The woman question

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The Woman Question is a phrase usually used in connection with a social change in the later half of the nineteenth century which questioned the fundamental roles of women in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Russia. Issues of women's suffrage, reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, property rights, legal rights, and medical rights and of course marriage, dominated cultural discussions in newspapers and intellectual circles. While many women were supportive of these changing roles, they did not agree unanimously. Often issues of marriage and sexual freedom were most divisive.

Contents 1 Feminism 2 History 2.1 First Wave Feminism 2.2 Second Wave Feminism 2.3 Third Wave Feminism 3 Literature 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Feminism

The Woman Question incorporates a myriad of contemporary feminist questions and concerns regarding the role of women in society. Feminism came about when women collectively organized around The Woman Question. At various times in history The Woman Question has changed, and with it a new era of Feminism is usually named. During First Wave Feminism The Woman Question asked if a woman’s place was only in the household.

[edit] History

[edit] First Wave Feminism

Many of the historical changes that characterized the Victorian period motivated discussion and argument about the nature and role of woman — what the Victorians called "The Woman Question." The extension of the franchise by the Reform Bills of 1832 and 1867 stimulated discussion of women's political rights. The Industrial Revolution brought hundreds of thousands of lower-class women into factory jobs with grueling working conditions presenting a challenge to traditional ideas of a woman's place.^[1]

Once American women received the right to vote under the 19th Amendment in 1920^[2], many women believed that The Woman Question had been answered, leading to a sort of Feminist recession.

[edit] Second Wave Feminism

In the 60s, Second Wave Feminism addressed personal ideologies and attitudes toward women, rather than the legal issues that their First Wave sisters had won. With the advent of capitalism, women competed with men, earning 77 cents on the dollar for jobs of the same skill set.^{[3][dubious – discuss]}, and this was another key issue in feminist groups.

[edit] Third Wave Feminism

The Woman Question of the 21st century's Third Wave Feminism points out that the concerns of many upper-middle class white women have been dealt with and put away, but many unsolved questions still remain for minorities within the majority of women, those whom Gayatri Spivak calls the "subaltern". In many cultures women are subjugated, objectified, and controlled through veiling, genital mutilation, neck rings, and other traditions, some of them being physically restrictive and some being socially, politically, and mentally restrictive.

[edit] Literature

Literature pertaining to the "woman question" includes:

• Sarah Grand: The Beth Book
• Olive Schreiner: Story of an African Farm
• Thomas Hardy: Jude the Obscure
• Otto Weininger: Sex and Character
• Hall Caine: The Christian
• Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Idiot
• Sarah Stickney Ellis: "The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits"

[edit] See also

• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

[edit] References