Portal:Feminism

The Feminism Portal

Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal—they prioritize the male point of view—and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes, breaking down traditional gender roles, and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women. A person who advocates for feminism is known as a feminist.

Originating in late 18th-century Europe, feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right to vote, run for public office, work, earn equal pay, own property, receive education, enter into contracts, have equal rights within marriage, and maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to ensure access to contraception, legal abortions, and social integration; and to protect women and girls from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. Changes in female dress standards and acceptable physical activities for women have also been part of feminist movements.

Many scholars consider feminist campaigns to be a main force behind major historical societal changes for women's rights, particularly in the West, where they are near-universally credited with achieving women's suffrage, gender-neutral language, reproductive rights for women (including access to contraceptives and abortion), and the right to enter into contracts and own property. Although feminist advocacy is, and has been, mainly focused on women's rights, some argue for the inclusion of men's liberation within its aims, because they believe that men are also harmed by traditional gender roles. Feminist theory, which emerged from feminist movements, aims to understand the nature of gender inequality by examining women's social roles and lived experiences. Feminist theorists have developed theories in a variety of disciplines in order to respond to issues concerning gender.

Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over the years, representing different viewpoints and political aims. Traditionally, since the 19th century, first-wave liberal feminism, which sought political and legal equality through reforms within a liberal democratic framework, was contrasted with labour-based proletarian women's movements that over time developed into socialist and Marxist feminism based on class struggle theory. Since the 1960s, both of these traditions are also contrasted with the radical feminism that arose from the radical wing of second-wave feminism and that calls for a radical reordering of society to eliminate patriarchy. Liberal, socialist, and radical feminism are sometimes referred to as the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought. Modern feminist activism, scholarship, and policy tend to define contemporary feminism as a movement grounded in human rights, solidarity, and intersectionality; for example UN Women emphasized in 2024 that "the feminist goals of intersectional justice and gender equality can only be achieved if all women and all LGBTIQ+ people are included as part of a broad, intersectional feminist movement rooted in the universality and indivisibility of human rights," while a group of 28 Nordic feminist studies departments, academic journals and feminist organizations in 2025 defined feminism as "a universal human rights movement built on solidarity, intersectionality, and compassion."

Since the late 20th century, many newer forms of feminism have emerged. Some forms, such as white feminism and gender-critical feminism, have been criticized as taking into account only white, female, middle class, college-educated, heterosexual, or cisgender perspectives. These criticisms have led to the creation of ethnically specific or multicultural forms of feminism, such as black feminism and intersectional feminism. These criticisms have also given lead to the creation of movements such as the Men's Rights Movement. (Full article...)

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Same-sex marriage in Spain was legalized in 2005. In 2004, the new Socialist government, led by President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, began a campaign for its legalization, which would include adoption by same-sex couples. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the Cortes Generales (Spain's bicameral parliament composed of the Senate and the Congress of Deputies). Same-sex marriage officially became legal in Spain on Sunday, 3 July 2005. The ratification of this law has not been devoid of conflict, despite support from 66% of Spaniards. Catholic authorities in particular were adamantly opposed to it, fearing the weakening of the meaning of marriage. After its approval, the conservative People's Party challenged the law in Constitutional Court. Approximately 4,500 same-sex couples have married in Spain during the first year of the law.

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Credit: Unknown; restoration: Diliff

The Kayan or Padaung are a group of the Karen people found in Myanmar and Thailand. They are known for a particular body modification, which consists of coiling lengths of brass around the neck of the women. The coils are first applied when the girls are about five years old, and the coil is replaced with longer coils as the weight of the brass pushes down the collar bone and compresses the rib cage, resulting in the appearance of a very long neck. The practice has seen a surge in recent years because the custom draws tourists who buy their handicrafts.

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In this month

2 August 1894 – Birth of Bertha Lutz, a Brazilian scientist and feminist, who helped Brazilian women obtain the vote in 1934
9 August 1956 – National Women's Day (South Africa) commemorates the national march of women on this day to petition against legislation that required African persons to carry the "pass", special identification documents which curtailed their freedom of movement during the apartheid era.
18 August 1920 – Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, specifically intended to extend suffrage to women
25 August 1954 – The National Constituent Assembly of Colombia unanimously recognized the political rights of women and women voted for the first time on 1 December 1957
31 August 1919 – Birth of Amrita Pritam (pictured), the first prominent female Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, she received the Jnanpith Award, one of India's highest literary honors

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What we need is a tough new kind of feminism with no illusions. Women do not change institutions simply by assimilating into them. We need a feminism that teaches a woman to say no - not just to the date rapist or overly insistent boyfriend but, when necessary, to the military or corporate hierarchy within which she finds herself. We need a kind of feminism that aims not just to assimilate into the institutions that men have created over the centuries, but to infiltrate and subvert them.

— Barbara Ehrenreich

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Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth daughter and sixth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Louise spent her early life under the roof of her parents, and when her father died in 1861, she took on the role as a companion to her mother. In 1871, Louise married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, and became the first daughter of a sovereign to marry a British subject since 1515. Although the marriage was initially happy, the couple drifted apart as a result of their childlessness and the Queen's constraints on their activities. In 1878, Louise's husband was appointed Governor General of Canada, and Louise spent five years as his consort. When Louise returned to Britain, she remained close to the Queen and undertook a number of public duties on her behalf. Following the Queen's death in 1901, she remained close to younger generations of the British royal family, and died in 1939 at the age of 91. Louise was a talented sculptor and an artist, and several of her sculptures remain today.

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... that Margareth Rago seeks to establish a methodology for what she calls "feminist science"?
... that the subculture of Aristasia combined Guénonian Traditionalism with lesbian separatism?
... that the retelling of stories can focus on female characters to reflect the feminist perspective?
... that after dying in her daughter's arms in an asylum in 1897, Maria Trubnikova was remembered as the "heart and soul" of feminist activism in Russia?
... that Mary Kahil, an Egyptian Christian mystic, cofounded one of the earliest women's movements in the Arab world?

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... that in 1814 Mary Shelley (pictured) eloped with Percy Bysshe Shelley, later publishing her first work, History of a Six Weeks' Tour, about their walking tour of Europe?
... that philanthropist Harriet Nevins left an animal shelter, a fountain, and a John LaFarge stained glass window to the people of Massachusetts?
... that the niece of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Sirarpie Der-Nersessian, became the first woman to be awarded the Order of St. Gregory the Illuminator by the Catholicos of Armenia?

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The following are images from various feminism-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Bessie Rayner Parkes (from History of feminism)
Image 2Dr. Pauli Murray (from History of feminism)
Image 3Camilla Collett (from History of feminism)
Image 4Ida B. Wells (from History of feminism)
Image 5Margaret Sanger (from History of feminism)
Image 6Catharine MacKinnon (from History of feminism)
Image 7Marie Stopes (from History of feminism)
Image 8Board of directors of "Jam'iat e nesvan e vatan-khah", a women's rights association in Tehran (1923–1933) (from History of feminism)
Image 9Giorgia Meloni, (third from right) the first female prime minister of Italy at a 2024 Women's Day event in Rome (from International Women's Day)
Image 108M 2020 in Spain (from International Women's Day)
Image 11Clara Zetkin (left) and Rosa Luxemburg (right) in January 1910 (from International Women's Day)
Image 12Frances Cobbe (from History of feminism)
Image 13The vandalized Concepción Feminist Mural in Spain, which was vandalized on International Women's Day 2021. (from International Women's Day)
Image 14Yellow mimosa is the symbol of International Women's Day in Italy as well as in Russia, Ukraine and many other ex-Soviet Union republics (from International Women's Day)
Image 158M 2018 in Pamplona (from International Women's Day)
Image 16Cover of WSPU's The Suffragette, April 25, 1913 (after Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, 1830) (from History of feminism)
Image 17Germaine Greer in June 1972 (from History of feminism)
Image 18Gloria Steinem at news conference, Women's Action Alliance, January 12, 1972 (from History of feminism)
Image 19bell hooks (from History of feminism)
Image 20The Nineteenth Amendment (from History of feminism)
Image 21Female members of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation march on International Women's Day 1975 in Sydney (from International Women's Day)
Image 22Women on the street celebrating International Women's Day in Cameroon (from International Women's Day)
Image 23Christine de Pizan presents her book to Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. (from History of feminism)
Image 24Emily Davison (from History of feminism)
Image 25Florence Nightingale (from History of feminism)
Image 26The White Feather: A Sketch of English Recruiting" (Arnold Bennett, 1914) (from History of feminism)
Image 27Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) and Susan B. Anthony (from History of feminism)
Image 28Huda Shaarawi, founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union (from History of feminism)
Image 29Author and scholar Helen Kendrick Johnson opposed women's suffrage. (from History of feminism)
Image 30Women's Liberation march in Washington, D.C., 1970 (from History of feminism)
Image 31Lucy Stone (from History of feminism)
Image 32
  Official holiday
  Holiday for women
  Non-official holiday
(from International Women's Day)
Image 33Matilda Joslyn Gage (from History of feminism)
Image 34Simone de Beauvoir (from History of feminism)
Image 35Sylvia Pankhurst (from History of feminism)
Image 36Irena Krzywicka (from History of feminism)
Image 37John Neal (from History of feminism)
Image 38Betty Friedan 1960 (from History of feminism)
Image 39A veil-burning ceremony in Andijan on International Women's Day in 1927 (from International Women's Day)
Image 40First edition print of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (from History of feminism)
Image 41An Antimonumenta, installed in Mexico City on International Women's Day 2019, as photographed the day after. The circle part says "In Mexico 9 women are murdered daily" and the cross part says "Not one more!" On the opposite side, the Antimonumenta reads "We demand a national gender alert", and in the central part "No + Femicides" (from International Women's Day)
Image 42Suffrage parade in New York, May 6, 1912 (from History of feminism)
Image 43Nellie McClung (from History of feminism)
Image 44Wealthy Chinese women with bound feet (Beijing, 1900). Foot binding was a symbol of women's oppression during the reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries. (from History of feminism)
Image 45María Elena Oddone holding a banner, on International Women's Day in 1984 in Argentina. The banner says "No to motherhood, yes to pleasure" (from International Women's Day)

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Feminism}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

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Alice Manfield - Guide Alice, Mt Buffalo, c1900-30, SLV
Alice Park - Records of the National Woman's Party
Alice Paul (1915) by Harris & Ewing
Angela Davis in a half-length portrait by Bernard Gotfryd - crop
Anne Dallas Dudley LOC
Avril de Sainte-Croix - Restored, cropped
Bertha Lutz 1925
Cabinet Card of Sojourner Truth - Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Convicts Lunatics and Women! Have No Vote for Parliament, ca. 1907-1918
Dr. Caroline Spencer 275029v
Ethel Smyth
Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
Fredrikke Mørck
George Charles Beresford - Virginia Woolf in 1902 - Restoration
Henrietta Rodman from the George Grantham Bain Collection
Henry Mayer, The Awakening, 1915 Cornell CUL PJM 1176 01 - Restoration
Hester Jeffrey
Hubertine Auclert 1910
Iris Calderhead
Joy Young Rogers outside the White House
Lucretia Mott, signed photo, by F. Gutekunst
Mabel Vernon, c. 1917, by Edmonston, Washington, D.C.
Marguerite Durand 1910 - Restoration
Marie Stopes in her laboratory, 1904 - Restoration
Mary Garrity - Ida B. Wells-Barnett - Google Art Project - restoration crop
Millicent Fawcett
Mrs. Crystal Eastman Benedict by Edmonston, Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Lillian Ascough, chairman of the Connecticut branch of the Woman's Party
Mrs. Pauline Adams 147002v
Official Program Woman Suffrage Procession - March 3, 1913
Portrett av Gina Krog (6276081582) - Restoration
Poster by Anna Soós Korànyi for the Seventh Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance
Ray Strachey restored
Sojourner Truth, 1870 (cropped, restored)
Victoria Claflin Woodhull by Mathew Brady - Oval Portrait
Voltairine de Cleyre (Age 35)
We Can Do It! NARA 535413 - Restoration 2