feminism

noun

/ˈfemənɪzəm/

[uncountable]

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the belief and aim that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men; the struggle to achieve this aim女权主义；女性主义；女权运动
- the radical feminism of the 1970s20世纪70年代激进的女权主义
- in the early days of second-wave feminism在第二次女权运动的早期
Culture feminismfeminismThe issue of equality (= equal treatment) for women in British society first attracted national attention in the early 20th century, when the suffragettes won for women the right to vote. In the 1960s feminism (= the belief that women and men are equal in abilities and should have equal rights and opportunities) became the subject of intense debate when the women's liberation movement encouraged women to reject their traditional supporting role and to demand equal status and equal rights with men in areas such as employment.Since then, the gender gap between the sexes, though still present, has been reduced. The Equal Pay Act of 1970, for instance, made it illegal for women to be paid less than men for doing the same work, and in 1975 the Sex Discrimination Act aimed to prevent either sex having an unfair advantage when applying for jobs. These two acts were replaced by the Equality Act in 2010. In 1975 the Equal Opportunities Commission was set up to help people claim their rights to equal treatment and to publish research and statistics to show where improvements in opportunities for women need to be made. Women now have much better employment opportunities than they did in the past, though they still tend to get less well-paid jobs than men (a situation known as the gender pay gap), and very few are given top jobs in industry.Many people believe that there is still a long way to go before women are treated as equals in employment. In education, however, girls' and women's opportunities have improved rapidly and in public employment there are policies to increase the percentage of women employed in senior management roles and in areas such as engineering and science.In the US the movement that is often called the ‘first wave of feminism’ began in the middle of the 1800s. Susan B Anthony worked for the right to vote, Margaret Sanger wanted to provide women with the means of contraception so that they could decide whether or not to have children, and Elizabeth Blackwell, who had to fight for the chance to become a doctor, wanted women to have greater opportunities to study. Many feminists were interested in other social issues.The second wave of feminism began in the 1960s. Women like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem became associated with the fight to get equal rights and opportunities for women under the law. An important issue was the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was intended to change the Constitution. Although the ERA was not passed there was progress in other areas. It became illegal for employers, schools, clubs, etc. to discriminate against women. But women still find it hard to advance beyond a certain point in their careers, the so-called glass ceiling that prevents them from having high-level jobs. Although there is greater equality in some homes, women also still face the problem of the second shift, which is the work they do at home, running a household and caring for children. However, both British and American women have more opportunities than anyone thought possible in previous generations.In the 1980s feminism became less popular in the US and there was less interest in solving the remaining problems, such as the fact that many women still earn less than men. In the late 2010s feminism experienced a new rise in popularity when women spoke out about the abuse of power, especially by men in the film industry. Social media was an important factor: the #MeToo hashtag was used to draw attention to women's experiences of poor treatment and abuse at work, and in their lives in general. One of the biggest changes is in how people think. Although there is still discrimination, the principle that it should not exist is widely accepted.Feminism has brought about many changes in the English language. Many words for job titles that included ‘man’ have been replaced, for example ‘police officer’ is used instead of ‘policeman’ and ‘ chair ’ or ‘ chairperson ’ for ‘chairman’. ‘He’ is now rarely used to refer to a person when the person could be either a man or woman. Instead, he or she, or sometimes (s)he, and in Britain in particular, they, is preferred. The title Ms is commonly used for women instead of ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’, since, like 'Mr', it does not show whether a person is married or not.
Topics Social issuesc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- contemporary
- modern
- liberal
- …
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Word Originlate 19th cent.: from French féminisme.