Title: Feminism: Ideas, Beliefs, and Movements
Headings: The Core Ideas and Beliefs of Feminism
The Core Ideas and Beliefs of Feminism
The ongoing struggle to achieve gender equality
The Origin of the Word "Feminism"
Feminism and Society
Feminism and Sexuality
Feminism in the Workforce
What Feminism Is and What it Isn't
Further Study

Content: Feminism: Ideas, Beliefs, and Movements
Humanities › History & Culture
The Core Ideas and Beliefs of Feminism
The ongoing struggle to achieve gender equality
National Archives/Getty Images
History & Culture
Women's History
History Of Feminism
Important Figures
Key Events
Women's Suffrage
Women & War
Laws & Womens Rights
Feminism & Pop Culture
Feminist Texts
American History
African American History
African History
Ancient History and Culture
Asian History
European History
Genealogy
Inventions
Latin American History
Medieval & Renaissance History
Military History
The 20th Century
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By
Jone Johnson Lewis
Women's History Writer
B.A., Mundelein College
M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School
Jone Johnson Lewis is a women's history writer who has been involved with the women's movement since the late 1960s. She is a former faculty member of the Humanist Institute. our editorial process
Jone Johnson Lewis
Updated October 06, 2019
Feminism is a complex set of ideologies and theories, that at its core seeks to achieve equal social, political, and economic rights for women and men. Feminism refers to a diverse variety of beliefs, ideas, movements, and agendas for action. It refers to any actions, especially organized, that promote changes in society to end patterns that have disadvantaged women. The Origin of the Word "Feminism"
While it is common to see the word "feminist" used for figures such as Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), the terms feminist and feminism were not used in the modern sense until a century after her 1792 book " A Vindication of the Rights of Women " was published. The term first appeared during the 1870s in France as féminisme —although there has been some speculation that it may have been used before then. At the time, the word referred to women's freedom or emancipation.