The Etymology of Feminism

History of the Word “Feminism”

Ever since I was very little, I noticed that I was treated differently because I was a girl. My family wasn’t just traditionally southern in expecting girls to be “lady-like”, but they also catered to the men. When our parent’s let the kids plan dinner, it was my brothers who always got to pick what to eat. My brothers never had to go to church on Sunday if they didn’t want to. My brothers could stay up later than me and my sister could. The list of these little, but still significant privileges goes on and on. While these injustices united my sister and I, she was much more accepting of her designated role than I was. When I was about 12, I began to refuse to participate in this system. I wanted things to be fair and equal, and I was quite vocal about this. Therefore I proudly earned the role of the family feminist. For that very reason, I chose to go to Bryn Mawr; I wanted to be in a place with other feminists. However after coming to college, I have had to reevaluate myself; my personal opinion of what a feminist is does not necessarily match anyone else’s at Bryn Mawr. I have been introduced to new personal definitions of the word feminism every day since I arrived, and I feel a bit lost. Therefore, I hope that in doing some research on the etymology of feminism, I can achieve a better understanding of where my place is in the world of feminism.

Using the Oxford English Dictionary, I looked up the word feminism. The very first entry, although it is not what I personally define feminism as, makes sense: “the qualities of females” (1). This term was first used in 1851 as a part of the Imperial Dictionary (1). Knowing this, the word’s more simple meaning makes sense to me. Men created it in a time when they were out discovering and classifying everything. In doing so, they often used Latin or Greek for naming. In this case, they simply used the latin word for woman, femina (1).  In this original context, the word served its purpose well. 

How did the word feminism acquire a more significant meaning? The second definition the of feminism is the “advocacy of the rights of women (based on theory of equality of the sexes)” (1). The Oxford English dictionary notes that this definition is after the French féminisme (1). The French first commenced their participation in this kind of feminism during the French Revolution of 1789 (2). During this time, French women were assigned the role of bring up new citizens of the Republic, and so women argued for the rights of citizenship for themselves (2). Despite the fact that these rights were not granted, the word did stick around (2). Enough so, that it was being using in literary magazines and daily chronicles in London in the late nineteenth century (1). This new appearance of feminism in writing was far different from the original definition that had been defined forty years earlier. 

Next to this definition of feminism is a link to womanism. I personally have never known this word well enough to be able to develop my own definition of it. However it appears as though it has a similar etymology to the word feminism. Interestingly, I discovered that before feminism was used in the English language, the word “womanism” was already in place. This first definition of womanism is “behaviour regarded as typical or characteristic of a woman; womanishness” (1). This definition was first cited in 1824 in an american magazine: “I had passed through life without many trials of courage; and I may be excused if at this time I betrayed symptoms of womanism” (1). Clearly this definition of womanism is not aligned with the second and more used sense of the word feminism today. However, it is similar to the original definition of feminism, but with a little less formality of the latin root definition. This primary definition of womanism, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, has been used in literature up into the twentieth century. 

However it, like feminism, also has a more in depth meaning: “advocacy of or support for the rights and achievements of women; espousal of qualities and values regarded as characteristic of women” (1). This new definition first appeared around 1850, and arose from the abolitionist movement, but was not necessarily applied to just black women (1). Then, with the events of the civil rights movement, black women created their own definition of feminism: “support for the rights and achievements of women advocated by some writers, esp. black female writers, and characterized by an emphasis on celebrating the contribution of women to society as a whole; black feminism” (6). In 1984, the New York Times Magazine credited this definition to Alice Walker, and later it was again credited to her in 2003 in the African American Revue (1). 

While the definitions of feminism and the definitions of womanism are different, they all come about from a logical place. They are relative to the context of the time in which they first appeared to be used. Therefore in this day and age of increasing global concern, it makes sense that the definition of feminism is changing yet again. Estelle Freedman, a women’s history specialist at Stanford University, defines feminism as “...social movements are necessary to achieve political equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (3). This definition is representative of a possible new definition of feminism which is concerned with issues that are less directly related to women.

Knowing that the word for women’s rights is relatively new in the grand scheme of the English language is sad. It is also intriguing that the words that women now use for empowerment have original definitions that were very often used in a misogynistic manner (1). While the primary definitions do not seem to have anything to do with modern feminism or womanism, I agree with an aspect of those definitions; I think that because the word feminism or womanism has a root based upon the female form, that it should stay pertaining just the rights of women. This belief of mine does not agree with the newer definitions of feminism that calls for the movement to address many social issues. However, I do believe in these social causes. I think that the two causes, while both important should stay separate. So there, I know more about my definition of feminism: the promotion of just the rights of women.  Unfortunately I feel as though my definition of the term feminism is somewhat exclusive. Therefore I think I want a new word, one that promotes equality for both genders and everyone who identifies as somewhere in between. I am hoping that my views will continue to evolve with the more knowledge that I receive not only from class but also from my experience. 

Works Cited

1. www.oed.com

2. http://www.newint.org/features/1992/01/05/simply/ 

3. http://ntb.stanford.edu/quotes.html 

4. http://www.fashion-era.com/mid-late_victorian_fashion.htm 

5. http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/french-revolution4.htm 

6. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframerwriters/tp/african_american_women_writers.01.htm