The Role Of Feminism In The 1930's

Like any important political movement, goals change based on situational urgency. In the 1920’s through the 1930’s, feminist women were suffragettes who fought for their right to vote. Alongside voting rights, feminists at this time were advocating for a shift in perspective, specifically a shift in the perspective of women’s roles in society. This ideological shift was as follows: “Women could be both a happy wife and mother and a successful contributor to the household economy”(Nicholson, 53). This ideological shift was necessary because America needed a female workforce while the males fought World War II. This period is known as first wave feminism, or as I will refer to it “first storm feminism”. Later on, feminist’s strived for more

intricate goals; goals like non-discriminatory employment and rights for birth control. These goals were set by the next period in feminism; this period coined the historic slogan of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s “the personal is political”. At this time in feminism, the focus was on “eliminating racism, sexism, and class inequality”(Nicholson 53). This period was called the second wave, or the “second storm”, and was described as a Marxist/socialist inspired movement. The third wave, or “third storm”, of feminism took place in the 90’s and continues to shape feminism today. This was the period where the “wave metaphor” came into question; this was due to the fact that feminist activity seemed to be “dying down”(Nicholson, 51). As a whole, this historical period was not completely dormant, however, strides toward equality were comparatively less productive than in the past. This lack of productivity can be explained by the limiting view of a “wave” metaphor, which restricts the view of feminist activity to that of the action taken in North America.