FEMINISM THEORY AND ITS FLOW
The most important contribution of poststructuralism to culture is a paradigm shift from the center to the periphery. Cultural studies are then directed at the competence of certain communities, forgotten communities, marginalized communities, marginalized communities. Feminist literary theory, which is a theory related to the women's movement, is one of the schools that has contributed a lot to the development of cultural studies. Feminist literature is rooted in an understanding of the inferiority of women. A key feminist concept is equality between the dignity of women and men. Feminist theory emerged along with the rising awareness that as human beings, women should also have the same rights as men.
One of the humanitarian agendas that urgently needs to be worked on is to make men and women equal in the social system. Feminism fights for two things that women in general do not have, namely their equality with men and autonomy to determine what is good for themselves in many ways. The position of women in society is lower than men, they are even considered as "the second sex", second class citizens. This shows that there is a kind of gender discrimination that compares men and women. The term used to accommodate this problem is Feminism.
Feminism comes from the Latin "femina" or women and this movement began to roll in the 1890s along with the anxiety felt by women and men who realized that there was an unequal relationship between men and women in society. This movement refers to the theory of equality of men and women and the movement is intended to obtain women's rights.
Feminism (the character is called Feminist) is a women's movement that demands emancipation or equal rights and justice with men. Feminism as a philosophy and movement is related to the Age of Enlightenment in Europe which was pioneered by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Marquis de Condorcet. After the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1792, the idea that women were less fortunate than men in social reality. At that time, women, whether from the upper, middle or lower classes, did not have rights such as the right to education, politics, property rights, and jobs. Therefore, the position of women is not the same as that of men before the law. In 1785 the first scientific society for women was founded in Middelburg, a city in the south of the Netherlands. Some people still assume that feminism is a movement of women's rebellion against men. Feminism is considered as an effort of women's rebellion to deny what is called the nature or nature of women, against existing social institutions, or household institutions, such as marriage and so on.
Feminism is a group of women who demand their rights as whole human beings. Feminism is about fighting against the division of labor in a world where men are in power in politics such as work, sports, war and government. Meanwhile, women only work as unpaid workers at home and carry all the burdens of family life.
According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (1997: 3324) feminism is defined as a women's movement that demands full equality of rights between women and men which is an amalgamation of equal rights. Feminism emerged against the background of the imbalance of relations between men and women in the social order so that in the end there was awareness and efforts to eliminate the imbalance of these relations.
The purpose of the existence of feminism is the balance of gender interrelation. In a broad sense, feminism is a women's movement to reject everything that is marginalized, subordinated, and demeaned by the dominant culture, both in the political and economic fields as well as social life in general. The feminism movement is a movement for women's liberation from racism, stereotyping, sexism, oppression of women, and phalogocentrism.
The word feminism was first coined by utopian socialist activist Charles Fourier in 1837. This European-based movement moved to America and developed rapidly since the publication of John Stuart Mill, "Women as Subjects" (The Subjection of Women) in (1869) . Their struggle marked the birth of First Wave feminism.
Feminism as a theory and social movement has a long history. Josephine Dovonan divides feminism theory based on the stages of its development era, namely the first wave of feminism theory which began in the late 18th to early 20th centuries, then the second wave of feminism theory which lasted approximately two decades, starting in the 1960s to 1980s, and finally the third wave of feminism that began in the 1990s until now. Each wave contains feminist theory which has become mainstream as in the first wave which was heavily influenced by liberal feminism theory.
After several centuries passed, enlightenment values such as freedom of rights, influenced the flow of fundamental liberalism in North America and Western Europe. Initially the movement was aimed at ending the period of shackles to women's freedom. In general, women (feminine) feel disadvantaged in all fields and are seconded by men in the social, work, educational, and political fields in particular (especially in a patriarchal society). In a traditional agrarian-oriented society, men tend to be placed in front, outside the house, while women are inside the house. This situation began to change when the era of Liberalism arrived in Europe and the French Revolution in the XVIII century which spread to the United States and throughout the world.
The movement in Europe to "elevate the status of women" was followed by the United States during the social and political revolution. In 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft made a paper entitled "Defending the Rights of Women" (Vindication of the Right of Woman) which contained the basic principles of feminism used in the future.
In the years 1830-1840 in line with the eradication of the practice of slavery, women's rights began to be considered with improvements in women's working hours and salaries, being given the opportunity to participate in education, and the right to vote. Towards the 19th century, feminism was born into a movement that received enough attention from white women in Europe. Women in European colonial countries fought for what they called universal sisterhood.
The wave of feminism in the United States began to resonate louder in the era of change with the publication of the book The Feminine Mystique written by Betty Friedan in 1963. This book turned out to have a broad impact, especially after Betty Friedan formed a women's organization called the National Organization for Women (NOW). in 1966 the echo then spread to all areas of life. In the field of legislation, Betty Friedan's writings succeeded in encouraging the issuance of the Equal Pay Right (1963) so that women could enjoy better working conditions and get the same salary as men for the same work, and the Equal Rights Act (1964) where women have full suffrage in all fields.
The first wave of feminism tried to fight for the right to vote. Feminist leaders from the United States held their first meeting in New York in 1948. The aim of the feminist movement is to fight for freedom of public speech, property rights, and political rights for women. Their struggle to reach a climax in 1920, when the 19th amendment to the US constitution was ratified which legalized women's suffrage. First wave feminist figures include Susan B. Antony, Elisabeth Cadystanton, Lucretiamott, Sojouner Truth, and Lucy Stone.
This second wave of feminism was marked by the establishment of women's liberation groups that adhered to leftist politics, such as the student movement for a democratic society. This second wave of feminism lasted until the 1980s when various attacks were shown on it until the movement stagnated. Several variants of theory were born in this era, including Marxist feminism, radical feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, socialist feminism, existentialist feminism and postmodernist feminism. Second wave feminist figures include Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steimen.
Third wave feminism theory emerged in the 1990s, consisting of exponents who are relatives or descendants. The exponents of feminism theory in the second wave of issues that are raised are issues that are currently of concern from various circles, such as the issue of child care (childcare) as a result of busy people who pursue careers to achieve decisive positions in business companies and governance bureaucracy, sustainable development and gender sensitivity at the global level. This third wave of feminism has a bigger echo because it is global, which is marked by the formation of coalitions and networks that support the development of feminism. Several figures of second wave feminism became part of this movement. In the United States, this third wave is multicular and inclusive and has the support of women as well as lesbians and gays.
Several third wave feminists raise issues in the form of challenges faced by previous feminism. By emphasizing itself from the oppression caused by the patriarchal system, this feminism thrives in countries where there is a growth in the figure of the second wave of feminism who seeks to fight for equality in work and education. Access to women's birth control in politics. There are many differences in this third wave of feminism, especially in the representation of women's self-image. The third wave of feminism tries to show the significance of war and the image of women in the public sphere, and they try to get women to have a more intense involvement in the political, economic and social fields. The flow of feminism that characterizes this third wave of feminism includes black feminism and ecofeminism.
Chronologically, feminism as a theory and a social movement has its ups and downs. Harllan (1998) notes that feminism as a movement experienced its first victory in 1920 when the US constitution recognized women's suffrage. The feminist movement suffered a setback when there was an economic depression that hit almost all countries in the 1930s. The feminist movement then experienced a revitalization in the decades after World War II and the wider era of globalization was due to the support of technological developments and positive responses from various international periodical organizations.
Feminism streams
1. Liberal Feminism
This movement emerged in the early 18th century along with the birth of the Enlightenment era, its demands were freedom and equality of access to education, discriminatory law reform. The basis of their thinking is the rationalist view and the separation of private and public spaces, so that liberal feminists fight for equal opportunities for every individual, including women.
Liberal feminism bases its understanding on the principles of liberalism which believes that the main goal of social life is individual freedom. Individual freedom is seen as an ideal ideology because with freedom a person can choose to satisfy his or her expression of the things he wants.
2. Radical Feminism
Radical feminism developed rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s. Radical feminism assumes that gender inequality is the source of biological differences between men and women. Radical feminism no longer fights for women's issues that must be equal to men. Equality for radical feminists will not provide too free space for women to seize public space controlled by men because men will use equality to regain control of women.
The basic structure of radical feminism is that there is no difference between personal goals and politics. This means that the elements of biology and sex as a series of natural human activities are actually forms of sexual politics. Gender inequality that is not experienced by women is caused by problems rooted in men themselves and their patriarchal ideology. It is the biological condition of men that makes them higher in position than women. The movement to adopt masculine traits is considered by women to be equal to men.
Radical feminism can be defined as a women's movement that aims at social reality. Therefore, radical feminism questions how to destroy patriarchy as a value system that is deeply rooted and institutionalized in society. The strategy of radical feminism in order to realize these ideals is the liberation of women which can be achieved through women's organizations that have autonomy, as well as through cultural feminism.
Radical feminism clearly views the relationship or power relations between men and women. “Personal is Political” is the key word for radical feminism. If liberal feminism sees the source of the problem as discrimination against women's freedom, individual rights, and opportunities, radical feminism sees the source of the problem as patriarchal ideology. Radical feminism believes in the importance of autonomy and the women's movement. She saw that women's personality issues should not be separated from public issues. Anything that concerns women is political, for example judging marriage or not wanting to use contraception. Politics for them is not just being a member of the legislature or a party. Radical feminism also refuses to be separated by the public from women's socio-economic authority, and the offer of a fire stone solution is that women must seize control over reproductive technology tools.
3. Marxist feminism
This school views women's problems within the framework of a critique of capitalism. The assumption is that the source of women's oppression comes from class exploitation and the mode of production.
Marxist theory recognizes that gender relations are a product of social life and shows inequality. The source of women's oppression comes from the exploitation of classes and production methods which of course benefit men. The exponent of the Marxist theory is a theory that describes the development of society based on the characteristics of the form of marriage. Men change the material system to ensure the future of their children's lives and institute all forms of control over women to guarantee men's property rights. In this stage, household members work in the private sector and women are excluded from the social production process.
This movement is based on Marxist theory, where its adherents fight against the exploitative socio-economic system against women and the oppression of women is part of class oppression in the production system. As the proletarian revolution succeeds in overthrowing the class system, it is predicted that the oppression of women will also disappear.
4. Socialist feminism
As a critique of Marxian feminism, socialist feminism emerged, socialist feminism argued that the patriarchal system existed before capitalism. Besides that, socialist feminism believed that the system would not disappear even if capitalism collapsed. In understanding the various forms of oppression of women, socialist feminism uses class and gender analysis.
This movement is a synthesis of the Radical and Marxist feminist movements, this movement assumes that women are exploited by two things, namely the patriarchal and capitalist systems.
5. Ecofeminism
The flow of ecofeminism was introduced by Francois D'Eubonne in 1974. Ecofeminism refers to the part of feminist theory and activism that deals with attention to the environment. Ecofeminism emphasizes the relationship and interdependence between gender and various issues related to the environment.
Ecofeminism is a relatively new variant of ecological ethics. Ecofeminism theory is a theory that sees individuals more comprehensively, namely as beings who are bound and interact with their environment. This mindset is in line with ecophilosophy or deep ecology which teaches the unity of all things. Feminists who are influenced by this mindset argue that women are intrinsically gifted with the capacity to feel attracted to nature.
6. Existential feminism
The assumption used by existentialist feminists is that human nature is identical with human existence. Humans are seen as biological beings who have the ability to think (reason). Feminism emphasizes biological determination. Biological factors are given, cannot be changed, thus the subordination of women cannot be removed from the face of the earth.
7. Postmodern feminism
Posmo's idea (according to their opinion) is an anti-absolute and anti-authority idea, the failure of modernity and a different distinction between each social phenomenon because of its opposition to the universalization of scientific and historical knowledge. They argue that gender does not mean identity or social structure.
Postmodern feminists invite every woman who reflects in her writings to become feminists in the way she wants.
Postmodern feminism assumes that reality is text in various forms, both in writing and in images. Postmodern feminism argues that the concept of "woman" has a meaning that is not fixed or unstable.
8. Multicultural feminism
The flow of multicultural feminism is against various understandings, such as sexism, racism, and so on. Given the geographical diversity of race, class, religion, and sexual orientation, multicultural feminism welcomes the emphasis on the issue of difference. But according to multicultural feminism, oppression can only be done with equal treatment.
9. Black feminism
The theory of women's struggle determined by blacks. The flow of black feminism emphasizes gender, race, and class as a source of domination, especially for black women. Since most feminist theories were developed by white feminists, their analysis becomes less relevant to the life experiences of black women. Collins's analysis aims primarily at describing the lives of black women from a black woman's perspective that is different from her experience or world as a white woman. Collin describes his life and views in terms of self-identity, sexual politics.
Conclusion
Feminism is a movement to fight for changes in the position of women in the social system of society. How women should have the same opportunities as men in developing themselves both in the economic, social, political, and educational fields. The beginning of the emergence of feminism theory was first sparked by the utopian socialist activist, Charles Fourier in 1837. This European-based movement moved to America and grew rapidly since the publication of John Stuart Mill, "Women as Subjects" (The Subjection of Women) in (1869). Their struggle marked the birth of First Wave feminism. There are nine streams of feminism, namely; Liberal feminism, radical feminism, marxist feminism, socialist feminism, ecofeminism, existentialism, post modern, multicultural, and black feminism.
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