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Feminism is a widely used term in the context of equality between men and women. ‘Femina’ is of Latin origin which means woman and ‘ism’ is a suffix which means a belief or view or a process. It can be concluded that the word feminism stands for women related beliefs and ideology.[4] According to the Cambridge dictionary the word feminism has a very wide scope. It deals with various aspects that revolve around women rights. It stands for a belief and opinion that women all over the world should be treated equal to men. They should be provided with equal power and opportunities and every kind of support that is required to bring them on equal footing with the men. For another group of thinkers, Feminism amounts to a complete movement involving both men and women. Here it does not talk about women specifically but talks about all kind of gender equality. It is a movement that promotes equality for both men and women. The belief behind the concept of feminism is that people belonging to any gender should be allowed and permitted to seek any opportunity regardless of the gender they belong to. Being a man or a woman doesn’t make any difference in their rights and opportunities. During the struggle by women to gain equality and justice, they have faced many political, cultural and legal barriers. The Injustice that women face leads them towards poverty and powerlessness. Out of the total Population living in poverty, majority is women. Having less power makes them experience further inequality. Women are not provided adequate and even basic education thus making them weaker both economically and socially. They are considered as dependent beings that depend on men for their all kinds of needs. Almost 153 countries of the world support such kinds of laws which cause economic discrimination against women.[5] These include around 18 countries in which the husbands are permitted to stop and prevent their wives from working. Thus the life of a woman, her earning power is in the hands of the men of the family. Talking about equal pay, almost 24 percent of the world women population face the issue of unequal pay for equal work. They are paid much less than men for same work across almost all sectors of employment. Further, since last two decades, the statistics being unchanged, women form two-third majority out of the total illiterate adult population of the world. The problem persists from grass root level to high administrative sphere. Statistics show that less than 24 percent of the total Parliamentarians of the world and less than 5 percent of world Mayors are women. All kinds of data, reports and statistics collected and analysis worldwide prove everyday that women are not able to enjoy their basic human rights. This is because most of them are unaware of the rights and rest are not allowed to take the benefit from those rights. They are subjected to abuse and exploitation. The fact that they are equally human and have right to live a life on their own terms is in some or the other way neglected in most of the cases.

1. Betty Friedman- The Feminine Mystique[1]: The book was a huge success and it gave Voices to Women all around the globe. The book strikes upon the limitations that hold back women and actively highlighted the need of Gender Equality. It elaborated the thoughts and beliefs of a true Feminist. 

2. Spender Dale- The making and meaning of feminist knowledge[2]: It includes the Rise of feminism and the affect of feminist theories on the lives of Women and Men both. It covers the different waves and models associated with the concept of Feminism. 

3. Daniel Horowitz- Rethinking Betty Friedman[3]: This book is an extension to The Feminine Mystique by Betty Freidman. It took the Feminism and Feminists beliefs one step further. 

 Feminism in all aspects, be it legal feminism, radical feminism or liberal feminism claim that men and women are equal human beings and deserve equal rights and opportunities. The differences between a man and a woman are also accepted and they need to be accommodated in the present systems instead of using these differences as a tool for discrimination. The Cultural feminists focus on the preservation of relationship and differentiate boys and girls as the former are strong and justice oriented while the latter are caring and sensitive.  Despite all the differences and variations, every theory agrees to the fact that women are equal Human beings as men and in some or the other way they need to be liberated from the control of men. The freedom of women is the main goal. Post Modernism does not provide a proper definition of ‘women’.  According to them the woman gender is a consequence of the Patriarchal culture.

The modern feminism has a long history of movements from where it evolved. It came in the form of waves all around the world and each wave experienced a specific issue related to the feminism approach. Many eminent thinkers were associated with these waves and supported one or the other. 

First wave Feminism

It was the time of nineteenth and early twentieth century. This wave witnessed aspects like women’s suffrage. Political representation was one of the most important issues during this wave.[6] Property rights of women were also focused on. The thinkers of this time demanded representation of women in the government.

Second wave Feminism: This wave existed from 1960s to 1980s. The main focus during this time period was on gaining equality and justice and reducing all kind of inequalities. It focused on unequal treatment of women at various places like at workplace, within their homes, de facto inequalities and legal inequalities. Voices were also raised to secure the Reproductive rights of women. During this period of time, a famous writer namely Betty Friedan wrote a book titled as “The Faminine Mystique”.[7] This book highlighted the unhappiness and dissatisfaction of the writer on being recognised only as a wife and a mother. According to the thinkers of this school the book highlighted the real situation of most of the women around.

Third wave Feminism

it existed over the years from 1989s to 2008. The main highlight of this wave was the acceptance of universal womanhood. Embracement of women as an individual and keeping in mind the diversity that existed amongst women was the main focus.[8] It was realised that along with the equality between men and women, equality should also be recognised amongst women. Women belong to different religions, colours, ethnicities, cultures and nationalities.

Fourth wave Feminism

This wave focuses more on the real results rather than just philosophies and what is written in the texts. It began in 2008 and runs till present day. It seeks implementation of laws and focuses on minimising all the evil practices like sexual violence and assault, Misogyny etc. that harm the interest and rights of women.[9]

Fifth wave Feminism

It is the Future feminism movement which is yet to come. It will be more advanced than the previous movements and is expected to focus on more important aspects of feminist issues. The  movement allows women to use technology as an instrument for their own development. It focuses on the women education and women liberalism.[10]

Each wave mentioned above represented different ideologies but altogether focused on the recognition of rights of women and securing Gender Justice.  Equality for women was the theme during all the movements.

It can be concluded that Feminism amounts to both, an ideology and also a collection of various movements. It aims at establishing and securing equality and justice to women in all spheres be it political equality, social justice, economic equality etc.  It in no way means that women should be recognised as above men. It seeks equality and justice security for women and discourages every kind of gender discrimination done to women. The gender ‘Women’ is created by the society through the application of values, social rules and norms and internalisation. Women are recognised as weaker than men. They are considered physically and emotionally weak and fragile. On the other hand men have always been considered as strong pillars and society runners.[11] They are considered as everything which women are not and more.  The reasons for this belief and consideration have already been discussed above and Patriarchy is the most important factor out of all. People always have different opinions and interpretations on the same topic. Same is the case with the philosophy of Feminism. It is interpreted differently in different nations.  It has various schools of thoughts. The system of Patriarchy presents men as norm and women as deviation from the Norm. The point is very small to write but practically speaking it affects the society a lot. Men are considered as the main centre of the society and women and every other creature revolves around them.

The theorists belonging to the era of feminism propose to change and modify the Legal language and laws to make them more inclusive of women and to let the laws promote broader goals of social justice and equality with regard to women.[12] There are some approaches to this theory which make the agenda of the feminist Legal Theory crystal clear.

1. The Liberal equality Model focuses on ensuring genuine equality for women. Women deserve equal opportunities in all fields of life. They should be able to live a life free of any dominance and should have freedom of choices. As the name suggests the model recognises the importance of liberalism and equality associated with that liberalism in the lives of women. Women should be granted with equal education, equal healthcare facilities, equal freedom of expression and movement etc.

2.  The Sexual Difference Model signifies gender discrimination which should be taken into account. It considers the recognition of differences between a man and a woman as important. The law should compensate both men and women because of the difference in their biological and cultural construction. Bothe men and women have different life experiences. No matter how much we seek equality but there is some difference between the two genders that cannot be overcome. They should be treated as equal but not same. A pregnant woman cannot be expected to fight on the border just like a man can in every stage of his life. Thus it is practicality based model.

3. The dominance Model completely rejects the Liberal equality model and views Law as a Mechanism to enhance the male dominance in the society. The dominance model talks about only the dominance of male over the female. According to the thinkers here, the goal of every law and every other practical approach should be to liberate women from the dominance of men. It is the men who are fully responsible for all the wrongs that have been happening with women since past till today. According to this model, gender equality and Justice will result only when excess of Power of men will be taken away and it will be equally distributed between the men and the women. The unequal power distribution and dominance of male due to this distribution is the reason behind the subordination of women in

The Anti essentialist Model 

This model was the result of contribution of women of different colour and lesbians. It began in 1980s. The model does not talk about the equality of men and women but similar to the third wave feminism it talks about the equality of women among themselves. The model focuses on the interest and perspective of a particular oppressed group like Black women or lesbians etc.  Whenever any issue is raised regarding the Rights of women, the law and society mainly focuses on White, Middle or high class, hetero sexual women. This Feminist Model seeks recognition to women of every race, colour and sexual orientation. Equality between men and women can only be achieved by uniting women all over the world into single group. This can be done by making all women in the world as equals.

The post Modern Model again rejects the Liberal equality model and also rejects the Difference model. The model is completely based on practical experiences and perspectives. It is the model of modern according to which laws and societal norms as changeable. According to this model the law and culture both should lay their focus on the betterment and empowerment of women. The Law and culture both should be modified in such a manner as to meet the changing and growing needs of society and women. Women form as an essential part of the society. Their overall development should be in the priority list of all the nations.  The goal of the model is to secure Justice to women, eradicate every kind of discrimination and secure and promote human rights of women.

1. Betty Friedman, The feminine Mystique (W.W. Norton and Company, New York 1st edn. 1963). 2. Spender Dale, The making and meaning of feminist knowledge (Women’s Press, Germany 1985). 3. Daniel Horowitz, Rethinking Betty Friedman (W.W. Norton and Company, New York. 1975). 4. Sarah Jaffe, “Trickle down feminism”48 Journal of women 30 (In press 2019). 5. Editorial, “Women and Economy” The Times of India, Sep. 9, 2018. 6. Lidia Yuknawitch, “Feminist future” The Nation April 4, 2018. 7. Betty Friedman, The feminine Mystique (W.W. Norton and Company, New York 1st edn. 1963). 8. Spender Dale, The making and meaning of feminist knowledge (Women’s Press, Germany 1985). 9. Daniel Horowitz, Rethinking Betty Friedman (W.W. Norton and Company, New York. 1975). 10. Ibid. 11. Robert R.M (ed.), Feminist Legal theory 120 ( New York University Press, New York 1998). 12. Martha Albertson, “Feminist Legal Theory” Journal of Gender, social, policy and the law.13 (2001).