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Isis Braimbridge
Mr. Williams/Ms. Smith
American Literature
31 March 2015

Feminism

Feminism, the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and
economic equality to men. What Feminism means to me it stands for equality it does not mean
hating men. It and it does not mean every woman has to become CEO. It means a woman has
just as much right to choose for her life what she wants out of it as a man does. If someone tells
her to live it any other way be it from man or woman, than she has been wronged and as a
feminist.
The terms feminism or feminist first appeared in France and The Netherlands in 1872
as les feminists, Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910. The Oxford English
Dictionary lists 1894 for the first appearance of feminist and 1895 for feminism.(Oxford English
Dictionary) The UK Daily News first introduced feminist to the English language, importing it
from France and branding it as dangerous. Paris Correspondent describes as a 'Feminist' group in
the French Chamber of Deputies. Prior to that time Woman's Rights was probably the term used
most commonly by Queen Victoria. (Casey Moore 1)
Later the word came to the United States in the early 1900s through an article about
the French suffragist Madeline Pelltier. She believed that female clothing represented slavery.

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Also birth control and abortion and wrote for Le No-Malthusian. She posited the right of a
woman over her own body as an absolute right. But this article didnt become popular until the
1960s or 1970s. She proposed two categories of women the superior kind who are totally
independent and the others. Feminists said that all that was against nature and an injury to
feminism. Anti-feminists made fun of her as showing where feminist she would say that her
dress said to men that she was their equal. That whoever is truly worthy of liberty doesn't wait
for someone to give it, but take. The phrase women's liberationist was the preferred name for
those who advocated for women's rights. Liberationist soon garnered a bad reputation however
so the word permanently switched to the word feminist.

Unfortunately the word feminist has gained a bad reputation people ignore the original
definition, angry women only live to hate men. Feminazi is a term popularized by radio talkshow host Rush Limbaugh and in the early 1990s. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as
"usually disparaging" manner, to describe "an extreme or militant feminist" (Meriam-Webster)
The Urban Dictionary says feminazi believe that all man are idiots and wearing a bra is a symbol
of oppression shaving our legs is apparently showing that we give into male pressure to be
attractive.(Urban Dictionary)

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