Feminism Unfinished

women persists. Women are far from equal when it comes to their representation in the media, the
government, or the economy. Violence against women is commonplace. Economic and other inequalities
between men and women remain deeply entrenched as well. Some professions have opened to women
while others remain male dominated, and the gender pay gap stubbornly persists. Women still do the vast
majority of childcare and housework, even as they work outside the home at the same rate as men.
Moreover, the benefits of feminism have not been equally distributed among all women and men. The
major lines of inequality stem from class, race, motherhood, and nation, or geographical position in the
global balance of power. For example, feminists brought rape out of hiding and extended our
understanding of it to include date and marital rape, but poor women, young women, and women of color
are still more likely to suffer sexual assaults. Reproductive rights, good healthcare, and education are
much harder to access for the increasing number of Americans in poverty, while most of the income
progress among women has gone to childless women and the top 20 percent of earners. In short, few
feminist gains are equally distributed; the struggle for sex equality cannot be separated from other
dimensions of inequality. The fact that inequality is growing is a direct threat to the goals of feminism.
Meanwhile, the pushback against women’s gains has been powerful. Anti-feminism is a fundamental
part of the rise of right-wing conservatism since the late 1970s. Many Americans, like others throughout
the world, are anxious about what feminism means. Accustomed to a culture in which motherhood and
domesticity define women’s role in society, those who have benefited from that role may feel threatened
by feminism; similarly, those who chose to make motherhood and domesticity central have often felt
disrespected by feminism. Some fear that as women become more ambitious, the whole society will
become a masculinist, competitive free-for-all, with no one left to defend the values of nurturance and
family solidarity.
In contrast to that caricature, feminism has, in the main, valued caregiving and cooperation. It has
asserted the dignity and value of all labor and has joined with those seeking more leisure time for the
pleasures of family, friends, and community. U.S feminism was never just a celebration of individualism
or of individual achievement. It was always a broad stream with many currents. And some of the most
powerful of those currents understood that the fortunes of each are intertwined with the fortunes of all. As
with all progressive social movements, solidarity and a sense of responsibility toward others have been
fundamental to feminism.
One of the biggest mistakes in looking back at women’s history would be to conclude that progress is
inevitable. It is not. Women’s rights require continuous defense and expansion to meet new needs. We
hope that reclaiming the multiple and unfinished feminisms of the twentieth century can inspire the
movements of the future. The women and men who sought gender justice and equality in our past believed
progress was possible. They did not accomplish all they hoped for. They could not control or predict the
future.
Feminism is far from over. We don’t know what it will look like, because each generation will
reinvent it. Just as the feminism of the past has always been influenced by changes in society as a whole,
so too will the feminism of the future be. It may well be more global and may well be led by women from
the poorer countries of the world. They in turn will also invent feminisms that meet their needs and
aspirations. It is impossible to understand the world’s problems and hopes without taking into account the
growing global movements for women’s health, education, bodily integrity, sexual freedom, political
participation, and economic equality. Just as American feminism transformed American society, so global
feminism is likely to transform the world.