Famous first-wave feminists (1850s-1940s)
1. Mary Wollstonecraft
A feminist philosopher and English writer, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) used her voice and writing to fight for gender equality. Wollstonecraft’s work from 1792, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’, challenged Antifeminist Sean Rousseau’s theories that women were inferior to men, which earned her a legacy in the world of feminist literature. Also fun fact: Mary Wollstonecraft is the mother of the author of the book Frankenstein, Mary Shelley.
2. Sojourner Truth
Born a slave and given the name Isabella Baumfree by her captors, Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) courageously fought against gender inequality and racial discrimination. Although Sojourner was born into slavery, she was freed in 1827, and in 1843 she changed her name to Sojourner Truth, reclaiming her identity. She is known to be the first African-American woman to win a lawsuit in the United States when she won the right to have her son returned to her from his life as a slave. Sojourner Truth spent most of her life campaigning for the rights of women, slaves, and African Americans.
3. Elizabeth C. Stanton
Elizabeth Stanton (1815-1902) was a figurehead for the women’s rights movement in 1848. She planned the first women’s rights convention which took place in Seneca Falls, New York. Stanton is best known for her profound work appealing for equal treatment of women titled ‘The Declaration of Sentiments’, inspired by the Declaration of Independence.
5. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928)
Emmeline Pankhurst used some pretty radical tactics to raise awareness for women’s voting rights. Such tactics included: hunger strikes, chaining herself to train tracks, and sometimes even acts of violence. Unfortunately, after all her work, Emmeline died less than 3 weeks before the passing of a law that granted British women over the age of 21 the right to vote.
Famous second-wave feminists (1960s-1980s)
6. Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
Simone de Beauvoir, a prominent French writer, philosopher, and feminist figure, persistently called out the patriarchal system for its flaws and injustices. De Beauvoir’s writings provided the base for the second-wave of feminism while it naturally attracted a great deal of hate, the astuteness of her work overcame the drama that followed.
7. Betty Friedan (1921-2006)
The author and activist Betty Friedan was arguably one of the most iconic figures of the feminist movement in America. Friedan organized the ‘Women’s Strike for Equality’ on the 50th anniversary of the equal rights amendment. In 1966, Friedan co-founded the ‘National Organisation for Women’ along with many other groups fighting for women’s rights.
8. Germaine Greer (born 1939)
An Australian writer, Germaine Greer is considered to have been a crucial voice in the second-wave of feminism. She’s best known for her work ‘The Female Eunuch’ which discussed repression of a women’s sexuality and personality in a male-dominated and patriarchal society. Greer fought for the sexual liberation of women, believing that it was an integral part of unlocking widespread liberation for women. Today, as do most feminists, Greer believes that feminism still has some way to go, reminding us that women are still settling for less than complete equality.
Famous third-wave feminists (1960- Current day)
9. Audre Lorde (1934-1992)
Audre Lorde used both her voice and writing to convey the importance of the liberation of oppressed people when it came to race, gender, sexual orientation/ sexuality, and class. A world-renown artist and activist, Lorde received many honors and awards, including the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit, which declared her New York State’s Poet Laureate for the years 1991-1993.
10. bell hooks (Gloria Watkins) (born 1952)
bell hooks is a very accomplished black feminist scholar, and theorist. Her popular book ‘Feminism is for Everybody’ changed the way people view feminism by explaining the feminist movement in a more accessible and relatable way. Her book is thought to be a “blueprint for a simplified version of feminism that can be understood and applied by everyone.”
11. Judith Pamela Butler (born 1956)
Judith Pamela Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, third-wave feminism, and literary theory. Butler opposes the belief that certain gendered behaviors are natural, and talks about the ways that one's learned gendered behavior (acts we commonly associate with femininity and masculinity) is a kind of performance, imposed upon us by normative heterosexuality and society.
12. Naomi Wolf (born 1962)
Naomi Wolf and her bestselling book, The Beauty Myth, had a great impact on the third wave of feminism. Her writing theorizes that beauty is a social construct controlled by men and perpetuated by both men and women. Naomi’s book was so revolutionary that it was included on the list of the New York Times’ 70 most influential books of the 20th century.
Word art by Nate Simonson