"What singularly defines the situation of woman is that being, like all humans, an autonomous freedom, she discovers and chooses herself in a world where men force her to assume herself as Other: an attempt is made to freeze her as an object and doom her to immanence since her transcendence will be forever transcended by another essential and sovereign consciousness. Women's drama lies in this conflict between the fundamental claim of every subject, which always posits itself as essential, and demands of a situation that constitute her as inessential. How, in the feminine condition, can a human being accomplish herself? What paths are open to her? Which ones lead to dead ends? How can she find independence within dependence? What circumstances limit women’s freedom and can she overcome them? These are the fundamental questions we would like to elucidate."
-- Beauvior 'The Second Sex' 1949
Part 1
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Part 2
Everything went wrong.
I wonder if women a hundred years ago could have foreseen the dreadful twists and turns happening today that are drastically changing humans' future course.
Until the conclusion of the fourth wave of the feminist movement, most people still held high hopes for how feminism could improve humanity. The first wave (from 1848) pushed for women's education, occupation, property, and voting rights; the second wave (from 1963), influenced by Beauvoir’s "The Second Sex," granted women more freedom to their own lives and bodies, as a result, abortion was gradually made legal globally, riding on vehement opposition from religious fundamentalists, a lot of backs and forths continued to be carried out long after it; the third wave (from the 1990s) started to be more fluid and expanded to all races, classes, and ethnicities, this wave sought to challenge, reclaim, and redefine ideas of the self, femininity, also touched on gender fluidity, sexual identity and decolonization in all aspects such as love, relationship and individuality; the fourth wave (from 2030s) aimed to deconstruct the established societal and familial structures such as the marriage contract of one man and one woman under the imposition of major religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddism, and reconstruct new structures that allowed a diversity of familial relations, such as polyamory, matriarchal-style nesting and the formation of "women and LGBTQ-only" supportive groups and chosen-family framework.
The fourth wave. The fourth wave!
I hail the brave humans who once existed around that time!
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Humans were not born equal, not after they started forming hunter-gatherer societies. While early humans likely shared certain survival responsibilities more equally, in hunter-gatherer societies, men's physical strengths and abilities became more prominent, contributing to the division of labor between men and women. Men were larger and stronger physically, so they went out to track and hunt animals, while women stayed to maintain the camp and care for the children. Because of hunting's dangerous and competitive nature, it was valued as more critical for the group's survival, which led to the eventual consolidation of power in men's hands.
When humans transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agricultural communities, men naturally became more involved in the physical labor of farming, which led to greater ownership and control of resources, including land, livestock, and other forms of wealth. As societies became more hierarchical and warlike, physical strength and aggressiveness—traits more commonly associated with men—were more highly valued. Over time, cultural myths, stories, and norms gradually constructed and reinforced male dominance, becoming institutionalized in laws, religions, and traditions.
As the primary economic actors in society, men needed to ensure that their property and wealth were passed down to legitimate heirs. Hence, men started to regulate sexual relations, reproduction, and inheritance with the concept of marriage. Marriage served as a means for men to control women’s sexuality and reproductive rights, ensuring that the children the wives bore were their legitimate heirs, to solidify their claims over inherited wealth and family assets. In patriarchal social structures, one man may exert authority over one or multiple women, either through monogamous or polygynous arrangements. Monogamy typically involves a marriage between one man and one woman, often characterized by male economic, legal, and social dominance. Polygyny consists of one man and multiple wives in marriage. In such a context, women typically have limited autonomy, and marriage serves economic, social, or reproductive purposes.
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