THE 3233: Theology and Feminism
2005-2006 Second Term
17/1 Week 2: Women’s Movement in the West
Lecturer: Rose Wu
Lecture Outline
(1) Feminism: Definitions and Movements
“The term ‘feminism’ usually refers in its most general sense to political activism
by women on behalf of women. It was widely used in the ‘second wave’ of the U.S.
women’s movement beginning in the 1970s, and it seems to have originated in France
in the 1880s. It combines the French word for woman, ‘femme,’ with the suffix
meaning political position, ‘ism,’ and was used in that time and place to refer to those
who defend the cause of women.” (McCann, Carole R. In Feminist Theory Reader:
Local and Global Perspectives, 2003, p. 1.)
“Feminism is not a monolithic ideology, that all feminists do not think alike, and
that, like all other time-honored modes of thinking, feminist thought has a past as well
as a present and a future.” (Tong, Rosemarie P. Feminist Thought: A More
Comprehensive Introduction, 1998, p. 1.)
“Feminism is the struggle to end sexist oppression. Its aim is not to benefit solely
any specific group of women, any particular race or class of women. It does not
privilege women over men. It has the power to transform in a meaningful way all our
lives.” (hooks, bell. In Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives, 2003,
p. 53.)
(2) The Old Feminisms (1744–1929)
Adams, Abigail Smith (1744–1818)
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1759–1797)
Sand, George. Indiana (1804–1876)
Robinson, Harriet H. Early factory labor movement in New England (1825–
1911)
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls—July 19, 1848
Mott, Lucretia
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
Anthony, Susan B.
Married Women’s Property Act, New York—1860
Truth, Sojourner. (1795–1883)
Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own (1882–1941)
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “Women and Economics” (1860–1935)
(3) Men as Feminists
Mill, John Stuart. “The Subjection of Women” (1806–1873)
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s Home (1808–1906)
Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family: Private Property and the State
(1820–1895)
Veblen, Thorstein. “The Theory of the Leisure Class” (1857–1929)
(4) Themes of the Old Feminisms
Marriage as a primary instrument of women’s oppression
The economic dependence of women
Selfhood for women
Women’s right to vote
(5) The Second Wave Feminisms (1970s–1990s)
Liberal Feminism
Radical and Cultural Feminism
Marxist and Socialist Feminism
Psychoanalytic and Gender Feminism
Existentialist Feminism
(6) The Contemporary Feminisms (1990s–Present)
Post-Modern & Post-Structurist Feminism
Multicultural and Global Feminism
Eco-Feminism
Post-Feminism
(7) Key Concepts in Contemporary Feminisms
Sex and Gender
Women’s Experiences
Personal Is Political
A Politic of Difference
(8) Questions and Discussion
Other Suggested Readings:
McCann, Carole R. and Seung-Kyung Kim. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and
Global Perspectives. New York: Routledge, 2003.
2