The story of feminism: a wounded soldier with an unwavering voice
Photography by Iulia Topan
Artwork by Flynn Klein
Abigail Lee pays tribute to the feminist movement, charting the different waves that have lobbied for gender equality over the last two centuries.
For many centuries, society has surfed along the waves of feminist movements and observed their widening reach. We saw their constant revival with the start of each new century. To me, the most prominent revival of feminism’s core ideas in 2020 is Jo March, the protagonist of Greta Gerwig’s 2019 film, Little Women. Jo is a writer of crazy, imaginative stories in the 1800s. But not only did her character struggle as a writer dreaming of publishing their work, she struggled as a woman. Jo stands out among the March sisters due to her persistence against marriage and an emphasis on the need for self-preservation. This refreshing defiance was hard to come by in that era.
However, Jo, a symbol of relentless strength and undying passion in the film, is not a character Gerwig created. The film is an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel, Little Women. Alcott’s bold narrative of the independent woman was one of the first few known published works that have helped shape notions of “feminism” as we know it today. Yet, the significance of this conception has been a product of countless years of construction, from its origins rooted in 1700s France to the breakthrough achieved in women’s suffrage, all pitted against the tides of rejection and destruction. All these efforts have enabled us to identify feminism as an identity with a body of Her own today, one that protects society’s women while empowering them with the knowledge to confront daily life with confidence and self-awareness. Amid all of the criticism and controversy surrounding feminism, I wish to pay tribute to the harrowing journey this movement and its participants have gone through, rather than defending the causes She stands for.
Photography by Iulia Topan
Artwork by Flynn Klein
Undoubtedly, She is a force to be reckoned with, through the three waves of the movement. Feminism’s ideological circle expanded to political spheres beginning with the pioneering wave in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Legislation to recognise women’s right to property and marriage were passed at a progressive rate in many states, culminating in women’s suffrage achieved in the US and Britain between 1919 to 1920. Then came the second wave, with the emergence of the iconic slogan, “The Personal is Political”, which challenged the role of a woman’s identity in relation to her husband and children. We saw Betty Friedman as a fierce proponent of this trend, encouraging women to build their own identities outside of the kitchen. However, this line of thinking received significant backlash, which paved the way for the birth of the third wave in the 1990s.
Ideology in this latest wave criticises Friedman’s theory as one that merely privileges upper-middle-class women, thus advocating for a shift in focus to more inclusive, “intersectional” ideas of femininity. Here, Her voice should resound with all elements of a woman’s identity, including race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, and class. From this trajectory, one can observe patches of rough transitions as times changed, one that has induced countless fears and uncertainty in Her, highlighting the need for constant construction and reconstruction of Her walls. She has suffered and is still suffering. However, this should not signify stagnancy. If anything, this constant need for renovation represents the feminist construct as a work in progress, implying a sense of continuity in Her legacy.
Photography by Iulia Topan
Artwork by Flynn Klein
As we progress into the 21st century, there is clear evidence of immense progress in different spheres of society. Today, we witness feminism’s proper establishment in the political scene as a new norm, with public figures of all genders using their platforms to engage in activism. Within younger generations, there has also been significant participation in numerous gender equality campaigns, from the “MeToo” movement to UCL’s very own “This Girl Can” campaign initiated by Project Active. However, as with any new era that brings new life to feminism, there lie loopholes within today’s society that chip away at the fort She has built.
Most prominently is social media’s new ability to shape opinions for the better and the worse. Today’s feminist activists are commonly labelled online as “social justice warriors” or “radical”, even by other women. Social media has given Her a platform to amplify the voices of thousands from all walks of life, but this also provides a space for others to scream and shout at Her.
Moreover, the current turbulent political, economic and social climates have affected the lives of many women, from climate change to the refugee crisis. The rise of Populism and the increasingly polarised political environment in many Western countries also overshadow feminist goals, even though the implications of these challenges extend towards women as well. Slowly, the definitions of feminism have become even more confusing, insofar that many people hesitate to raise this discourse around feminists. Labels have come to dominate our intentions. What remains is the same tension lingering in the air as women desperately cling onto their identity, awaiting a new wave to crash ashore to enlighten another generation.
Photography by Iulia Topan
Artwork by Flynn Klein
This only highlights the importance of focusing not just on the height of our construction and how many more bricks we can stack on top, but also the individual bricks of this fort and the need to unite them cohesively in order to strengthen the foundations of this tower. Each brick represents a feminist, be it a male or female, who holds the notions of feminism close to their heart. I believe that the one key material needed to achieve this spirit of unity is passion: something that both the French noblewoman in 1610 and Beyonce in 2010 had in common when crafting their work, something about Alcott’s voice that Gerwig wished to retain in this new film. Passion has the ability to bind, and a unified people project a louder voice. Although She has been relentlessly pushed back by the journey She has struggled along, this has not stopped her from using her voice and continuing to fight. As much as she has been consistently injured by society, she has not crumbled in the face of fear.
Finally, a publisher agrees to print Jo March’s book. This book, however, is not a romantic, enchanting fairytale where the young, beautiful princess is rescued by the charming prince. The eventual work that goes against the tide of convention was the one she wrote about herself, one written from the perspective of a woman who struggles to navigate in a world where times are changing, and so are the people in it. With the scaffolding still tightly wrapped around Her, Jo’s passion burns bright in each and every one of us. Through the endless struggle, she found her voice, and it is this voice that has stood the test of time.
This article was originally published in Issue 725 of Pi Magazine.