International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

FEMINISM :DEFINITION AND TYPES

ANUPRIYA RESEARCH SCHOLAR B.N.M. UNIVERSITY,MADHEPURA ABSTRACT This article aims to throw light on the origin of and its different shades. Charles Fourier, a French philosopher is credited with having coined the term “feminisme” in 1837.Fenminismis a belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. Different shades of feminism discussed in this article are Socialist, Marxist, Radical,, Popfeminism,,Essentialist,Cultural,Post-Colonial,Post modern, , Amazon feminism, I-feminism,Anarcha feminism etc. Thus feminism can be seen as a framework for building an egalitarian society. Keywords: I-feminism, Black feminism, Anarcha feminism, Amazon feminism, Ecofeminism.

INTRODUCTION Feminism is a belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. is an outgrowth of the general movement to empower women worldwide.It can be definedas a recognition and crtitique of male supremacy combined with efforts to change it. A feminist thus advocates or supports the rights and equality of women. Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women’s rights,including the right to vote,to hold public office, to work,to earn fair wages,or equal pay,to own property,to education, to enter contracts ,to have equal rights within ,and to have maternity leave. CHARLES FOURIER ,a Utopian Socialist and French philosopher is credited with having coined the word”feminisme” in 1837.The words “feminisme”and “feminist”first appeared in France and Netherland in 1872,Great Britain in the 1890s and the in 1910,and The Oxford English Dictionary lists 1852 as the year of the first appearanceof “feminist”and 1895 for”feminism.” Depending on historical movement,culture and country,feminists around the world have had different causes and goals.Most Western feminist historians assert that all movements which work to obtain women’s rights should be considered feminist movements,even when they do not apply the term to themselves.Other historians assert that the term should be limited to the modern and the descendants.So in order to describe the earlier movements,the term “PROTOFEMINIST” is used. The history of the modern, Western feminist,movement is divided into three “WAVES.”Each wave dealt with different aspects of the same feminist issues.The first wave comprised women’s suffarage movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,promoting

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 181 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)

International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

women,s rights to vote.The second wave was associated with ideas and actions of the womens’ liberation movement beginning in the 1960s.The second wave campaigned for legal and social equality for women.The third was in a continuation of and a reaction to the perceived failures of second-wave feminism,beginning in the 1990s. SENECA FALLS,NEW YORK is said to be the birthplace of American feminism. and LUCRETIA MOTL spearheaded the first Womens Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848.The Convention brought in more than 300 people.The discussion was focussed on the social,cilvil,and religious condition of women.The Convention lead to the Declaration of Sentiments which was modelled after The Declaration Of Independence.The Convention marked a 22 year battle to gain women the right to vote in the US.In 1920 women won the right to vote. In Germany the feminists were fighting for the right of women to engage in sexual relations regardless of marital and legal consideration.Marianne Welar –a feminist, thought that women should be treated equally in the social institutions.She made it clear that marriage was between man and women. The Contemporary feminism movement began in the 1960s. helped escape the sexual double standard.Divorce became commonplace.Women were “happy housewives”no more.Higher level employment and fulfillment outside the home were becoming the norm. All people are created equal and should not be denied equality of opportunity because of .Liberal Feminists focus their change on social change through the construction of legislation and regulation of employment practises. Inequality stems from the denial of equal rights.The primary obstacle to equality is .Liberal Feminists argue that society holds the false belief that women are by nature less intellectually and physically capale than men,thus it tends to discriminate against women in the academy,the forum and the marketplace.Liberal Feminists believe that “female subordination rooted in asset of customary and legal constraints that blocks women’s entrance and success in the so called public world.” In the United States,Liberal feminism was quiet for four decades after winning the vote in 1920. In the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement ,Liberal Feminists drew paralles between systemic race discrimination and sex discrimination.Groups such as The National Organization for Women,The Nationa Women’s political Caucus,and The Womens Equity Action League were all created at that time to further women’s rights. Other issues important to Liberal Feminists include but are not limited to and access,,voting,education,fair compensation for work,affordable child care,and bringing to light the frequency of sexual and domestic

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 182 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)

International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

MARXIST FEMINISM () is a branch of feminism focused on investing and explaining the ways in which women are oppressed through systems of capitalism and .According to Marxist Feminists,women’s liberation can only be achieved through a radical reconstructing of the current capitalist economy, in which much of women’s labour is uncompensated. AND MARXIST FEMINISM With the emergence of intersectionality as a widely popular theory of current feminism,Marxist feminists are broadening their focus to include persons that would be at an increased risk of exploitation in a capitalist system while also remaining critical of intersectionality theory for relying on burgeois identity politics.The current organization Radical Women provides a clear example of successful incorporation of the goals of Marxist Feminism.Without overlooking identities that are more susceptible to exploitation.They contend that elimination of the capitalist profit driven economy will remove the motivation for sexism,racism,homophobia and other forms. Male power and privilege is the basis of social relations.Sexism is the main tool used by men to keep women oppressed.Women’s is the most widespread and the deepest.This in turn causes the most suffering.Women’s oppression thus provides a conceptual model for understanding of all other forms of oppression.Radical Feminism thus believes in speaking out against all social structures as they are all created by men. Radical Feminists seek to abolish ,by challenging existing social norms and institutions, rather than through a purely political process.This includes challenging the notion of tradition gender roles,opposing the of women, and raising public awareness about and violence against women. Early Radical feminism arising within second wave feminism in the 1960s,typically viewed patriarchy as “transhistorical phenomenon”prior to or deeper than other sources of oppressin,”not only the oldest and most universal form of domination but the primary form and the model for all others. Radical feminists locate the root cause of women’s oppression in patriarchial gender relations, as opposed to legal systems (as in liberal feminism) or (as in anarchist feminism, and Marxist Feminism).Radical feminists also believe that eliminating patriarchy,and other systems which perpetuate the domination of one group over another,will liberate everyone from an unjust society.Thus there was a spark to legalize abortion.

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 183 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)

International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

SOCIALIST FEMINISM It aims at viewing women’s oppression as stemming from their work in the family and the economy.Women’s inferior position is the result of class-based capitalism.Socialists believe that history can be made in the private sphere(home)not just the public sphere(work). is a branch of feminism that focuses upon both the public and private spheres of a ’s life and argues the liberation which can only be achieved by working to end both the economic and cultural sources of women’s oppression.Socialist feminism is a two pronged theory that broadens Marxist feminism’s arguments for the role of capitalism in the oppression of women and Radical feminists theory of the role of gender and patriarchy. Socialist feminists reject radical feminism’s main claim that patriarchy is the only or primary source of oppression of women .Rather Socialist feminist assert that women are unable to be free due to their financial dependence on males in society.Women are subject to male rulers in capitalism due to an uneven balance in wealth. They see economic dependence ,as the driving force of women’s subjugationto men.Further,socialist feminists see women’s liberation as a necessary part of larger quest for social,economic and political justice. Socialist feminism draws upon many concepts found in Marxism,such as a historical materialist point of view,which means that they relate their ideas to the historical and material conditions of peoples’ lives.Socialist feminists thus consider the sexism and general division of labour of each historical era is determined by the economic system of the time.Those relations are largely expressed through capitalist and patriarchial relations.Socialist feminists,thus reject the Marxist notion that class and class struggle are the only defining aspects of history and economist development. ANARCHA-FEMINISM Anarcha-feminism(also called anarchist feminism and anarcho feminism) combines and feminism.It generally views patriarchy as a manifestation of involuntary coercive hierarchy that should be replaced by decentralised free association.Anarcha-feminists believe that struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class struggle,and the anarchists struggles against the state.In essence,the philosophy sees anarchist struggle as a necessary component of feminist struggle and vice-versa.L.Susan Brown claims that “as anarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power,it is inherently feminist.”Anarcha-Feminism began with late 19th and early 20th century. It attempts to criticize the dominant order.All theory is socially constructed.It rejects the claim that only rational,abstract thought and scientific methodology can lead to valid knowledge.

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 184 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)

International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

The basic idea is that looking to the past is no longer the way to go.We are a global economic world highlighted by technology.So, looking to the past no longer applies. BLACK FEMINISM Black feminists consists of ideas produced by Black women clarifying standpoint for and of black women.Three key themes in black feminism are-THE MEANING OF SELF-DEFINITION AND SELF VALUATION.THE INTERLOCKING NATURE OF OPPRESSION.THE IMPORTANCE OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN’S CULTURE. Self-Definition is basically challenging the political knowledge validation process bringing stereotypical images of Afro-American womanhood.PATRICIA HILL COLLINS who had PhD from Brandis is the major voiceof Black Feminism which aims to fight against the oppression and discrimination done to black women. I-FEMINISM OR Individualist feminism,sometimes also grouped with libertarian feminism,is a term for feminist ideas which emphasize .Individualist feminism was cast to appeal to “younger women”ofa more conservative generation and includes concepts from RENE DENFELD and ,essentially that “feminism”should no longer be about communal solutions to communal problems but solutions to individual problems.” Individualist feminist attempts to change legal systems to eliminate class order privileges and to ensure that have equal rights,including an equal claim under the law to their own persons and property.Individualist feminism encourages women to take full responsibility for their own lives. Cultural feminism is a movement that points out how modern society is hurt by encouraging masculine behaviour,but society would benefit by encouraging feminist behaviour instead. Thus cultural feminism believes in encouraging feminine behaviour rather than masculine behaviour. POST COLONIAL FEMINISM Emphasizes a rejection of colonial power relationships(in which the colonizer strips the colonized subject of her customs,traditions,and values). Argues for the deconstruction of power relationships and the inclusion of race with feminist analysis).Usually includes all the feminist writings except from Britain or US. POSTFEMINISM

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 185 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)

International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

Feminism informed by psychoanalysis, and postcolonialism.Emphasizes the multiple forms of oppression,multiple definitions of feminism and a shift beyond equality as the major goal of the feminist movement AMAZON FEMINISM Focuses on the image of female hero,both fictional and real in literature and art and is particularly concerned with physical equality.It opposes stereotypes and discrimination against women,particularly images of women as weak,passive and helpless. Focuses on gaining equality between men and women in all domains(work,home,sexuality,law).Argues that women should receive all privileges given to men and that biological differences between men and women do not justify inequality. ESSENTIALIST FEMINISM Focuses on “true biologigal”difference between men and women,arguing that women are essentially different from men but equal in value. Diverse feminism based on the rejection of institutionalised heterosexism,particularly the primacy of the nuclear family and the lack of legal recognition afforded to lesbians.Argues that lesbian identity is both personal and political and actively work against homophobia. MODERATE FEMINISM Similar to liberal feminism,it sees the importance of change witin institution.Argues for small steps towards .Often comprised of younger woman who espouse feminist ideas without calling themselves feminists. POP-FEMINISM It focuses on caricatures of “ power”idols and “wonder woman” images sometimes decided by feminists ,but often attracts young women interested in empowerment but uninterested in social change and activism.Examples include Powerpuff ,She-Ra,Charlies’ Angels. ECOFEMINISM Ecofeminism focuses on things like pollution that result from racism.For example,they point out how Black and Latin communities are more affected by pollution than predominantly white communities.They then look at how women are affected by the racism and the pollution.They look at how women are hired to do certain jobs that are harmful as they can be paid less and are less like to complain. WOMANIST OR INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 186 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)

International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 10 Issue 7, July- 2020 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 7.101 |

Womanist Theory was developed as an attempt to make feminism more inclusive.Traditionally,feminism focuses on the issues faced by middle class white women.However,women of all classes ,countries and ethnicities ,as well as women within the LGBT community ,also suffered as a result of inequality of the sexes,so was born.Womanist theory points out that there is no one cause of oppression ,and different women have different experiences.So each case of oppression is unique.As such we must look at the intersections of various causes of oppression )where oppression occurs.Womanism thus tries to avoid privileging anyone. CONCLUSION We thus witnessed different shades of feminism like Socialist, Marxist, Radical,Black Feminism, Pop- feminism,Ecofeminism,Essentialist feminism,Cultural feminism, Post colonial,Post modern,Postfeminism,Amazon feminism,I-feminism,Anarcha-feminism etc. Women themselves have multiple shades wherein they are capable of multitasking. Although feminism was started at a very early phase and took varios forms all over the world ,it is important even in the contemporary society.Lot of taboos and orthodoxy is prevalent in our society regarding women.So, in order to progress in a healthy manner we need to value each other and keep humanity at forefront.Thus progress as a whole can only take place if men and women go together,else a big loophole will be created in our society.Feminism should thus be seen as a step towards betterment of society and humanity as a whole. REFERENCES- www.landfield.com/faqs/feminism www.ifeminists.net/introduction Voet Rian(1998)Feminism and Citizenship.SAGE Publications Ltd. Tandon,Neeru.Feminism:A Paradigm Shift.

International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 187 Email:- [email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org (An open access scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journal.)