First-wave feminism

The film ‘Suffragette’ was directed by Sarah Gavron and won several awards. Critics were overall positive. One of many praiseful comments was: “an urgent and compelling film, made by British women, about British women who changed the course of history”. 

In this paper I would like to analyze in what way the film, the film producers and the critical responses to the film, portray the British first-wave feminists and how we at the present time should understand this portrayal in the light of the early second-wave feminist ideas.

At the outset, Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles (1916), via its female protagonists, proposes that establishing meaningful connections and friendships between women is the only path for gender equality to occur; critics laud Glaspell’s work for championing a “sense of sisterhood” (Koprince 78), a “total feminine community” (Alkalay-Gut 79), and “powerful female-centered networks” (Nelligan 87). In this article, I question notions of feminist solidarity by traveling in Part I back to America’s feminist roots in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the time of suffragism and the first wave (1848-1920). Part II, the majority of this article, revisits and offers a new reading of Trifles by challenging traditional scholarship (Ben-Zvi; Ferguson; Gainor; Hedges; Kolodny; Koprince) which reads the play straightforwardly as a feminist text. I argue, in the manner of Lisa Maria Hogeland’s influential work “Fear of Feminism: Why Young Women Get the Willies,” that the play puts forward a notion of gender consciousness, which celebrates women’s sexual difference, but it does not advocate for a feminist consciousness which entails a political and social commitment to action and change.

Abstract Intro

Research for a historical fiction TV Series reveals never-before unmasked, and fascinating facts and connections between the 1902 Kosher Beef Boycott, a mostly Eastern European female-immigrant driven protest, that gave birth to modern female social activism movement in the United States, and its initial and lasting impact on President Theodore Roosevelt's administration, government policies at the time, and federal agencies formed more than 100 years ago, that have played a significant role in the lives of every American citizen. 

Preface

The [historical] research in support of the writing for the TV series, "Boycott" reveals the critical role the events of the Boycott played in shaping the course of U.S. business, history, politics, literature, and popular culture of the day during the last breaths of "Gilded-Era" America, and its remarkable [and never-before recognized] prominent impact the boycott had through present-day society. 

Further, evidence will be presented that the 1902 Kosher Beef Boycott was the birth of female-led social activism. Moreover, specifically, the actions of two women, Fanny Levy and Sarah Edelson, have been identified as the two women who initiated the boycott. It was their outrage at learning of the increase in the cost of Kosher Beef by fifty percent - from 12 cents to 18 cents a pound that was at the core of the agitation.

The grass roots tactics employed by Fanny and Sarah - banding together - forming rallies and protests that comprised tens of thousands of people - mainly women - streaming through the crowded streets of New York City’s Lower East Side, Ward 10 in particular —  to powerfully protest their displeasure at the Cattle Barons and the “Beef Trust” — is a tactic that remains evident as a “protest strategy” in contemporary America. Their initial resistance, and subsequent strategies that unfolded over a three-week period in May, 1902, instilled a spirit that not only transformed their generation, but all others that followed. | Summary:

Presented are historical events leading up to the 1902 Kosher Beef Boycott, and numerous others following the Boycott incident. The first event of historical significance for which a connection can be made, and will be demonstrated is the Sherman Anti-Trust act of 1890.  In both instances, "pre-boycott" and "post-boycott" causal connections of numerous, wide-ranging and profoundly impactful aspects of American history are, for the first time, unmasked.  This research was triggered, and these historical insights discovered during the writing of a television mini-series inspired by the actual events of the 1902 Kosher Beef Boycott.

The time period covered during the research of the show, and subsequently included in this paper, are from 1890 to 1906. Within the sixteen years time period, greater attention is paid to the period of 1898 - 1902, for it is during this time, argued in this paper, that the events of the 1902 Kosher Beef Boycott were influenced in great measure by President Theodore Roosevelt [based on the events of Roosevelt in Cuba during the Spanish American War, and then once he became President in 1901].

Once Roosevelt became aware of the Boycott he then, it is argued, made decisions that had a profound impact on American society. It is the “discovery” of these various and numerous [causal] connections that it is believed are both academically and historically compelling and should prove of great interest to American historians, Roosevelt Scholars, feminists in general, and Jewish feminists in particular, among a host of a wide range of intellectuals, academics, and scholars.

An essay evaluating feminist theory through the movement's waves and the progressions it made in them by criticizing the feminist work of Virginia Woolf, mainly focusing on To the Lighthouse and A Room of Ones Own. Defines the dated and original idea of feminism that prominent authors of the time advocated for which excluded women of color, women with disabilities, and women of lower classes.

Vida Goldstein was one of the first women in the world to stand for national election on equal footing with men in Australia in 1903. Her feminist newspaper, The Australian Woman’s Sphere (1900–1905), documents much of her political campaign but also reveals a remarkable interplay with the mainstream press. This chapter explores how white women and men negotiated the sudden shared space of a Federal election through the way two newspapers from the potent world of the Melbourne press, The Age and The Argus, portrayed and misrepresented Goldstein’s aims and policies. Examining the reactions to her candidature and the controversies surrounding her campaign, including the “fiscal question” and the “ticket” problem, and her own responses, provides insights into the unexplored interaction between the three newspapers. While exposing gender inequality and discrimination, the dialogue between Goldstein’s newspaper and the two dominant dailies reflects the voices and experiences of the first-wave feminist movement, and its detractors, during a moment of major social and political transformation.

I believe that feminism, although not without immense cultural importance, is leading to a decrease in confidence among young boys, a misleading adoption of male traits in women, and an increase in the radicalization of its followers through a lack of achievable goals. This must be addressed

This book brings together long-obscured histories to discuss Australia's cultural, social, and political diversity in depth. The history of Australia's migrant and minority print media reveals extensive evidence for the nation's global connectedness, from the colonial era to today. A fascinating and complex picture of Australia's long-term transnational ties emerges from the smaller enterprises of individuals and communities in the distant and more recent past. This book explores the authentic voices of minority groups which challenged the dominant experiences, patterns, and debates that have shaped Australia.

Bu makalenin amacı, Marx’ın kendi eserlerinde direk olarak, kadınların ezilmişliği ve nedenlerinden bahsetmemesine rağmen, doğumundan 150 sonra, 1970’lerde, görüşlerinin, kadınların ezilmişliğini anlamak ve anlatabilmek adına Feminist Hareket içinde nasıl yeni bir teori (Marksist-Feminist) gelişmesine yardım ettiğini analiz etmektir. Feminist Hareket, doğuşundan beri var olan Liberal Feminizmin yeni gelişen şartlarla oluşan yeni toplumdaki kadının hâlâ ikinci sınıf olmasını anlatmaya yeterli olmaması ile, 1970’lerde bir tıkanmışlık içinde yeni çıkış yolları arayışı içine girmiştir. İkinci dünya savaşı sırasında erkeklerin savaşta olması dolayısı ile çalışma hayatını genelde kadınların doldurması, savaşın bitmesi ile kadınların tekrar evlerine gönderilip “özel alana” sıkıştırılmaları, onların “kamusal alan” konusunda derin derin düşünüp tartışmalarına yol açmıştır. Marx’ın, bir işçinin işine nasıl yabancılaştığını anlatırken “işçi çalışma esnasında kendinde değildir. Ancak eve geldiğinde kendine gelir. Evde çalışmıyordur, çalışıyorsa evde değildir”  şeklindeki ifadesi, Almanya’da sosyolog Frigga Haug’un düşünce olarak önderliğini yaptığı bir grup kadının ev işlerini yeniden düşünmesine fırsat verirken, İtalya’da Mariarosa Dalla Costa ve Selma James’in 1972 yılında yayımladıkları The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community adlı kitabı, Marx’ın Feminist okuması olarak, kadınların toplum içindeki rolleri ve işgücü piyasasındaki durumlarını yeniden ele almış ve kadınların ev içi çalışmalarının ücretlendirilmesi gerektiği fikrini ortaya atmıştır. Böylece, Marx’ın kapitalist sistemin işçi sınıfını istismarını analiz ederken kullandığı metot, kadınların, toplumsal cinsiyet, sınıf, feminizm, antikapitalizm kavramları çerçevesinde toplumu bir başka pencereden yeniden analiz etmesini sağlamıştır. Bu metotla, toplumsal cinsiyet baskısını yok edebilecek tek çarenin, toplumu yukarıdan aşağı değil, “özel olan politiktir” sloganı eşliğinde aşağıdan yukarıya değiştirmekle mümkün olacağı tartışmaları başlamıştır.

The article introduces the key figure of the writer George Egerton for the first-wave feminism in the Bulgarian research field of the aesthetics of protomodernism and early modernism, as well as in the field of literary studies focused on these areas from the late 19th—early 20th century. Based on the biography and bibliography of Mary Chavelita Dunn (Bright), the study sheds light on her motives for choosing to write under a male pseudonym, her personal position on the ideas of ‘Eternal Femininity’ and ‘New Femininity,’ as well as the vividly musical element at all levels of her fiction: starting from the very choice of titles for her first three collections (Keynotes, Dissonances, Symphonies) and the often expressed in her stories admiration for the philosophical and ideological work of Nietzsche, known for his own musical opuses, for his reflections on Richard Wagner and on new music as a phoenix of the sunset of culture, as well as for composing The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music (1872) on Schopenhauer’s raging wild and blind will of the world, most fully expressed as life through music among all the arts. / Статията въвежда ключовата за първата вълна на феминизма фигура на писателката Джордж Еджъртън в българското изследователско поле на естетиката на протомодернизма и ранния модернизъм, както и в полето на литературознанието, съсредоточено върху тези направления от края на VІХ – началото на ХХ век. Като стъпва върху базисната биография и библиография на Мери Чавелита Дън (Брайт), изследването хвърля светлина върху мотивите за избора на писателката да пише под мъжки псевдоним, за личната ѝ позиция спрямо идеите за „Вечната женственост“ и „Новата женственост“, както и за отчетливо музикалния елемент на всички нива в нейната художествена проза: като се започне от самия избор на заглавия за първите ѝ три сборника („Ключови тонове“, „Дисонанси“, „Симфонии“) и често изразяваното в разказите ѝ възхищение от философското и идейното творчество на Ницше, известен със собствените си музикални опуси, с рефлексиите си върху Рихард Вагнер и върху новата музика като феникс на залеза на културата, както и с композирането на „Раждането на трагедията от духа на музиката“ (1872) върху Шопенхауеровата бушуваща дива и сляпа воля на света, изразима най-пълнокръвно като живот през музиката изсред всички изкуства.

„Heraus mit dem Frauenwahlrecht!“: Wien am 19. 3. 1911, 20 000 Frauen fordern das Frauenwahlrecht ein, demonstrieren für Kinderschutz und gleiche Bezahlung. Als probates Mittel der Agitation für die Ziele der (sozialistischen) Frauenbewegung wurde zusätzlich zu der Festveranstaltung am Parkring ein Protestmarsch entlang des Prachtboulevards der Hauptstadt abgehalten. Diese Strategie der Raumnahme sorgte nicht nur für eine höhere Öffentlichkeitswirkung, sie zielte auch auf die symbolische Ebene, denn die Frauen forderten BürgerInnenrechte im „öffentlichen“ Raum. Aber wie ist dieser „öffentliche“ Raum beschaffen? Die Wiener Ringstraße, entlang der die wichtigsten staatlichen Institutionen mit ihren Prachtbauten angesiedelt sind, sich die teuersten Palais der gesellschaftlichen Elite befinden, ist der Inbegriff von Herrschaftsarchitektur. Er bildet soziale Realitäten ab – und damit auch die „Geschlechterordnung“.
Wie ist nun dieser urbane Raum als Verkörperung eines Gender- Diskurses lesbar? (Wie) verändern sich seine Bezüge, die Raumordnung, wenn eine Frauenrechts-Demonstration sich durch ihn hindurch bewegt? Und was bedeutet dies für die Strategie der „Raumnahme“? Am Beispiel des Wiener „Kaiserforums“, dem Zentrum der Habsburgmonarchie, werden diese Fragen erörtert.

The Film Theory in Practice series fills a gaping hole in the world of film theory. By marrying the explanation of a film theory with the interpretation of a film, the volumes provide discrete examples of how film theory can serve as the basis for textual analysis. Feminist Film Theory and Cléo from 5 to 7 offers a concise introduction to feminist film theory in jargon-free language and shows how this theory can be deployed to interpret Agnes Varda's critically acclaimed 1962 film Cléo from 5 to 7.

Hilary Neroni employs the methodology of looking for a feminist alternative among female-oriented films. Through three key concepts-identification, framing the woman's body, and the female auteur-Neroni lays bare the debates and approaches within the vibrant history of feminist film theory, providing a point of entry to feminist film theory from its inception to today. Picking up one of the currents in feminist film theory - that of looking for feminist alternatives among female-oriented films - Neroni traces feminist responses to the contradictions inherent in most representations of women in film, and she details how their responses have intervened in changing what we see on the screen.