The word feminism was coined in the 19th century by French philosopher and socialist Charles Fourier. But while feminists all seek equality between the sexes across political, social, and cultural spheres, there is no one type of feminism.
The author Rebecca West wrote in 1913 "I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat".
The first wave of feminists fought for women to be able to vote and own property. Until these gains were made, largely in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women often needed male guardians to transact business on their behalf, which was particularly galling if your guardian was an idiot.
In 1949 the brilliant French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir published The second sex. She argued that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.
This was good news for those who felt constrained by the expectation that women should be quiet and nice. Beauvoir's critics, and feminism's critics, have often said that anger is not very ladylike.
This is no bad thing. Who wouldn't rather be a woman than a lady?
Feminism has gradually shifted for women around the world to advocate many different kinds of change like equal pay and reproductive freedom. Most recently, social media has become a crucial tool for raising awareness and encouraging debate.
Feminist campaigns to combat female genital mutilation, to acknowledge the contributions made by women in the past, and to speak out against sexual abuse in all its forms have filtered into mainstream cultural discourse. At the end of 2017, Time magazine named women who had broken their silence on sexual assaults as its Person of the Year.
There is still a long way to go before men and women have full equality all over the world and resistance to this idea has not disappeared. Perhaps feminism boils down to the words of Dorothy Parker who once said: my idea is that all of us, men as well as women, whoever we are, should be considered as human beings.
