Feminism 101: The Origins of Feminist Thought

By: Kerry Rork

The history of feminism is foundational to understanding how women are perceived in every part of life - from the workplace to home life. To be a female-identifying leader, one needs to know whose shoulders’ they are standing upon. While history may not be everyone’s favorite subject, it cannot be overstated its importance for fighting for equality today. To begin this journey through the complex and often disheartening history of the women’s movement in the United States, you have to start with first wave feminism.  

One of the most often cited beginnings of ‘first wave feminism’ is the Seneca Falls Convention. Held in July 1848, this meeting of United States feminists led to the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments. In the document (quoted below), these women rewrote the Declaration of Independence to include women in its notions of equality. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. 

The document mirrors the Declaration of Independence’s listing of grievances instead with a feminist focus. Rather than making England the usurper, the women targeted men. The rights that men stated were “self-evident,” the women claimed were equally theirs. 

The goals of the convention were two-fold: the abolition of slavery and the implementation and preservation of women’s rights. The organizers included abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Martha Coffin Wright, among others. 

One of the most notable speakers at the convention was Frederick Douglass. As one of the earliest supporters of first wave feminism, he argued strongly in favor of women’s right to vote. 

At the convection, the women voted on 12 resolutions, the most controversial being the ninth, guaranteeing the right to vote. 11 of them passed unanimously. Eventually, the ninth did pass, though not without many women removing their support for the movement. 

In spite of this, suffrage became the rallying cry of the movement. Emerging theories of the ‘cult of domesticity’ challenged some forms of early gender roles and would later burgeon into second and third wave feminism.

Following WWI and the increased involvement of women in the war effort and public space, the 19th Amendment passed, granting women the right to vote. 

The early feminist movement was still, for many, racist. Who was included in the passage of freedom for women? Who actually got to vote in 1920 upon the passage of the 19th Amendment? These questions will be further examined in second wave feminism.