History of the First Wave and Second Wave in Relation to the World War II

The first wave of feminism took place during the 1880s until 1920s. It was triggered by the French Revolution that took place in France in 1789 as well as Mary Wollstonecrafts book, Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792. The principal concerns of the first wave feminism was attaining womens equality with men, securing a legislation change from private to public patriarchy, securing womens right for suffrage and an access to education and all professions, acquiring legal rights of property ownership, and obtaining rights in marriage and divorce. The first wave continued until the Civil War and World Wars occurred, as the focus then shifted to demands of national unity and patriotism, becoming a severe backlash for movements of womens rights. However, the world wars also changed the roles of women in the society. In World War I, as four million young men served as US troops and went away to war, women took over many jobs traditionally held by men. The same phenomenon occurred during the World War II, where 16 million American men served the Army and women were left to take maintenance of the US economy. During those times, six million women worked in military factories, producing ammunitions and other military goods. The shift of womens traditional jobs were symbolized by Rosie the Roseter, a caricature made by the Defense Department, picturing a woman showing her muscles as a representative of the women that were supporting the American economy. After the World War II, the second wave movement began to rise. The issue raised was liberation from the oppressiveness of a patriarchal society, which marks key shifts in the politics of liberal and Marxist feminists. Feminists tried to raise awareness of issues concerning sexual politics, which includes womens position in the family, womens right for an abortion, womens sexuality, the sexual division of labor, and rape and domestic violence. These feminists were very influenced by Marxism and they believed that emancipation of women would occur only with the destruction of capitalism and the rise of socialism, when women would be freed from dependency on men and the family and be involved in productive labor.