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What is Feminism? The Athenaeum, 27 April 1895, defined a feminist as a woman who "has in her the capacity of fighting her way back to independence". "Men and Women who are politically engaged in feminist issues should avoid labelling themselves as feminists; rather they should substitute 'I am a feminist' with 'I advocate feminism' to emphasize the ideological basis of their beliefs." (bell hooks) "I AM NOT A BARBIE DOLL" (worded sign hoisted by a young girl in the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality march) "Feminism asks the world to recognize at long last that women aren't decorative ornaments, worthy vessels, members of a 'special-interest' group." (Susan Faludi) "Womanist is to feminist as purple to lavender." (Alice Walker) "I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black: it means that I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect." (June Jordan) "Let woman then go on - not asking favors, but claiming as a right the removal of all hindrances to her elevation in the scale of being - let her I receive encouragement for the proper cultivation of all her powers, so that 110 she may enter profitably into the active business of life." (Lucretia Mott)
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Milestones 1645 Britain hangs witches 1646 Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies execute witches 1650 English and US Puritan laws on adultery 1700 In Berlin, unmarried women are forced to pay a special tax 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 1832 Britain passes Reform Bill extending voting rights to the middle class 1837 Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary to educate women in New England 1839 Mississippi passes first US married women's property law in America Infant Custody Act passed in Britain 1847 In Britain, labour law restricts women and children to working a maximum of ten hours a day 1848 Seneca Falls Convention Queen's College for women opens in London 1857 Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act establishes civil divorce court in London 1858 1869 1870 1871 1876 1879 1892 1895 1903 1906 1907 1908 1909 1915 1916 1918 Elizabeth Blackwell becomes first accredited female physician in Britain and the US National Woman Suffrage Association Created Girton College for Women opens in Cambridge Married Women's Property Act passed in Britain British Education Act of 1870 allows women to attend university but not obtain degrees Victoria Woodhull runs for President of the US British medical schools opened to women Women's College opens at Oxford Radcliffe Women vote in New Zealand The word "feminist" is first used in a book review in The Athenaeum Women's Social and Political Union is formed London Daily Mail coins the term "suffragette" The National Federation of Women Workers is founded in the UK Women can be elected onto borough and county councils under the Qualification of Women Act (UK) A gathering in support of women's suffrage in Hyde Park, London attracts 250,000 people First woman suffrage parade held in New York White Slave Traffic Act passed to outlaw the transatlantic transport of women for "immoral purposes" The first Women's Institute in Britain is founded in North Wales First birth control clinic opens in the US Women over 30 are granted the right to vote in Britain I 111

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What is Feminism? The Athenaeum, 27 April 1895, defined a feminist as a woman who "has in her the capacity of fighting her way back to independence".

"Men and Women who are politically engaged in feminist issues should avoid labelling themselves as feminists; rather they should substitute 'I am a feminist' with 'I advocate feminism' to emphasize the ideological basis of their beliefs." (bell hooks)

"I AM NOT A BARBIE DOLL" (worded sign hoisted by a young girl in the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality march)

"Feminism asks the world to recognize at long last that women aren't decorative ornaments, worthy vessels, members of a 'special-interest' group." (Susan Faludi)

"Womanist is to feminist as purple to lavender." (Alice Walker)

"I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black: it means that I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect." (June Jordan)

"Let woman then go on - not asking favors, but claiming as a right the removal of all hindrances to her elevation in the scale of being - let her I receive encouragement for the proper cultivation of all her powers, so that 110 she may enter profitably into the active business of life." (Lucretia Mott)

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