What does feminism mean?
Feminism is the belief in and advocacy of the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, together with the movements organized around that aim. As a term, it encompasses a wide family of schools — liberal, radical, socialist, intersectional, and others — which differ on the causes of gender inequality and the best remedies for it. In everyday usage the word can denote a historical movement with recognizable waves, an academic field of theory, or simply a personal commitment to equal rights for women. Because feminism touches questions of power and identity, its connotations vary widely: supporters see it as a struggle for fairness and dignity, while critics have at times portrayed it as divisive or unnecessary. The word entered mainstream English in the 1890s from French, though arguments for women's rights long predate it. It remains one of the most influential and contested terms in modern political vocabulary.
nounThe advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes; a range of social and political movements and ideologies aimed at establishing equal political, economic, personal, and social rights for women.
- A social and political movement advocating women's rights and gender equality.
- An ideology or body of theory concerning the nature of gender inequality and how to address it.
"Her grandmother's stories of campaigning for the vote first drew her to feminism."
"She wrote a dissertation on feminism in postwar British literature."
"For many readers of that era, feminism was less a theory than a matter of daily survival."
The plural is chiefly academic, used when emphasizing the diversity of feminist theories or movements rather than treating feminism as a single unified ideology.
"The conference examined how different feminisms have approached the politics of care."
The word comes from French 'féminisme' — popularized in English only in the 1890s, though the ideas it names had been argued for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of feminism
Feminism derives from the French 'féminisme', formed from Latin 'femina' meaning 'woman'. The word entered English in the late nineteenth century, becoming widespread in the 1890s as campaigns for women's suffrage and legal rights gathered force. It shares its Latin root with words such as feminine, femininity, and effeminate, all ultimately tracing back to the same source describing womanhood.
Related word forms
How feminism is actually used
Feminism is used neutrally as an academic and journalistic term, but it carries strong positive or negative connotations depending on the speaker's viewpoint; in debate it is often defined differently by different sides. It functions as both an abstract ideology ('a school of feminism') and a concrete movement ('second-wave feminism').
Easily confused with feminism
Feminism seeks equality between the sexes, whereas misandry denotes hatred or contempt directed at men.