Feminism

=== 19th and early 20th centuries ===
{{Main|First-wave feminism}}
First-wave feminism was a period of activity during the 19th and early-20th centuries. In the UK and US, it focused on the promotion of equal contract, marriage, parenting, and property rights for women. New legislation included the [[Custody of Infants Act 1839]] in the UK, which introduced the [[tender years doctrine]] for child custody and gave women the right of custody of their children for the first time.<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=1-872870-57-0|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> Other legislation, such as the [[Married Women's Property Act 1870]] in the UK and extended in the [[Married Women's Property Act 1882|1882 Act]],<ref name=MWPA1882>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/45-46/75/introduction |title=Married Women's Property Act 1882 |year=1882 |publisher=UK Government |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref> became models for similar legislation in other British territories. [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] passed legislation in 1884 and [[New South Wales]] in 1889; the remaining Australian colonies passed similar legislation between 1890 and 1897. With the turn of the 19th century, activism focused primarily on gaining political power, particularly the right of women's [[suffrage]], though some feminists were active in campaigning for women's [[Sexual and reproductive health and rights|sexual]], [[reproductive rights|reproductive]], and [[Economic, social and cultural rights|economic rights]] too.<ref name=NoTurningBack464>{{cite book|author=Freedman, Estelle B. |title=No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women |year=2003 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-45053-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/noturningbackhis00free/page/464 464] |url=https://archive.org/details/noturningbackhis00free/page/464 }}</ref>

[[Women's suffrage]] (the right to vote and stand for parliamentary office) began in Britain's [[Australasia]]n colonies at the end of the 19th century, with the self-governing colony of [[Feminism in New Zealand|New Zealand]] granting women the right to vote in 1893; [[South Australia]] followed suit with the [[Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894]] in 1894. This was followed by Australia granting female suffrage in 1902.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elections.org.nz/votes-women |title=Votes for Women Electoral Commission |publisher=Elections New Zealand |date=13 April 2005 |access-date=31 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914135838/http://www.elections.org.nz/votes-women |archive-date=14 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/Australian_Electoral_History/wright.htm|title=Women and the right to vote in Australia|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |date=28 January 2011 |access-date=26 April 2013}}</ref>

In Britain, the suffragettes and [[National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies|suffragists]] campaigned for the women's vote, and in 1918 the [[Representation of the People Act 1918|Representation of the People Act]] was passed granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who owned property. In 1928, this was extended to all women over 21.<ref name=Phillips>{{cite book |author=Phillips, 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 |pages=1–370}}</ref> [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] was the most notable activist in England. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' named her one of the [[Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century|100 Most Important People of the 20th Century]], stating: "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Emmeline Pankhurst&nbsp;– Time 100 People of the Century |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991250,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306060513/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991250,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2008 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |first=Marina |last=Warner |date=14 June 1999}}</ref> In the US, notable leaders of this movement included [[Lucretia Mott]], [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]], and [[Susan B. Anthony]], who each campaigned for the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]] before championing women's right to vote. These women were influenced by the [[Quaker]] theology of spiritual equality, which asserts that men and women are equal under God.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ruether|first=Rosemary Radford|title=Women and Redemption: A Theological History|publisher=Fortress Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=978-0-8006-9816-4|pages=112–18, 136–39|edition=2nd|year=2012}}</ref> In the US, first-wave feminism is considered to have ended with the passage of the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] (1919), granting women the right to vote in all states. The term ''first wave'' was coined retroactively when the term ''second-wave feminism'' came into use.<ref name=NoTurningBack464/><ref name= DuBois>{{cite book |author=DuBois, Ellen Carol |title=Harriot Stanton Blatch and the Winning of Woman Suffrage |year=1997 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Conn. |isbn=978-0-300-06562-6}}</ref><ref name=Flexner>{{cite book |last=Flexner |first=Eleanor |title=Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States |publisher=The Belknap Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-674-10653-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/century_fle_1996_00_7206/page/ xxviii–xxx] |url=https://archive.org/details/century_fle_1996_00_7206/page/ }}</ref><ref name= Wheeler>{{cite book|last=Wheeler |first=Marjorie W. |title=One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement |year=1995 |publisher=NewSage Press |location=Troutdale, OR |isbn=978-0-939165-26-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/onewomanonevoter00spru/page/127 127] |url=https://archive.org/details/onewomanonevoter00spru/page/127 }}</ref><ref name=Stevens>{{cite book|last1=Stevens |first1=Doris |last2=O'Hare |first2=Carol |title=Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote |year=1995 |publisher=NewSage Press |location=Troutdale, OR |isbn=978-0-939165-25-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/jailedforfreedom00stev/page/1 1–388] |url=https://archive.org/details/jailedforfreedom00stev/page/1 }}</ref>

During the late [[Qing Dynasty|Qing period]] and reform movements such as the [[Hundred Days' Reform]], [[Feminism in China|Chinese feminists]] called for women's liberation from traditional roles and [[Neo-Confucian]] [[Gender inequality in China|gender segregation]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ko |first1=Dorothy |first2=JaHyun Kim |last2=Haboush |first3=Joan R. |last3=Piggott |title=Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan |publisher=University of California Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-520-23138-2}}{{page needed|date=October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ma |first1=Yuxin |title=Women Journalists and Feminism in China, 1898–1937 |publisher=Cambria Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60497-660-1}}{{page needed|date=October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Farris |first1=Catherine S. |first2=Anru |last2=Lee |first3=Murray A. |last3=Rubinstein |title=Women in the New Taiwan: Gender Roles and Gender Consciousness in a Changing Society |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7656-0814-7}}{{page needed|date=October 2012}}</ref> Later, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] created projects aimed at integrating women into the workforce, and claimed that the revolution had successfully achieved women's liberation.<ref name="Dooling">{{cite book |last=Dooling |first=Amy D. |title=Women's Literary Feminism in 20th-Century China |publisher=Macmillan |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4039-6733-6}}{{page needed|date=October 2012}}</ref>

According to Nawar al-Hassan Golley, Arab feminism was closely connected with [[Arab nationalism]]. In 1899, [[Qasim Amin]], considered the "father" of Arab feminism, wrote ''The Liberation of Women'', which argued for legal and social reforms for women.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stange |first1=Mary Zeiss |first2=Carol K. |last2=Oyster |first3=Jane E. |last3=Sloan |title=Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World |publisher=SAGE |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4129-7685-5 |pages=79–81}}</ref> He drew links between women's position in Egyptian society and nationalism, leading to the development of Cairo University and the National Movement.<ref name=Golley>{{cite book |last=Golley |first=Nawar Al-Hassan |title=Reading Arab Women's Autobiographies: Shahrazad Tells Her Story |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2003 |pages=30–50 |isbn=978-0-292-70545-6}}</ref> In 1923 [[Hoda Shaarawi]] founded the [[Egyptian Feminist Union]], became its president and a symbol of the Arab women's rights movement.<ref name=Golley/>

The [[Iranian Constitutional Revolution]] in 1905 triggered the [[Iranian women's movement]], which aimed to achieve women's equality in [[Iranian gender restrictions in education|education]], marriage, careers, and [[Women's rights in Iran|legal rights]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Ettehadieh |first=Mansoureh |author-link=Mansoureh Ettehadieh |year=2004 |chapter=The Origins and Development of the Women's Movement in Iran, 1906–41 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLRgXf_e_CEC&pg=PA85 |pages=85–106 |title=Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic |editor1-first=Lois |editor1-last=Beck |editor2-first=Guity |editor2-last=Nashat |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-07189-8}}</ref> However, during the [[Iranian revolution]] of 1979, many of the rights that [[Women in Iran|women]] had gained from the women's movement were systematically abolished, such as the [[Iran's Family Protection Law|Family Protection Law]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Chronology of Events Regarding Women in Iran since the Revolution of 1979 |title=Iran Since the Revolution |first=Elham |last=Gheytanchi |series=Social Research, Volume 67, No. 2 |year=2000 |editor1-first=Arien |editor1-last=Mack |chapter-url=http://www.iranchamber.com/society/articles/chronology_events_women_iran.php}}</ref>