Picture by Prescious Kyles
By: Prescious Kyles Women's History Month is an important time of the year when we recognize and celebrate women's overlooked contributions to America. Although now Women’s History Month includes many women of different backgrounds, it wasn’t always like that. In fact it was quite racist, only including white women. In order to understand Women’s History Month, you’ll have to understand the waves of feminism that got us to this point. In this article, I will explain the history of this important month and how we got here. There were four waves of feminism, each one aiming and accomplishing something different for women’s rights. The first wave of feminism happened somewhere around the early 19th century. While the first wave of feminism was racist, excluding women of color, it did accomplish getting attention about the importance of women’s education. More specifically, women should have a chance to get a higher education and should be allowed into politics. They managed to catch the attention of magazines and newspapers who often mocked them, but gave them attention nonetheless. The second wave of feminism was when things actually started to get moving. This wave started near 1960 and lasted for about two decades. Unlike the first wave, this movement didn’t discriminate against people of color. They fought for private and public issues that women faced. From more job options and equal pay to domestic violence and pro-safety. They also changed the focus of women's magazines and fought for gender equality; instead of seeing house and cooking appliances, the magazine showed how females were helping the U.S. The third wave of feminism followed in the second wave’s footsteps. Beginning in the early 21st century, it embraced not only women of different races, but also women of different sexualities and classes. The acceptance expanded to every woman, no matter where she came from or how much money she had. They also encouraged women to be with men that they liked and who treated them with respect. This wave taught them to stand up for themselves and that they have a right to have an opinion in whom they’re with. The fourth wave of feminism started in 2012. This wave, much like the second, focused more on private issues such as sexual harassment and body-shaming and gender equality. This wave of feminism is still going on to this day and is going strong. We’re not sure if there is will be any more waves of feminism after this. I hope this article has shown you how far feminists have come from the last decades. However, the wage gap still exists, with men still getting paid more than women for doing the same job. These women have fought a hard and tiring fight but didn’t stop until they got the rights they deserve. We might not be done, but I have a feeling that we’re getting close to the end. With that, I hope you have a great Women's History Month.
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