Feminism

Feminism is a family of movements and ideas seeking to end gender-based subordination and advance women’s rights and equality. Its theories and strategies vary across historical periods and social contexts.

Patriarchy: A social system in which men hold disproportionate power and authority. Feminist analysis often examines how male-dominated institutions sustain gender hierarchy.
Mary Wollstonecraft: An English writer whose 1792 work argued for women’s education and rational equality. Her arguments became an influential early statement of women’s rights.
Liberal feminism: A feminist tradition that pursues equality through legal reform, equal opportunity, and individual rights. It seeks to remove barriers within existing political and economic institutions.
Equal Pay Act of 1963: A United States federal law prohibiting sex-based wage differences for substantially equal work. It translates the demand for economic equality into a specific legal protection.
Feminist jurisprudence: The study of how law reflects, reinforces, or can challenge gendered power relations. It examines feminism’s challenge to supposedly neutral legal rules and institutions.
Sexism: Prejudice, discrimination, or institutional practices that disadvantage people because of sex or gender. Feminist movements challenge the beliefs and practices that justify gender-based inequality.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1792 book advocating women’s education and equal moral standing. The book gave an enduring intellectual foundation to early feminist arguments.
Radical feminism: A feminist tradition that treats male dominance as a fundamental structure of social life. It contrasts with reform-focused approaches by targeting patriarchy at its roots.
Title IX: A United States federal civil-rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. It became a major tool for challenging gender discrimination in education.
Women’s studies: An academic field studying women’s lives, gender relations, and feminist thought across disciplines. Its emergence brought neglected histories and experiences into universities.

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