First-Wave Feminism

First-wave feminism refers to a period of time in the women’s movement that took place during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many scholars cite the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention as the official beginning of first-wave feminism. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 came about due to Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton being [Page 573]refused seating in the main hall during the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840. They were forced to sit behind a curtain simply because they were women, even though they were U.S. delegates at the convention. Both women realized experiences like this necessitated a women’s movement that could address issues of gender inequality. At the Seneca Falls Convention, approximately 300 activists, including a small handful of men, Deborah Siegel points out, “demanded full participation in public and civic life for women, calling for higher education and professional opportunities, the right to divorce, own property, claim inheritance, win custody of children, and vote” (2007, p. 15). It was during this monumental convention that the official first-wave feminism began in the United States.

During this time period, participants in the women’s movement did not refer to themselves as “feminists” or to their goals as “feminist,” though contemporary scholars refer to this period as the first wave of feminism and participants as first-wave feminists. Labeling is due, in part, to this time period being marked as the first official period in U.S. history when individuals advocated for women’s political equality. This period in the women’s movement focused primarily on issues of suffrage, or the right for women to vote in the United States, and also combined efforts with other causes so as to build more momentum and enhance credibility in energizing social change for women and other marginalized groups. During this time period, female public speakers were essentially absent from political discourse; therefore, many early female speakers negotiated the difficult terrain of gaining access to a public platform in addition to retaining a sense of public credibility in that platform. The remainder of this entry outlines the key figures and key issues in the first-wave feminist movement and concludes with an overview of the lasting legacy of first-wave feminist efforts. Specific attention is paid to the contribution first-wave feminists made as rhetors and to the struggles these women faced in their effort to enter public sphere debates.