EXCELLENT WORK

1. Submitted by Zarafshah Ali
Submitted to Maam Ayesha
Subject : Language and Gender
Topic : Feminism and its influence
Roll no : 17
Date : 24 july 2020
Day : Friday
Semester : 8th
Department : English
Government Post Graduate College for Women Mardan

3. Feminism
 It is a political and power movement as well as literary approach.
 Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies establishing, defending political,
socio-economic rights for women.
 In other words, feminism describes a culture in which women are treated differently then
men and in that difference of treatment, women are at a disadvantage.
 Feminism assumes that such treatment is cultural and thus possible to change.
 In simplest terms, feminism is the theory that women and men should be equal politically,
economically and socially.

4. Evolution of feminism:
Women began fighting for equal rights centuries ago. In the early 1600s, French women
began holding salons where educated women interact equally with men. Women’s rights
movement were also influenced by the Revolutionary war and the French Revolution in the
late 1700s.
Then in 1800s, women began fighting harder to attain equal rights.
According to John Kelly, author of “Women History and Theory” , the word “feminism” only
came to the united states from France in 1910.
Suffragettes fought for the right to vote, but feminism also includes issues like legal rights and
financial independence.

5. Mother of feminism:
 Gloria Steinem:
 There is no one who has championed women’s rights more than Gloria Steinem. That’s
why called Mother of feminism.
 She is a social activist, writer, editor and lecturer.

7. Waves of feminism:
 First wave of feminism:
 Period of activity.
 Rape and physical abuse are legal within marriage.
 Divorce available to men but far more difficult to women.
 Women had no right to their children if they left a marriage.
 Abortion was illegal.
 Women could not vote.
 Women widely are considered to be:
 Emotional
 Physically weak
 Suited to the role of wife and mother

8. Second wave of feminism:
 In 1960, during the 2nd wave of feminism a remarkable event in human history had
happened-the end of “Patriarchy”.
 Suddenly women became active in politics, demanded and won the rights to university
education, to a career, to easy divorce.
 Suddenly women began vote.
 Women could attend school and university.
 It was easier to gain a divorce but socially frown upon.
 Abortion was still illegal.
 Women may have legal rights but they are still treated as inferior.
 Women did not receive equal pay for the same work.

9. Third wave of feminism:
 Deals with issues which appear to limit or oppress women.
 Gender violence has become a central issue for third wave feminists.
 Women seem to be more equal to men.
 Women are no longer obligated to marry or have children, and marriage is more equal.
 The legal system is better at protecting women’s right.

10. Feminist theory:
 Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical and philosophical fields.
 Feminist theory aims to understand gender inequality and focuses on gender politics,
power relations.
 Feminists:
 Josephine Denovan
 Elaine Showalter
 Luce Iragary

12.  Josephine Denovan:
Josephine Denovan symbolizes female stereotypes;
Good and Evil
 Those who serve the interest of the hero or male comes in the category of good woman
stereotype.
 In the bad evil category are the deviants or those who rejects to serve man or his interest.

13.  Elaine Show alter:
Elaine show alter divided the feminist criticism into two varieties,
1. Feminist critique
2. Gyno critics
 Feminist critique, which focuses on woman as a reader- woman as the consumer of a male
produced literature.
 Gyno critics is concerned with woman as writer- woman as the producer of textual
meaning.

14. Luce Iragary:
Luce Iragary focuses on women’s language.
 Women should not talk “like” a women but “as” a women.
 The word “like” means the writer fully understand and put herself into the frame of
writing.

16.  Impact of feminism:
The feminist movement has affected change in Western society,
Including
Women’s suffrage
 Greater access to education
 More equitable pay with men
 The right to initiate divorce proceedings
 The right of women to make individual decisions regarding pregnancy.

17.  Influence of three major waves of feminist movements in
Pakistan:
The history of feminists struggle to end discrimination, oppression and marginalization
against women is divided into three waves. They are known as first, second and third wave of
feminism. These waves, although they had started in Europe, had global impact on the status
of women of Pakistan.
The first wave of feminism officially started with the Seneca Falls Convention, 1848. it
continued till 1920 after women of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United states
gained voting rights. In between the first and the second wave of feminism, which started in
1960s, Pakistan got independence.
Pakistani women were granted the suffrage in 1947, with the provision of reserved seats in
parliament existing throughout the constitutional history of Pakistan from 1956 onwards.
Being a woman of a newly born country, a Pakistani woman had to do way more to establish
her worth and gain some status quo in society.

18. Like western women, Pakistani women, during the second wave, were also victim of sexism,
harassment at workplace, degradation and objectification. For example, Fatima Jinnah also
had to bear character assassination at the hands of a dictator, along with other setbacks,
including poor finances and an unfair and unequal election campaign.
Inspired by the second wave of feminism in1960s, Pakistani women started to embark on a
journey of improving their social and economic conditions. They argued that having voting
rights did not guarantee the end of their oppression in the hands of men. The initial influence
of feminist movement during the second wave in Pakistan included issuance of the Muslim
Family law ordinance, 1961. the new law aimed to regulate family affairs by protecting
women rights. In the subsequent year, another law, the West Pakistan Muslim Personal Law
Sharia Act, 1962 was introduced in the country. It allowed Pakistani women to inherent all
forms of property.

19. In the last
I want every girl to know that her
voice can change the world

20. Thanks for listening