Celebrating Women’s History Month – the women who keep us fighting

The third wave of feminism made its first appearance in the 1990s. It was led by a group of people born in the 60s and 70s.

With all of the new technology and social media coming out around that time and in later years, these women had a bigger voice than ever before.

Women from the first and second wave made the third wave possible. Sojourner Truth, from the first wave of feminism, and Betty Friedan, from the second wave, are just a couple of women who made the third wave achievable.

Sojourner Truth is known for her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech. In her speech she advocated for women’s suffrage and her beliefs in gender and racial equality.

Betty Friedan was an author that published a book called The Feminine Mystique. In her book she talked about the annoyance women had about their strict gender roles. Betty Friedan’s book gave an even bigger voice to every woman in America fighting for equality. She was also one of the founders of NOW – the National Organization for Women- in 1966.

Tori Amos is a woman from the third wave of feminism. She is a singer that is passionate about women’s rights. She came out about being sexually assaulted in her song “Me And A Gun” which then led her to co-found RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network).

RAINN has helped an extraordinary amount of women open up about their experiences with sexual assault.

The beginning of the third wave was mainly focused around sexual harassment at women’s jobs and women fighting to be in a position of power at their workplace.

The third wave of feminism also fought to embrace “girly” feminists. In the second wave, they rejected the thought of makeup and high heels, but third wave feminists are working hard to prove that girliness is just as powerful as androgyny or masculinity.

Feminists throughout the years have made so much progress since the first wave and they are making more progress each day.