Feminism advocates for the status and role of women in society relative to men, aiming to address injustices women face due to their sex. It protests against the inferior status assigned to women, attributing it to patriarchy, a social system characterized by male dominance. Originally, patriarchy referred to the authority of the male head of the household, but its meaning has expanded to signify male domination in various spheres, including the labor market and the domestic division of labor. Early feminism emerged during the Enlightenment, a period that aimed to extend the rights of man to include equal rights for women. Influential figures such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Harriet Taylor played a pivotal role in advocating for women’s rights in Britain. Additionally, John Stuart Mill in his essay “The Subjection of Women” (1869), argued for equal rights for women, asserting that women are not inherently less talented than men. In contemporary discussions on women’s status, scholars often distinguish between sex and gender to better understand issues related to women’s equality and empowerment.

Sex and Gender

The distinction between sex and gender is fundamental to feminist discourse. While sex pertains to biological differences, gender refers to cultural constructs and social expectations. Culture, which encompasses values, beliefs, symbols, and behaviors, plays a critical role in shaping social life and community identity. Gender reflects social status differences between men and women and is often used to explain women’s lower societal position. From a feminist perspective, there is a need for cultural transformation to address gender inequality. Cultural attitudes toward gender typically align with masculine and feminine traits—masculinity being associated with aggressiveness, logical outlook, and dominance, while femininity is linked to peacefulness, intuition, and submissiveness.

These gender roles reinforce male dominance, shaped by patriarchy, the division of labor within families, and economic systems. Gender expectations function as social control mechanisms, justifying inequality by naturalizing male authority. Thinkers like Rousseau distinguished between natural inequality (such as age and health) and conventional inequality (such as wealth and power), placing gender inequality in the latter category. Recent movements have protested against gender-based discrimination, advocating for improvements in women’s social, economic, and political status. However, despite notable progress, women still face disparities in areas such as income, property ownership, and opportunities, as highlighted in various United Nations reports.

Crucially, biological differences between men and women do not justify their inferior social status; rather, cultural factors have historically exaggerated these differences. For instance, the rapid improvement of women in athletics suggests that social norms, not biology, limited women’s physical development. Feminist anthropologists also point out that in some ethnic groups, physical differentiation between the sexes is less pronounced. The status of women is thus largely a product of social arrangements, which have historically confined many women to domestic work and child-rearing roles. From a young age, girls are taught to be obedient and shy, while boys are encouraged to be assertive and aggressive, with career choices often shaped along gendered lines.

The feminist movement considers women’s inequality a central political issue, aiming to identify its root causes and propose remedies. In prehistoric societies, the division of labor was based on biological differences, with men hunting and women focusing on childcare. Despite major technological advancements, the gendered division of labor has persisted. Prevailing gender roles granted power to men, while women remained subordinate, often shielded from strenuous labor due to being perceived as the ‘weaker sex’. Although women held significant roles in society, they were systematically deprived of power and opportunities, including property ownership, education, and voting rights.

Early feminist voices like Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill challenged the belief in female inferiority, demanding equal rights. During the nineteenth century, feminist efforts centered on removing educational and professional barriers, ultimately giving rise to the suffrage movements. In more recent times, feminist demands have expanded to include employment rights, equal pay, and equality in social benefits. While technological advancements and the growing demand for skilled labor have enabled many women to pursue respectable careers, the struggle for complete equality continues. Nevertheless, equal rights for women are now widely accepted in enlightened and progressive circles.

First Wave of Feminism

The first wave of feminism referred to feminist activities which largely took place in the United States and United Kingdom from the 1820s to 1940s. The formal initiation of the wave is attributed to the Seneca Falls Declaration, drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1848 in New York. The declaration highlighted new political strategies and ideologies for the feminist movement.

It began with the idea of equal property rights and a dignified position within the household for women. Thus, it focused on women’s economic, sexual and reproductive rights. However, by the beginning of the twentieth century, the feminist activists shifted their attention towards political rights of women, especially to women’s right to vote or women’s suffrage.

Some activists within the movement believed that women are morally superior to men, and therefore their presence in the political sphere would prove beneficial for the political process. Consequently, in Britain, the Representation of the People’s Act was passed in 1918, which granted women the right to vote. But, it was limited in scope as the right was restricted to women above 30 years of age and also to the ones who owned houses.

Thus, the efforts of the feminists continued and the eligible age for women to vote was further reduced to 21 years, without any bar on the ownership of property. However, in the United States, the wave followed a different political trajectory.

Here, feminist leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Lucretia Mott believed that before achieving the right to vote for women, it was more important to champion the abolition of slavery. Gradually, the first wave in the U.S. is believed to have ended with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted the right to vote to women in all the U.S. states.

In the non-Western context, the first phase of the women’s movement is understood almost analogous with its Western time frame. However, here it is interpreted in terms of women’s participation and contribution in the anti-colonial nationalist movements from the late 19th century to the early twentieth century.

Women in these countries looked up to their Western counterparts as an ideal and structured their demands on the economic, educational, and electoral rights demanded by them. For instance, in India, women’s movement is traced back to the formation of Indian Women’s Association in Madras in 1917.

According to Dhanvanthi Rama Rau, the arenas for women’s liberation identified by this body were the same as could be identified with the first wave of feminism in the Western world, like equitable inheritance laws, right to divorce, and widening of women franchise, etc.