” —Gloria Steinem

The rise of fourth-wave feminism parallels the rise of social media platforms such as Twitter, created in 2006. Online, feminist activists can share stories, find solidarity, and organize in ways that might be difficult or impossible in person. Fourth-wave feminism sheds light on sexual abuse and the normalization of sexual harassment and assault against women. Hashtag campaigns, such as the #MeToo movement and #TimesUp, can gather momentum quickly and galvanize public awareness. Kira Cochrane wrote the foundational text All the Rebel Women: The Rise of the Fourth Wave of Feminism, published in 2013.

“Some would say that we’re in a post-feminist era because they hope it will go away. We are so not in a post-feminist era.” — Gloria Steinem

Feminism as a form of advocacy is not limited to people of a specific gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation—anyone can be a feminist as long as they believe in the fundamental rights of women, the importance of equal opportunity, and the equality of the sexes. Learn more about moving beyond binaries with adrienne maree brown.

“Feminism is about women, mainly, but it’s for absolutely everyone. It’s a way of challenging a division that should not exist. I’m grateful now that nonbinary people are challenging the whole thing.” —Gloria Steinem

adrienne maree brown is a writer, doula, and activist who has become a leading proponent of bringing joy into the struggle for liberation. Her books include Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good and Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation.

“Every single individual on the planet deserves the same sovereignty over their being, over their journey, over their mistakes, and over their successes. Everything. That’s what it is to be a human being. And so that shouldn’t be relegated to man, it shouldn’t be relegated to white, it shouldn’t be relegated to able-bodied, or any of these other elite systems, right? It’s like, everyone deserves it. And when you see that, it changes your world view on everything.” —adrienne maree brown

Amanda Ngyuen is perhaps best known for penning the historic, bipartisan 2016 US legislation the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, which guarantees survivors many rights surrounding rape kits. Learn how she turned rage into action.

“I could not have imagined a group of rape survivors would take on the United States government, and we would enact out what it means to be a more perfect union.” —Amanda Nguyen

Gloria Steinem has fought for women’s rights for over six decades as a writer, journalist, lecturer, and organizer. She founded the pioneering feminist publication Ms. magazine.

“I didn’t set out to be a feminist organizer until women inside the Civil Rights movement and inside the anti-war movement could see that, even inside those idealistic movements that we loved, women were not equal there either.” —Gloria Steinem

A lawyer by training, Tina Tchen has also held influential roles in government, working on equity and opportunities for women and girls during Barack Obama’s presidency. She worked as the executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and she was an assistant to President Barack Obama and chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama.

“Right now, we can realize this new vision of what work can be, you know, where companies invest in their workers and understand that will benefit them in the long run. Where we invest in the kinds of jobs that will empower, especially Black, Brown, and Asian women who are caregivers and are doing the work. And really fundamentally set us on a different path that will start to upset that power balance, start to really, you know, allow Black and Brown women to own wealth and accumulate it and move up, you know, the wage scale, and move up the power scale.” —Tina Tchen

Feminism is an intersectional movement with a focus on issues that touch every part of our lives, including reproductive rights, workplace culture, and caregiving. Gain access to exclusive videos on feminism with the MasterClass Annual Membership and get a crash course from leaders Gloria Steinem, Amanda Nguyen, Tina Tchen, and adrienne maree brown.