Editing First-wave feminism (section)

== Country ==
===Argentina===

During the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth century, women in Argentina organized and consolidated one of the most complex feminist movements of the western world. Closely associated with the labor movement, they were socialists, anarchists, libertarians, emancipatorians, educationists and Catholics. In May 1910 they organized together the First International Feminist Congress. Well known European, Latin, and North American workers, intellectuals, thinkers and professionals like Marie Curie, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Ellen Key, Maria Montessori and many others presented and discussed their ideas research work and studies on themes of gender, political and civil right, divorce, economy, education, health and culture.

=== Australia ===

In 1882, [[Rose Scott]], a [[women's rights]] activist, began to hold weekly salon meetings in her Sydney home left to her by her late mother. Through these meetings, she became well known amongst politicians, judges, philanthropists, writers and poets. In 1889, she helped to found the Women's Literary Society, which later grew into the [[Women's Suffrage League|Womanhood Suffrage League]] in 1891. Leading politicians hosted by Scott included [[Bernhard Wise]], [[William Holman]], [[William Morris Hughes]] and [[Thomas Bavin]], who met and discussed the drafting of the bill that eventually became the Early Closing Act of 1899.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/eca1899n38176.pdf |title=Early Closing Act 1899 No 38 |access-date=2012-09-28}}</ref>

=== Canada ===
Canada's first-wave of feminism became apparent in the late 19th century into the early 20th. The build up of women's movements started as consciously raising awareness, then turned into study groups, and resulted into taking action by forming committees. The premise of the movement began around education issues. The particular reason education is targeted as a high priority is because it can target younger generations and modify their gender-based opinions.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last1=Gaskell|first1=Jane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OUeNJRMxfqcC&q=Canadian+feminism&pg=PA1|title=Claiming an Education: Feminism and Canadian Schools|last2=McLaren|first2=Arlene|last3=Novogrodsky|first3=Myra|date=1989|publisher=James Lorimer & Company|isbn=978-0-921908-02-9|language=en}}</ref> In 1865, the superintendent of an Ontario public school, Egerton Ryerson, was one of the first to point out the exclusion of females from the education system. As more females attended school throughout the years, they surpassed the male graduation rate. In 1880 British Columbia, 51% high school graduates were female. These percentages continued to increase right through to 1950.<ref name=":12" /> Other reasons for the first feminist movement involved women's suffrage, and labour and health rights; thus, feminists narrowed their campaigns to focus on gaining legal and political equity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Early Women's Movements in Canada: 1867–1960 |website= The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/early-womens-movements-in-canada|access-date=2021-02-21}}</ref> Canada took action in the International Council of Women and has a specific section called the National Council of Women in Canada, with its president, Lady Aberdeen. Women started to look outside of groups such as garden and music clubs, and dive into reforms furthering better education and suffrage. It was behind the idea that the women would be more powerful if they joined to create a united voice.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Forestell|first1=Nancy|last2=Moynagh|first2=Maureen|date=2005|title=Mrs. Canada Goes Global: Canadian First Wave Feminism Revisited|url=https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/855|journal=Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice|language=en|volume=30|issue=1|pages=7–20|issn=1715-0698}}</ref>

===China===
In the 1880s and 1890s, both male and female Chinese reformist intellectuals, concerned with the development of China to a modern country, raised feminist issues and gender equality in public debate; schools for girls were founded, a feminist press emerged, and the [[Foot Emancipation Society]] and [[Tian Zu Hui]], promoting the abolition of foot binding.<ref>Margaret E. Keck; Kathryn Sikkink (1998). Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Cornell University Press. p. 64. ISBN 0801484561.</ref>

Many changes in women's lives took place during the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)]]. In 1912, the [[Women's Suffrage Alliance]], an umbrella organization of many local women's organizations, was founded to work for the inclusion of women's equal rights and suffrage in the constitution of the new republic after the abolition of the monarchy, and while the effort was not successful, it signified an important period of feminism activism.<ref>Lily Xiao Hong Lee: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=22alDAAAQBAJ&dq=Tang+Qunying&pg=PA508  Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 2: Twentieth Century]''</ref>  
A generation of educated and professional [[New Woman|new women]] emerged after the inclusion of girls in the state school system and after women students were accted at the [[Peking University|University of Beijing]] in 1920, and in the 1931 Civil Code, women were given equal inheritance rights, banned forced marriage and gave women the right to control their own money and initiate divorce.<ref>Hershatter, G. (2018). Women and China's Revolutions. USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.</ref>
No nationally unified women's movement could organize until China was unified under the [[Kuomintang]] Government in Nanjing in 1928; women's suffrage was finally included in the new Constitution of 1936, although the constitution was not implemented until 1947.<ref>Nicola Spakowski, Cecilia Nathansen Milwertz: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=q4uzfrO3Cu0C&dq=women+suffrage+in+china+1947&pg=PA5 Women and Gender in Chinese Studies]''</ref>

===Denmark===
The first women's movement was led by the ''[[Dansk Kvindesamfund]]'' ("Danish Women's Society"), founded in 1871. [[Line Luplau]] was one of the most notable woman in this era. [[Tagea Brandt]] was also part of this movement, and in her honor was established the [[Tagea Brandt Rejselegat]] or Travel Scholarship for women. The Dansk Kvindesamfund's efforts as a leading group of women for women led to the existence of the revised Danish constitution of 1915, giving women the right to vote and the provision of equal opportunity laws during the 1920s, which influenced the present-day legislative measures to grant women access to education, work, marital rights and other obligations.<ref name=KV1>{{cite web|last=Larsen|first=Jytte|title=The women's movement in Denmark|url=http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/680/article/3/|work=Translated by Gaye Kynoch|publisher=[[KVINFO]]|access-date=17 November 2013}}</ref>

===Finland===
{{See also|Feminism in Finland}}
In the mid 19th-century, [[Minna Canth]] first started to address feminist issues in public debate, such as women's education and sexual double standards.<ref>Minna Maijala: Minna Canth (1844-1897) Klassikkogalleria, Kristiina-instituutti. Viitattu 22.3.2011.</ref>  The Finnish women's movement organized with the foundation of the [[Suomen Naisyhdistys]] in 1884, which was the first feminist women's organisation in Finland.<ref>Aura Korppi-Tommola (toim.): Tavoitteena tasa-arvo. Suomen Naisyhdistys 125 vuotta. SKS, 2009. ISBN 978-952-222-110-0</ref> This represented the first wave feminism. The Suomen Naisyhdistys was split into the [[Naisasialiitto Unioni]] (1892) and the [[Suomalainen naisliitto]] (1907), and all women's organisations were united under the [[umbrella organisation]] [[Naisjärjestöjen Keskusliitto]] in 1911.

Women where granted their basic equal rights early on with the suffrage in 1906. After the introduction of women's suffrage, the women's movement was mainly channelled through the women's branches of the political parties.<ref name="Margaretha Mickwitz 2007">Margaretha Mickwitz: Miten sovittaa Yhdistys 9 naistutkimuksen kehyksiin? Minna.fi Tasa-arvotiedon keskus, helmikuu 2007. Arkistoitu 17.9.2011. Viitattu 22.3.2011.</ref> The new marriage law of 1929, ''Avioliittolaki'', finally established complete equality for married women, and after this, women were legally equal to men by law in Finland.<ref name="Margaretha Mickwitz 2007"/>

===France=== 
{{See also|Feminism in France}}

The issue of women's rights were discussed during the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and the [[French Revolution]]. Some success was achieved by the new inheritance rights ([[Loi sur l'héritage des enfants]]) and the divorce law ([[Loi autorisant le divorce en France]]).<ref>Jean Tulard, Jean-François Fayard et Alfred Fierro, Histoire et dictionnaire de la Révolution française. 1789-1799, Paris, éd. Robert Laffont, coll. « Bouquins », 1987, 1998 [détail des éditions] ({{ISBN|978-2-221-08850-0}})</ref>

A movement that brought feminism into play happened during the same time a republican form of government came to replace the classic Catholic monarchy. A few females took on leadership roles to form groups divided by financial stability, religion, and social status. One of these groups, the [[Society of Revolutionary Republican Women]], managed to draw significant interest within the national political scene, and advocated for gender equality in revolutionary politics. Another such group were [[Société fraternelle des patriotes de l'un et l'autre sexe]]. These groups were driven to increase economic opportunities by hosting meetings, writing journals, and forming organizations with the same means.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Boxer|first=Marilyn J.|date=1982-01-01|title='First wave' feminism in nineteenth-century France: Class, family and religion |journal=Women's Studies International Forum|language=en|volume=5|issue=6|pages=551–559|doi=10.1016/0277-5395(82)90096-6|issn=0277-5395}}</ref>

However, the [[Code Napoléon]] of 1804 eradicated the progress made during the revolution. Women's rights were supported by the rule of the Communist [[Paris Commune]] of 1870, but the rule of the Commune came to be temporary.

An 1897 newspaper, La Fronde, was the most prestigious women-run newspaper. It maintained as a daily paper for 6 years and covered controversial topics such as the working women and advocating for women's political rights.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Duchen|first=Claire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbgjZsKxqwoC&q=France+feminism&pg=PP5|title=Feminism in France: From May '68 to Mitterrand|date=2012-10-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-63762-6|language=en}}</ref>

The First wave women's movement in France organized when the ''[[Association pour le Droit des Femmes]]'' was founded by [[Maria Deraismes]] and [[Léon Richer]] in 1870.<ref>Charles Sowerwine: France since 1870: Culture, Society and the Making of the Republic, 2009</ref> It was followed by the ''[[Ligue Française pour le Droit des Femmes]]'' (1882) which took up the issue of women suffrage and became the leading suffrage society in parallel to the ''[[Union française pour le suffrage des femmes]]'' (1909-1945).

===Germany===

The First wave women's movement in Germany organized under the influence of the [[Revolutions of 1848]]. It organized for the first time in the first women's organization in Germany, the ''Allgemeiner Deutscher Frauenverein'' (ADF), which was founded by [[Louise Otto-Peters]] and [[Auguste Schmidt]] in [[Leipzig]] 1865.

Women in the middle class sought improvements in their social status and prospects in society. A humanist aspiration connected the women together as they wanted to identify and be respected as full individuals.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Weedon|first=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uazGkM-m0bMC&q=German+first-wave+feminism&pg=PR7|title=Gender, Feminism, & Fiction in Germany, 1840-1914|date=2006|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-6331-5|language=en}}</ref> They were drawn into the socialist political struggles of the revolution because they were promised full equity afterwards. The agenda of women's improvements consisted of gaining rights to work, education, abortion, contraception, and the right to seek a profession.<ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last=Weedon|first=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uazGkM-m0bMC&q=German+first-wave+feminism&pg=PR7|title=Gender, Feminism, & Fiction in Germany, 1840-1914|date=2006|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-6331-5|language=en}}</ref> The premise of German feminism was revolved around the political common good, including social justice and family values.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book|last=Ferree|first=Myra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNZiDYlOUeYC&q=first-wave+feminism+Germany&pg=PR7|title=Varieties of Feminism: German Gender Politics in Global Perspective|date=2012-03-07|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8052-0|language=en}}</ref> The pressure women put on society led to women's suffrage in 1918. This created further feminist movements to expand women's rights.<ref name=":32"/>

In comparison to the United States, German feminism targets a collective representation and women's autonomy whereas the American feminism is focused on general equality.<ref name=":32"/>

=== The Netherlands===
[[File:Wilhelmina Drucker IMG0020.tif|thumb|In the Netherlands, [[Wilhelmina Drucker]] (1847–1925) fought successfully for the vote and equal rights for women through political and feminist organisations she founded.]]

<!-- [[File:Aletta Jacobs door Isaac Israels 1920.jpg|thumb|Isaac Israels: Aletta Jacobs, 1920. Oil on canvas.]] -->
Although in the Netherlands during the [[Age of Enlightenment]] the idea of the equality of women and men made progress, no practical institutional measures or legislation resulted. In the second half of the nineteenth century, many initiatives by feminists sprung up in The Netherlands.

[[Aletta Jacobs]] (1854–1929) requested and obtained as the first woman in the Netherlands the right to study at university in 1871, becoming the first female medical doctor and academic. She became a lifelong campaigner for [[women's suffrage]], equal rights, birth control, and international peace, travelling worldwide for, e.g., the [[International Alliance of Women]].

[[Wilhelmina Drucker]] (1847–1925) was a politician, a prolific writer and a peace activist, who fought for the vote and equal rights through political and feminist organisations she founded. In 1917–1919, her goal of women's suffrage was reached.

[[Cornelia Ramondt-Hirschmann]] (1871–1951), President of the Dutch Women's International League for Peace and Freedom [WILPF].

[[Selma Meyer]] (1890–1941), Secretary of the Dutch Women's International League for Peace and Freedom [WILPF]

=== New Zealand ===
[[File:Tribute to the Suffragettes, close up.jpg|thumb|right|''Tribute to the Suffragettes'' memorial in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand. The figures shown from left to right are [[Amey Daldy]], [[Kate Sheppard]], [[Ada Wells]] and [[Harriet Morison]].]]

Early New Zealand feminists and suffragettes included [[Maud Pember Reeves]] (Australian-born; later lived in London), [[Kate Sheppard]] and [[Mary Ann Müller]]. In 1893, [[Elizabeth Yates (mayor)|Elizabeth Yates]] became Mayor of [[Onehunga]], the first time such a post had been held by a female anywhere in the [[British Empire]]. Early university graduates were [[Emily Siedeberg]] (doctor, graduated 1895) and [[Ethel Benjamin]] (lawyer, graduated 1897). The Female Law Practitioners Act was passed in 1896 and Benjamin was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 1897 (see [[Women's suffrage in New Zealand]]).

===Norway=== 
{{See also|Feminism in Norway}}

The First wave women's movement in Norway organized when the [[Norwegian Association for Women's Rights]] was founded in 1884.

===Russia===

In Imperial Russia, it was not legal to form political organisations prior to the [[1905 Russian Revolution]]. Because of this, there was no open organised women's rights movement similar to the one in the West before this. There was, however, in practice a women's movement during the 19th century.

In the mid-19th century, several literary discussion clubs were founded, one of whom, which was co-founded by [[Anna Filosofova]], [[Maria Trubnikova]] and [[Nadezjda Stasova]], which discussed Western feminist literature and came to be the first [[de facto]] women's rights organisation in Russia.  The [[Crimean War]] had exposed Russia as less developed than Western Europe, resulting in a number of reforms, among them educational reforms and the foundation of schools for girls.  Russian elite women de facto spoke for reforms in women rights through their literary clubs and charity societies. Their main interest were women's education- and work opportunities. The women's club of [[Anna Filosofova]], [[Maria Trubnikova]] and [[Nadezjda Stasova]] managed to achieve women's access to attend courses at the universities, and the separate courses held for women became so popular that they were made permanent in 1876. However, in 1876 women students were banned from being given degrees and all women's universities were banned except two ([[Bestuzhev Courses]] in Saint Petserburg and [[Guerrier Courses]] in Moscow).<ref>Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild. ''Equality and Revolution: Women's Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917''. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-8229-6066-9}}. Page 56.</ref>

In 1895, Anna Filosofova founded the "Russian Women's Charity League", which was officially a charitable society to avoid the ban of political organisations but which was in effect a women's rights organisation: Anna Filosofova was elected to the [[International Council of Women]] in 1899. Because of the ban of political activity in Russia the only thing they could do was to raise awareness of feminist issues.

After the [[1905 Russian Revolution]], political organisations was made legal in Russia and the women's movement was able to organise in the form of ''[[Liga ravnopraviia zhenshchin]]'', which started a campaign of women's suffrage the same year. The Russian Revolution of 1917 formally made men and women equal in the eyes of the law in the Soviet Union.

===South Korea===

The Korean women's movement started in the 1890s with the foundation of [[Chanyang-hoe]], followed by a number of other groups, primarily focused on women's education and the abolition of gender segregation and other discriminatory practices.<ref name="Tétreault, Mary Ann">{{cite book |last1=Tétreault |first1=Mary Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X95R043HBJwC&dq=chanyang-hoe+1898&pg=PA163 |page=163 |title=Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World |year=1994 |publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-57003-016-1 }}</ref>

When Korea became a Japanese colony in 1910 women's associations were banned by the Japanese and many women instead engaged in the underground  resistance groups such as the Yosong Aeguk Tongji-hoe (Patriotic Women's Society) and the Taehan Aeguk Buin-hoe (Korean Patriotic Women's Society).<ref name="Tétreault, Mary Ann"/>  {{citation needed span|text=As a result, the role of women in society began to change. |reason=The book ISBN is 9781570030161 published by the University of South Carolina|date=May 2023}}

After the end of the War and the partition of Korea in 1945, the Korean women's movement was split. In [[North Korea]], all women's movement was channelled in to the [[Korean Democratic Women's Union]]; in South Korea, the women's movement where united under the [[Korean National Council of Women]] in 1959, which in 1973 organized the women's group in the [[Pan-Women's Society for the Revision of the Family Law]] to revise the discriminating Family Law of 1957, a cause that remained a main focus for the rest of the 20th-century and did not result in any major reform until 1991.<ref name="Tétreault, Mary Ann"/>

===Sweden===
{{See also|Feminism in Sweden}}
Feminist issues and gender roles were discussed in media and literature during the 18th century by people such as [[Margareta Momma]], [[Catharina Ahlgren]], [[Anna Maria Rückerschöld]] and [[Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht]], but it created no movement of any kind. The first person to hold public speeches and agitate in favor of feminism was [[Sophie Sager]] in 1848,<ref>[[Gunhild Kyle|Kyle, Gunhild]]; Krusenstjerna, Eva von (1993). Kvinnoprofiler. Panorama ([[Natur & Kultur]]), 99-0913791-7. Stockholm: Natur och kultur.</ref> and the first organization created to deal with a women's issue was ''Svenska lärarinnors pensionsförening'' (Society for Retired Female Teachers) by [[Josefina Deland]] in 1855.<ref>Chief editor: Nils Bohman, Svenska män och kvinnor. 2, C-F (Swedish Men and Women. 2, C-F) dictionary (1944) (in Swedish)</ref>

In 1856, [[Fredrika Bremer]] published her famous ''[[Hertha (novel)|Hertha]]'', which aroused great controversy and created a debate referred to as the ''Hertha Debate''. The two foremost questions was to abolish [[coverture]] for unmarried women, and for the state to provide women an equivalent to a university. Both questions were met: in 1858, a reform granted unmarried women the right to apply for legal majority by a simple procedure, and in 1861, [[Högre lärarinneseminariet]] was founded as a "Women's University". In 1859, the first [[women's magazine]] in Sweden and the Nordic countries, the ''[[Tidskrift för hemmet]]'', was founded by [[Sophie Adlersparre]] and [[Rosalie Olivecrona]]. This has been referred to as the starting point of a women's movement in Sweden.

The organized women's movement begun in 1873, when [[Married Woman's Property Rights Association]] was co-founded by [[Anna Hierta-Retzius]] and [[Ellen Anckarsvärd]]. The prime task of the organization was to abolish [[coverture]]. In 1884, [[Fredrika Bremer Association]] was founded by [[Sophie Adlersparre]] to work for the improvement in women's rights. The second half of the 19th century saw the creation of several women's rights organisations and a considerable activity within both active organization as well as intellectual debate. The 1880s saw the so-called ''[[Sedlighetsdebatten]]'', where gender roles were discussed in literary debate in regards to sexual double standards in opposed to sexual equality. In 1902, finally, the [[National Association for Women's Suffrage (Sweden)|National Association for Women's Suffrage]] was founded.

In 1919–1921, [[women's suffrage]] was finally introduced. The women suffrage reform was followed by the ''[[Behörighetslagen]]'' of 1923, in which males and females were formally given equal access to all professions and positions in society, the only exceptions being military and priesthood positions.<ref>Lilla Focus Uppslagsbok (1979)</ref> The last two restrictions were removed in 1958, when women were allowed to become priests, and in a series of reforms between 1980 and 1989, when all military professions were opened to women.<ref>Sundevall, Fia (2011). Det sista manliga yrkesmonopolet: genus och militärt arbete i Sverige 1865–1989. Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2011</ref>

=== Switzerland ===

The Swiss women's movement started to form after the introduction of the Constitution of 1848, which explicitly excluded women's rights and equality. However, the Swiss women's movement was long prevented from being efficient by the split between French- and German speaking areas, which restricted it to local activity. This split created a long lasting obstacle for the national Swiss women's movement. However, it did play an important role in the international women's movement, when [[Marie Goegg-Pouchoulin]] founded the first international women's movement in the world, the ''[[Association Internationale des Femmes]]'', in 1868.<ref>Berta Rahm: Marie Goegg (geb. Pouchoulin). Mitbegründerin der Internationalen Liga für Frieden und Freiheit, Gründerin des Internationalen Frauenbundes, des Journal des femmes und der Solidarité. Ala, Schaffhausen 1993, {{ISBN|3-85509-032-7}}.</ref>

In 1885, the first national women's organisation, the ''[[Schweizer Frauen-Verband]]'', was founded by [[Elise Honegger]]. It soon split, but in 1888, the first permanent, national women's organisation was finally founded in the ''[[Schweizerischen Gemeinnützigen Frauenverein]]'' (SGF), which became an [[umbrella organisation]] for the Swiss women's movement. From 1893 onward, a local women's organisation, the [[Frauenkomitee Bern]], also functioned as a channel between the Federal government and the Swiss women's movements. The question of women's suffrage in Switzerland was brought forward by the ''[[Schweizerischer Frauenvereine]]'' from 1899, and by the  ''[[Schweizerischer Verband für Frauenstimmrecht]]'' from 1909, which were to become the two main suffrage organisations of many in Switzerland.

The Swiss suffrage movement had struggled for equality in their society for decades until the early 1970s; this wave of feminism also included enfranchisement. October 31, 1971, Swiss women were granted the right to vote in political elections. According to Lee Ann Banaszak the main reasons for lack of success in women's suffrage for Swiss women was due to the differences in mobilization of members into suffrage organizations, financial resources of the suffrage movements, alliances formed with other political actors, and the characteristics of the political systems. Therefore, the success of the Swiss women's suffrage movement was heavily affected by the resources and political structures. "The Swiss movement had to operate in a system where decisions were made carefully by a constructed consensus and where opposition parties never launched an electoral challenge that might of prodded governing parties into action." This explains how the closed legislative process made it way more difficult for suffrage activists to participate in, or even track women's voting rights. Swiss suffrage also lacked strong allies when it came from their struggle to vote in political elections.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 1997|title=Lee Ann Banaszak. ''Why Movements Succeed or Fail: Opportunity, Culture, and the Struggle for Woman Suffrage''. (Princeton Studies in American Politics.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1996. Pp. xv, 291. Cloth $49.50, paper $19.95|journal=The American Historical Review|doi=10.1086/ahr/102.5.1451-a|issn=1937-5239 |last1=Buechler |first1=Steven M. |volume=102 |issue=5 |pages=1451–1452 }}</ref> The 1970s saw a turning point for Swiss feminist movements, and they began to steadily make more progress in their struggle for equality to present day.

=== United Kingdom ===

The early feminist reformers were unorganized, and including prominent individuals who had suffered as victims of injustice. This included individuals such as [[Caroline Norton]] whose personal tragedy where she was unable to obtain a divorce and was denied access to her three sons by her husband, led her to a life of intense campaigning which successfully led to the passing of the [[Custody of Infants Act 1839]] and the introduction of the [[Tender years doctrine]] for child custody arrangement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wroath|first=John|title=Until They Are Seven, The Origins of Women's Legal Rights|year=1998|publisher=Waterside Press|isbn=1-872-870-57-0|url=https://archive.org/details/untiltheyareseve00wroa}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=L.G.|title=Lord Melbourne, 1779–1848|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Perkins|first=Jane Gray|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FJBpAAAAMAAJ|title=The Life of the Honourable Mrs. Norton|year=1909|publisher=John Murray}}</ref> The Act gave married women, for the first time, a right to their children. However, because women needed to petition in the Court of Chancery, in practice, few women had the financial means to petition for their rights.<ref>{{cite book|last=Atkinson|first=Diane|title=The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton|year=2012|publisher=Random House|page=[https://archive.org/details/criminalconversa0000atki/page/274 274]|isbn=978-1-84809-301-0|url=https://archive.org/details/criminalconversa0000atki/page/274}}</ref>

The first organized movement for English feminism was the [[Langham Place Circle]] of the 1850s, which included among others [[Barbara Bodichon]] (née Leigh-Smith) and [[Bessie Rayner Parkes]].<ref name=LPC>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/93/93708.html |title=Oxford DNB theme: Langham Place group |publisher=Oxforddnb.com |access-date=2012-10-31}}</ref> The group campaigned for many women's causes, including improved female rights in employment, and education. It also pursued women's property rights through its Married Women's Property Committee. In 1854, Bodichon published her ''Brief Summary of the Laws of England concerning Women'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/awrm/doc17.htm|title=Brief Summary of the Laws of England concerning Women|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> which was used by the [[National Association for the Promotion of Social Science|Social Science Association]] after it was formed in 1857 to push for the passage of the [[Married Women's Property Act 1882]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Ben|last=Griffin|title=The Politics of Gender in Victorian Britain: Masculinity, Political Culture and the Struggle for Women's Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jsnnyrckKqQC&pg=PA80|access-date=23 June 2013|date=12 January 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01507-4|page=80}}</ref> In 1858, Barbara Bodichon, [[Matilda Hays|Matilda Mary Hays]] and Bessie Rayner Parkes established the first feminist British periodical, the ''[[English Woman's Journal]]'',<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=57829|title=Hays, Matilda Mary|first=Lisa|last=Merrill}}</ref> with Bessie Parkes the chief editor. The journal continued publication until 1864 and was succeeded in 1866 by the ''[[Englishwoman's Review]]'' edited until 1880 by [[Jessie Boucherett]] which continued publication until 1910. Jessie Boucherett and [[Adelaide Anne Proctor]] joined the Langham Place Circle in 1859. The group was active until 1866. Also in 1859, Jessie Boucherett, Barbara Bodichon and Adelaide Proctor formed the [[Society for Promoting the Employment of Women]] to promote the training and employment of women.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Peter|last1=Gordon|first2=David|last2=Doughan|title=Dictionary of British Women's Organisations, 1825–1960|year=2001|publisher=Woburn Press|location=London & Portland, Or.|isbn=978-0-7130-0223-2|contribution=Society for Promoting the Employment of Women|pages=129–30}}</ref> The society is one of the earliest British women's organisations, and continues to operate as the registered charity ''Futures for Women''.<ref>[http://www.futuresforwomen.org.uk/ Futures for Women] (accessed February 2014)</ref> [[Helen Blackburn]] and Boucherett established the Women's Employment Defence League in 1891, to defend women's working rights against restrictive employment legislation.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gerry|last=Holloway|title=Women And Work in Britain Since 1840 |url=https://archive.org/details/womenworkbritain00holl|url-access=limited|location=London |publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=978-0-415-25911-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenworkbritain00holl/page/n110 98]}}</ref> They also together edited the ''Condition of Working Women and the Factory Acts'' in 1896. In the beginning of the 20th century, women's employment was still predominantly limited to factory labor and domestic work. During [[World War I]], more women found work outside the home. As a result of the wartime experience of women in the workforce, the ''[[Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919]]'' opened professions and the civil service to women, and marriage was no longer a legal barrier to women working outside the home.

In 1918, [[Marie Stopes]] published the very influential ''[[Married Love]]'',<ref name="google2004">{{cite book|last=Stopes |first=Marie Carmichael |editor-last=McKibbin |editor-first=Ross |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M13Q0aymFJoC|title=Married Love|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280432-7|year=2004|orig-date=1918}}</ref> in which she advocated [[gender equality]] in marriage and the importance of women's sexual desire. (Importation of the book into the United States was banned as obscene until 1931.)

The ''[[Representation of the People Act 1918]]'' extended the franchise to women who were at least 30 years old and they or their husbands were property holders, while the ''[[Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918]]'' gave women the right to sit in Parliament, although it was only slowly that women were actually elected. In 1928, the franchise was extended to all women over 21 by the ''[[Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928]]'', on an equal basis to men.<ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips|first=Melanie |title=The Ascent of Woman: A History of the Suffragette Movement and the Ideas Behind It |year=2004 |publisher=Abacus |location=London |isbn=978-0-349-11660-0}}</ref>

Many feminist writers and women's rights activists argued that it was not equality to men which they needed but a recognition of what women need to fulfill their potential of their own natures, not only within the aspect of work but society and home life too. [[Virginia Woolf]] produced her essay ''[[A Room of One's Own]]'' based on the ideas of women as writers and characters in fiction. Woolf said that a woman must have money and a room of her own to be able to write.

It ought to be recognized that the early British feminist movement was deeply intertwined with the British imperial project and an essential arm of it. Contemporary writers like [[Mona Caird]] asserted that women deserved representation in the "councils of the nation" as defenders of the white race and its supremacy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Caird |first1=Mona |title="Why Do Women Want the Franchise", London: Women's Emancipation Union Pamphlets, 1892 |url= https://victorianweb.org/authors/caird/bio.html |publisher= victorianweb.org}}</ref>  In order to achieve status and value as women, these feminists framed themselves as the benevolent feminine liberators of the "foreign woman". [[Antoinette Burton]] writes that rather than upending Victorian gendered assumptions, "early feminist theorist used [them] to justify female involvement in the public sphere by claiming that the woman's moral attributes was crucial to social improvement."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burton |first1=Antoinette M. |title=The white woman's burden: British feminists and the Indian woman, 1865–1915 |journal=Women's Studies International Forum |date=1990 |volume=13 |pages=295–308 |doi=10.1016/0277-5395(90)90027-U}}</ref> Burton calls to our attention that women exerted real power over their male counterparts by making claims to the very moral assumptions that bound them to the home. It would be naïve to suggest that these women were not complicit in or did not contribute to imperial oppression abroad, but what is missed by previous treatments of feminisms and feminist movements is the diversity and flexibility of power relationships that navigated the superstructure of the moral order. The place of sex and gender in Victorian society was more diverse and plural than [[Victorian morality]] imagined for itself.

=== United States ===
[[File:Articles_by_and_photo_of_Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman_in_1916.jpg|thumb|right|[[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]] (pictured) wrote these articles about [[feminism]] for the ''Atlanta Constitution,'' published on December 10, 1916.]]
[[Image:Suffragette banner carried in picket of the White House.jpg|thumb|Suffragist with banner, Washington DC, 1918]]

The beginning of first-wave Feminism in the United States is traditionally marked by the [[Seneca Falls Convention]] of 1848; however this event was empowered by women becoming increasingly politically active in the years leading up to 1848 through the [[Abolitionist movement|Abolitionist Movement]] and [[Temperance movement in the United States|Temperance Movement]] and activists began to have their voices heard. Some of these early activists include, [[Sojourner Truth]], [[Elizabeth Blackwell]], [[Jane Addams]], and [[Dorothy Day]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.feministsforlife.org/herstory/|title=Feminist History|website=[[Feminists for Life]]|date=19 July 2013|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref> The first wave of feminism was primarily led by white women in the middle class, and it was not until the [[Second-wave feminism|second wave of feminism]] that women of color began developing a voice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/four-waves-feminism|title=Four Waves of Feminism|publisher=Pacific University|access-date=2017-02-04|date=2015-10-25}}</ref> The term Feminism was created like a political illustrated ideology at that period. Feminism emerged by the speech about the reform and correction of democracy based on equalitarian conditions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Offen|first=Karen|year=1988|title=Defining Feminism: A Comparative Historical Approach|doi=10.1086/494494|journal=Signs|volume=14|issue=1|pages=119–157|s2cid=144146547}}</ref>

Leading up to the early 19th century, white women in Colonial America were socially expected to remain domestically confined and their property and political rights were severely limited and controlled by marriage. Social expectations preceding and following the [[American Revolution]] did not encourage women to be politically active or seek formal education.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Joan Hoff |last2=Defeis |first2=Elizabeth F |date=1978 |title=Role of American Women: An Historical Overview |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=163–173 |jstor=23001287 |issn=0376-9771}}</ref> Women were also expected to pass on and teach Christian values to their children. Thus the impact of alcohol on many men post [[Civil war|Civil War]] became not only a moral motivation for women to become active in the Temperance Movement but also a way to exert control over finances and property. Communities of women in churches congregated and rallied outside of the home for the cause.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knight |first=Virginia C. |date=1976 |title=Women and the Temperance Movement |journal=Current History |volume=70 |issue=416 |pages=201–203 |jstor=45313846 |issn=0011-3530}}</ref> The most direct and impactful movement on first-wave feminism was the Abolitionist Movement. Black men and women had been fighting for rights during and before the Temperance Movement. White women began to identify themselves with the struggle for rights and became involved in the abolition of slavery.

[[Judith Sargent Murray]] published the early and influential essay ''[[On the Equality of the Sexes]]'' in 1790, blaming poor standards in female education as the root of women's problems.<ref>{{cite book | last = Weyler | first = Karen A. | editor2-last = Carlson | editor2-first = David J. | editor1-last = Watts | editor1-first = Edward | chapter = Chapter 11: John Neal and the Early Discourse of American Women's Rights | page = 232 | title = John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture | publisher = Bucknell University Press | location = Lewisburg, Pennsylvania | year = 2012 | isbn = 978-1-61148-420-5}}</ref> However, scandals surrounding the personal lives of English contemporaries [[Catharine Macaulay]] and [[Mary Wollstonecraft]] pushed feminist authorship into private correspondence from the 1790s through the early decades of the nineteenth century.<ref>Weyler (2012), pp. 233-235</ref> Feminist essays from [[John Neal]] in ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'' and ''[[The Yankee]]'' in the 1820s filled an intellectual gap between Murray and the leaders of the 1848 [[Seneca Falls Convention]],<ref>Weyler (2012), p. 227</ref> which is generally considered the beginning of the [[History of feminism#First wave|first wave of feminism]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EoJrHDirVQUC&pg=PA12 |title=Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America |access-date=September 27, 2020 |isbn=978-0-253-34686-5 |page=12 |year=2006 |publisher=Indiana University Press |editor1-last=Keller |editor1-first=Rosemary Skinner |editor2-last=Ruether |editor2-first=Rosemary Radford |editor3-last=Cantlon |editor3-first=Marie}}</ref> As a male writer insulated from many common forms of attack against female feminist thinkers, Neal's advocacy was crucial to bringing feminism back into the American mainstream.<ref>Weyler (2012), pp. 227-228, 242</ref>

''[[The Great Lawsuit|Woman in the Nineteenth Century]]'' by [[Margaret Fuller]] has been considered the first major feminist work in the United States and is often compared to Wollstonecraft's ''[[A Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]''.<ref>Slater, Abby. ''In Search of Margaret Fuller''. New York: Delacorte Press, 1978: 89–90. {{ISBN|0-440-03944-4}}</ref> Prominent leaders of the feminist movement in the United States include [[Lucretia Coffin Mott]], [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]], [[Lucy Stone]], and [[Susan B. Anthony]]; Anthony and other activists such as [[Victoria Woodhull]] and [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]] made attempts to cast votes prior to their legal entitlement to do so, for which many of them faced charges. Other important leaders included several women who dissented against the law in order to have their voices heard, ([[Grimké sisters|Sarah and Angelina Grimké]]), in addition to other activists such as [[Carrie Chapman Catt]], [[Alice Paul]], [[Sojourner Truth]], [[Ida B. Wells]], [[Margaret Sanger]] and [[Lucy Burns]].<ref>Dicker, 2008. pp. 28, 47–48.</ref>

First-wave feminism involved a wide range of women, some belonging to [[Christian right|conservative Christian]] groups (such as [[Frances Willard (suffragist)|Frances Willard]] and the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]]), others such as [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]] of the [[National Woman Suffrage Association]] (NWSA) resembling the radicalism of much of [[second-wave feminism]]. The creation of these organizations was a direct result of the [[Second Great Awakening]], a religious movement in the early 19th century, that inspired female reformers in the United States.<ref>[https://dailyhistory.org/What_was_the_First_Wave_Feminist_Movement%3F What was the First Wave Feminist Movement?] Dailyhistory.org (Updated December 9, 2020), Retrieved August 8, 2021.</ref>

The majority of first-wave feminists were more moderate and conservative than radical or revolutionary—like the members of the [[American Woman Suffrage Association]] (AWSA) they were willing to work within the political system and they understood the clout of joining with sympathetic men in power to promote the cause of suffrage. The limited membership of the NWSA was narrowly focused on gaining a federal amendment for women's suffrage, whereas the AWSA, with ten times as many members, worked to gain suffrage on a state-by-state level as a necessary precursor to federal suffrage. The NWSA had broad goals, hoping to achieve a more equal social role for women, but the AWSA was aware of the divisive nature of many of those goals and instead chose to focus solely on suffrage. The NWSA was known for having more publicly aggressive tactics (such as picketing and hunger strikes) whereas the AWSA used more traditional strategies like lobbying, delivering speeches, applying political pressure, and gathering signatures for petitions.<ref>Dicker, 2008, pp. 40–43.</ref>

During the first wave, there was a notable connection between the [[Abolitionism|slavery abolition movement]] and the women's rights movement. Frederick Douglass was heavily involved in both movements and believed that it was essential for both to work together in order to attain true equality in regards to race and sex.<ref>Rojas. U.S. Women of Color Feminism, 1st Edition. Kendall Hunt Publishing, Co., 01/2015. VitalSource Bookshelf Online.</ref> Different accounts of the involvement of African-American women in the Women's Suffrage Movement are given. In a 1974 interview, [[Alice Paul]] notes that a compromise was made between southern groups to have white women march first, then men, then African-American women.<ref name="test">[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/aw01e/aw01e.html The Library of Congress], 2001.</ref> In another account by the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP), difficulties in segregating women resulted in African-American women marching with their respective States without hindrance.<ref>The Library of Congress, 2001.</ref> Among them was Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who marched with the Illinois delegation.

The end of the first wave is often linked with the passage of the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] (1920), granting women the right to vote. This was the major victory of the movement, which also included reforms in [[higher education]], in the workplace and professions, and in health care.
Women started serving on school boards and local bodies, and numbers kept increasing. This period also saw more women gaining access to higher education. In 1910, "women were attending many leading medical schools, and in 1915, the American Medical Association began to admit women members."<ref name="autogenerated1995">[http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm "Women's History in America"], Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, 1995</ref> A ''Matrimonial Causes Act 1923'' gave women the right to the same grounds for divorce as men. The first wave of feminists, in contrast to the second wave, focused very little on the subjects of abortion, birth control, and overall reproductive rights of women. Though she never married, Anthony published her views about marriage, holding that a woman should be allowed to refuse sex with her husband; the American woman had no legal recourse at that time against [[Spousal rape|rape by her husband]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hasday|first=Jill Elaine|year=2000|title=Contest and Consent: A Legal History of Marital Rape|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/calr88&id=1391&men_tab=srchresults|journal=California Law Review|volume=88|issue=5|pages=1373–1505|doi=10.2307/3481263|jstor=3481263|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The rise in unemployment during the [[Great Depression]] which started in the 1920s hit women first, and when the men also lost their jobs there was further strain on families. Many women served in the armed forces during [[World War II]], when around 300,000 American women served in the navy and army, performing jobs such as secretaries, typists and nurses.

==== State laws ====
The American states are separate [[Sovereignty|sovereigns]],<ref>[[Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|U.S. Const., Amend. X]].</ref> with their own [[State constitution (United States)|state constitutions]], [[State governments of the United States|state governments]], and [[State court (United States)|state courts]]. All states have a legislative branch which enacts state statutes, an executive branch that promulgates state regulations pursuant to statutory authorization, and a judicial branch that applies, interprets, and occasionally overturns both state statutes and regulations, as well as local ordinances. States retain plenary power to make laws covering anything not preempted by the federal Constitution, federal statutes, or international treaties ratified by the federal Senate. Normally, [[state supreme court]]s are the final interpreters of state institutions and state law, unless their interpretation itself presents a federal issue, in which case a decision may be appealed to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] by way of a petition for writ of [[certiorari]].<ref>See {{UnitedStatesCode|28|1257}}.</ref> State laws have dramatically diverged in the centuries since independence, to the extent that the United States cannot be regarded as one legal system as to the majority of types of law traditionally under state control, but must be regarded as 50 ''separate'' systems of [[tort law]], [[family law]], [[property law]], [[contract law]], [[criminal law]], and so on.<ref name="Olson 1999 6">{{cite book|title=Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It|last=Olson|first=Kent C.|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1999|isbn=978-0-89774-963-3|location=Phoenix|pages=[https://archive.org/details/legalinformation00kent/page/6 6]|url=https://archive.org/details/legalinformation00kent/page/6}}</ref>

Marylynn Salmon argues that each state developed different ways of dealing with a variety of legal issues pertaining to women, especially in the case of property laws.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Women and the Law of Property in Early America|last=Salmon|first=Marylynn|publisher=UNC Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4696-2044-2|chapter=Diversity in American Law}}</ref> In 1809, [[Connecticut]] was the first state to pass a law allowing women to write wills.

In 1860, New York passed a revised [[Married Women's Property Acts in the United States|Married Women's Property Act]] which gave women shared ownership of their children, allowing them to have a say in their children's wills, wages, and granting them the right to inherit property.<ref name="Dicker, 2008, pp. 30, 38">Dicker, 2008, pp. 30, 38.</ref> Further advances and setbacks were experienced in New York and other states, but with each new win the feminists were able to use it as an example to apply more leverage on unyielding legislative bodies.

==== White feminism====
{{See also|white feminism}}

=====Imperialism=====

Anxiety in the United States over the moral degeneracy and temptation of [[Americans in the Philippines|American men in the Philippines]] inspired women's involvement in the politics of the colonial government. An article published in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1900 describes the Philippines as an environment where relatively permissive conceptions of morality caused white men to "lose all notions of right and wrong". It was said that white men "disgraced the offices to which they had been appointed", and that, despite having left their homes "with records that were above reproach", they were "degenerated by the conditions of their new existence". Away from the social pressures imposed by their community, they did not possess the strength of moral character or principle needed to maintain the "social discipline".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Coloma |first=Roland Sintos |title=White gazes, brown breasts: imperial feminism and disciplining desires and bodies in colonial encounters |journal=Paedagogica Historica |volume=48 |issue=2 |date=2012 |page=243|doi=10.1080/00309230.2010.547511 |s2cid=145129186 }}</ref>

White women feminists, in this historical context, asserted their superiority over white men and brown women. They have in been criticized by modern women writers of color like [[Valerie Amos]] and [[Pratibha Parmar]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Coloma |first=Roland Sintos |title=White gazes, brown breasts: imperial feminism and disciplining desires and bodies in colonial encounters |journal=Paedagogica Historica |volume=48 |issue=2 |date=2012 |page=244|doi=10.1080/00309230.2010.547511 |s2cid=145129186 }}</ref>

=====Inequality=====
In the First Wave context, there are two different fights for the equal rights of white women and black women. White women were fighting for rights equal to white men in society. They wanted to correct the discrepancy in education, professional, property, economic, and voting rights. They also fought for birth control and abortion freedom. Black women, on the other hand, were facing both racism and sexism, contributing to an uphill struggle for black feminists. While White women could not vote, black women ''and'' men could not vote. [[Mary Garrett|Mary J. Garrett]] who founded a group consisting of hundreds of Black women in New Orleans, said that black women strove for education and protection. It is true that "black women in higher education are isolated, underutilized, and often demoralized,"<ref>{{Cite book|title=All the women are white, all the black are men, but some of us are brave black women's studies|editor1-last=Hull|editor1-first=Gloria|editor2-last=Bell Scott|editor2-first=Patricia|editor3-last=Smith|editor3-first=Barbara|date=1992|publisher=Feminist Press|isbn=978-0-912670-95-9|oclc=1050058204|url=https://archive.org/details/allwomenarewhite00hull}}</ref> and they fought together against this. They were fighting against "exploitation by White men" and they wanted to "lead a virtuous and industrious life."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Horne|first=G.C.|date=March 1987|title=Book Review: When and Where I Enter ...: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. By Paula Giddings, New York: William Morrow, 1984, 408 pp.|journal=Journal of Black Studies|volume=17|issue=3|pages=370–374|doi=10.1177/002193478701700306|s2cid=144897837|issn=0021-9347}}</ref> Black women were also fighting for their husbands, families, and overall equality and freedom of their civil rights. Racism restricted white and black women from coming together to fight for common societal transformation.<ref name="Kopacsi 33–50">{{Cite journal|last1=Kopacsi|first1=Rosemarie|last2=Faulkner|first2=Audrey Olsen|date=September 1988|title=The Powers That Might Be: The Unity of White and Black Feminists|journal=Affilia|volume=3|issue=3|pages=33–50|doi=10.1177/088610998800300305|s2cid=145718260|issn=0886-1099}}</ref>

First Wave Feminism in the United States did not chronicle the contributions of black women to the same degree as white women. Activists, including Susan B. Anthony and other feminist leaders preached for equality between genders; however, they disregarded equality between a number of other issues, including race. This allowed for white women to gain power and equality relative to white men, while the social disparity between white and black women increased. The exclusion aided the growing prevalence of White supremacy, specifically white feminism while actively overlooking the severity of impact black feminists had on the movement.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Charles|first=Monique|date=2018-04-01|title=Grime Labour|journal=Soundings|volume=68|issue=68|pages=40–52|doi=10.3898/136266218822845673|s2cid=149892500 |issn=1362-6620}}</ref><ref name="Dill 1983 131">{{Cite journal|last=Thornton Dill|first=Bonnie|date=1983|title=Race, Class, and Gender: Prospects for an All-Inclusive Sisterhood|journal=Feminist Studies|volume=9|issue=1|pages=131–150|doi=10.2307/3177687|issn=0046-3663|jstor=3177687|hdl=2027/spo.0499697.0009.110|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

[[Susan B. Anthony]] and [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] were abolitionists but they did not advocate for [[universal suffrage]]. They did not want black men to be granted the right to vote before white women. The [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]] was created to distinguish themselves from advocating for black men to vote.<ref name="Kopacsi 33–50"/> The [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] states no person should be denied the right to vote based on race. Anthony and Stanton opposed passage of the amendment unless it was accompanied by a Sixteenth Amendment that would guarantee suffrage for women. Otherwise, they said, it would create an "aristocracy of sex" by giving constitutional authority to the belief that men were superior to women. The new proposal of this amendment was named the "[[Anthony Amendment]]".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=O'Neal|first=Emmet|date=February 1920|title=The Susan B. Anthony Amendment. Effect of Its Ratification on the Rights of the States to Regulate and Control Suffrage and Elections|journal=Virginia Law Review|volume=6|issue=5|pages=338–360|doi=10.2307/1064115|issn=0042-6601|jstor=1064115}}</ref> Stanton once said that allowing black men to vote before women "creates an antagonism between black men and all women that will culminate in fearful outrages on womanhood".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Life and work of Susan B. Anthony|last=Husted Harper|first=Ida|date=1998|publisher=Ayer Co|isbn=978-0-405-00102-4|oclc=43886630}}</ref> Anthony stated, she would "cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the negro and not the woman".<ref name="Who Was Who">{{Citation|chapter=White, Arnold, (1 Feb. 1848–5 Feb. 1925), author|date=2007-12-01|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u204569|title=Who Was Who}}</ref> [[Mary Church Terrell]] exclaimed in 1904 that, "My sisters of the dominant race, stand up not only for the oppressed sex, but also for the oppressed race!"<ref>{{Cite book|title=Blatch, Harriot Stanton (1856-1940), woman suffrage leader|volume = 1|last=Perry|first=Marilyn Elizabeth|date=February 2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|series=American National Biography Online|doi = 10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1500068}}</ref> The [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]] sustained the inequalities between black and white women and also limited their ability to contribute.<ref name="Midge">{{Cite book|title=Divided sisters: bridging the gap between black women and white women|first=Midge|last=Wilson|year=1997|orig-date=1996|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=978-0-385-47362-0|oclc=36336682}}</ref>

[[Susan B. Anthony]] and [[Frederick Douglass]] together formed the [[American Equal Rights Association]], advocating for equality between ''both'' gender and sex. In 1848, Frederick Douglass was asked to speak by Susan B. Anthony at a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Frederick Douglass was an active supporter.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Walker|first=S. Jay|date=September 1983|title=Frederick Douglass and Woman Suffrage|journal=The Black Scholar|volume=14|issue=5|pages=18–25|doi=10.1080/00064246.1983.11414285|issn=0006-4246}}</ref> Later, Douglass was not permitted to attend an Atlanta, Georgia [[National American Woman Suffrage Association|NAWSA]] convention. Susan B. Anthony exclaimed, "I did not want to subject him to humiliation, and I did not want anything to get in the way of bringing the Southern white women into our suffrage association, now that their interest had been awakened".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Crusade for justice: the autobiography of Ida B. Wells|last=Wells-Barnett|first=Ida B.|date=1972|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-89344-0|oclc=24146026|url=https://archive.org/details/crusadeforjustic00well}}</ref> Douglass opposed the fact that Cady and Anthony were extremely unsupportive of black voting rights.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pauley|first=Garth E.|date=January 2000|title=W.E.B. Du Bois on Woman Suffrage|journal=Journal of Black Studies|volume=30|issue=3|pages=383–410|doi=10.1177/002193470003000306|s2cid=143598727|issn=0021-9347}}</ref> White women condoned racism at the cost of black women if it meant benefitting and more support of the white suffrage movement.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lift every voice: African American oratory, 1787-1900|last=Foner|first=Philip Sheldon|date= 1998|publisher=The Univ. of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-0848-3|oclc=716885530}}</ref><ref name="Dill 1983 131"/>

===== Institutional racism =====
It was not just through personal racism that black women were excluded from feminists movements; [[institutional racism]] prevented many women from having an avid say and stance. It is important to consider the history of black women's labor in the economic, social and political history of America and when orienting the role of black women in first-wave feminism because that history indicates an entirely different experience between black and white women. Black Americans regardless of gender face a violent history of oppression that exploited, abused and commoditized the body for labor as an essential aspect of the early development and success of the United States' economy. Black women were essential to maintaining the mass labor of enslaved people because they could have children that would later become subject to forced labor as well. This uniquely ties black women to the foundation of the United States' economic success. Black women thusly face oppression based on class, race as well as gender that means their interactions with the legal, social, political, educational and economic institutions that feminism aims to change is different from how white women interact with those same systems. The goal of first-wave feminism being mainly to resolve legal issues, chiefly to secure voting rights, only considered the needs of white high class women. First-wave feminism entirely mimicked the racial hierarchy that maintained the power dynamics that exploit black women and completely alienated black women from the feminist movement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rousseau |first=Nicole |date=2013 |title=Historical Womanist Theory: Re-Visioning Black Feminist Thought |journal=Race, Gender & Class |volume=20 |issue=3/4 |pages=191–204 |jstor=43496941 |issn=1082-8354}}</ref> The [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]], established by [[Susan B. Anthony]] and [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]]<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Impact of Empire on the North American Woman Suffrage Movement: Suffrage Racism in an Imperial Context|journal=The Shafr Guide Online|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/the-shafr-guide-online/*-SIM270030025|doi=10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_sim270030025|date=October 2017|last1=Sneider|first1=Allison|s2cid=150840061 }}</ref> did not invite black women to attend specific meetings, excluding them entirely. Feminist and women's suffrage conventions held in Southern states, where black women were a dominant percentage of the population, were segregated.<ref name="Kopacsi 33–50"/>

[[Institutional racism]] excluded black women in the March on Washington in 1913. Black women were asked to march separately, together, at the back of the parade.<ref name="Midge"/> They were forced to be made absent which can be seen in the lack of photographs and media of black women marching in the parade. White women did not want black women associated with their movement because they believed white women would disaffiliate themselves from an integrated group and create a segregated, more powerful one.<ref name="Who Was Who"/>

===== Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" =====
Despite participating and contributing a great deal to all feminists movements, black women were rarely recognized. [[Mary McLeod Bethune]] said that the world was unable to accept all of the contributions black women have made. [[Susan B. Anthony]] and [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] together wrote the ''[[History of Woman Suffrage]]'' published in 1881. The book failed to give adequate recognition to the black women who were equally responsible for the change in United States history.<ref name="Breines 18–24">{{Cite journal|last=Breines|first=Winifred|date=February 2007|title=Struggling to Connect: White and Black Feminism in the Movement Years|journal=Contexts|volume=6|issue=1|pages=18–24|doi=10.1525/ctx.2007.6.1.18|issn=1536-5042|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Sojourner Truth]] became an influential advocate for the women's rights movement. In 1851 she delivered her "Ain't I a Woman" speech at the women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio. Black women at this point were beginning to become empowered and assertive, speaking out on the disproportionate inequalities. Truth speaks of how she, and other women, are capable of working as much as men, after having thirteen children. This speech was one of the ways white and black women became closer to working towards fighting for the same thing. Sojourner Truth's speech was originally documented by Marius Robinson, a good friend of hers, who was present at the women's rights convention. Sojourner voiced her thoughts on the civil rights of women. In 1863, twelve years after she delivered the speech Frances Gage published her recollection of Sojourners speech on that day. Gage changed a majority of Sojourner's words and made her appear as if she had a southern slave dialect which she in fact did not as shown in Robinson's accurate version. Gage wrote phrases such as "chillen, whar dar's so much racket dar must be som'ting out o'kilter."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Compare the Speeches |url=https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=The Sojourner Truth Project |language=en-US}}</ref> when Sojourner actually said "May I say a few words? I want to say a few words about this matter."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Compare the Speeches |url=https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=The Sojourner Truth Project |language=en-US}}</ref> Thought this speech was a huge stepping stone for the women's movement, it was still evident who the movement was focused on.  Truth made a speech at the [[American Equal Rights Association]] in New York in 1867. In the speech, she said, "If colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before."<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Truth, Sojourner (1799–26 November 1883), black abolitionist and women's rights advocate|volume = 1|last=Painter|first=Nell Irvin|title = American National Biography Online|date=February 2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi = 10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1500706|isbn = 978-0-19-860669-7}}</ref> Her speeches brought attention to the movement, for black women, but also for white. Although private lives continued to be segregated, feminist coalitions became integrated. Two separate reasons aided integration in the feminist movement. [[Paula Giddings]] wrote that the two fights against racism and sexism could not be separated. [[Gerda Lerner]] wrote that black women demonstrated they too were fully capable of fighting and creating change for equality.<ref name="Breines 18–24"/>