Throughout history, women’s rights have been an issue of concern, with a developing outlook on the equality of women. There was a time women had no power to make political decisions in democratic societies. From a time when the woman’s role was limited to the house and kitchen to a time when there is a degree of economic, social and cultural equality, feminism has been at the forefront of ensuring that women become respectable members of society. The first portion of this paper considers the various waves of feminism and their impact on the modern-day society.
First Wave Feminism
This a feminist activity period situated between the 19 th and 20 th centuries in the larger parts of the world. The basis for this feminism was legal in nature, where most activists focused on the issue of women’s suffrage. At this time, the world’s democratic societies did not find it necessary for women to vote, despite their numbers in every nation. Therefore, this argument stems from the age of Enlightenment where different arguments and philosophical debates arose regarding the issues of equality and how they interacted with gender difference (Henry, 2004). Although the enlightenment movement was not feminist from its root, a lot of advocacy it engaged in was feminist in nature, bringing to light the forgotten rights of women. These included the right to participate in a democratic society.
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However, political movements such as the French Revolution, which spoke of legal equality and the rationalization of freedoms for all people, sparked the contradiction that was highlighted by feminism – these large-scale societal changes did not affect women. In fact, specific bases for the French revolution specifically excluded women from enjoying the benefits of socio-political and economic equality. Therefore, the first wave was specifically focusing on the eradication of unofficial inequalities.
Different examples of feminism are available. For example, Australia’s first-wave feminism was concerned with women’s right to vote and their access to political activities, including parliament. In Denmark, the effect of this movement was the revision of the constitution to give women the right to vote among other equal treatment applications. In the United Kingdom, there were extended effects of this movement including improved working conditions and access to education apart from suffrage rights.
Second Wave Feminism
This wave of feminism is believed to have started in the United States before spreading around the world in the 1960s. Establishing its roots in the US up to 1980s, it spread to other parts of the world including Asia and Europe. While the first wave considered mostly women’s ability to vote, the second wave covered a lot of ground, especially on issues of sexuality, family roles, reproductive rights, marital rape and domestic violence issues, as well as the workplace among other de facto inequalities (Freedman, 2003). Moreover, due to the heavy consideration of marital roles of the woman, the establishment of institutions catering for marital rape, domestic violence and divorce and custody law were established.
After the 1980s, the substantive movement of the feminist era concluded. The period after that largely discussed issues of sexuality such as pornography and sexuality. These were also key issues that were at the center-stage of the third wave. In the second wave, by-country analysis is not available as the movement quickly spread to all nations of the world, as these were social issues affecting all countries in the world.
Third Wave Feminism
Third wave feminism is more of the focus on what it means to be a feminist. This wave came because of perceived failures of the second wave feminism movement. In this wave, women are recognized as individuals of many nationalities with a diversity of identities (Snyder, 2008). Therefore, this wave sought to consolidate non-white and queer women, in its consideration of equality rights. Third wave feminists seek to expand their goals by abolishing the concept of gender roles and social stereotypes. Different schools of thought came around issues such as sex work and pornography. These were seen as actions to embrace and own one’s sexuality as opposed to the previous fixed views on the subject. Therefore, this movement was based on the individual identity.
Fourth-wave Feminism
While this is a phenomenon yet to take place entirely in the global scene, some symptoms of this era are already present. The second wave feminism often classified what was good or not good for women. The third wave allowed women to be liberal about what was good for them and what was not. As a result, the fourth wave is likely to begin from this point, where largely accepted norms among women are legalized and socially accepted across the world. In the fourth wave, an aspect of the first wave will come back through the legalization of sexuality preferences for women. An evidence of this is the discussion of reproductive rights in parliaments across the world. In the United States, for example, the concept of abortion has had large-scale changes especially regarding how the freedoms of the mother are perceived. Additionally, there has been the legalization of commercial sex work in different parts of the world – a sign of the beginning of the fourth wave, especially in the developed world.
The fourth wave will also include developing countries at a larger scale compared to before. With more economic activities occurring between the developed countries and the developing world, it is likely that ideas on feminism will spread. They will also become widely accepted as a ‘progression of culture’. Women’s autonomy in developing countries is already evidenced through reproductive health, social and political leadership among other areas (Osamor & Grady, 2016).
Powerful and Powerless Speech
During normal speech, it is possible for people to use question tags in making their statements. For example, one may say, “Let’s go to the supermarket, okay?” additionally, people also use hedges such as ‘I think’ or disclaimers such as ‘I’m not sure but…’ However, examination of the different message types revealing different powers of the speaker, research has shown that language containing hedges and disclaimers is considered as a form of ineffective speech while speech free of ‘uh’ and ‘well’ is considered effective and powerful. This section of the paper considered powerful and ineffective forms of speech.
A recent study sought to find out the relationship between gender stereotyping and one’s language style (Quina, Wingard, & Bates, 1987). Language that had ‘female characteristics’ such as much politeness, hedging, exaggeration and illogical sequencing – which are non-assertive characteristics – was considered less effective and powerful although it had greater warmth. Masculine style, on the other hand, was considered more effective and powerful as the larger American society does not think that politeness and warmth is consistent with the image of corporate success. Nevertheless, important qualities such as sensitivity and sincerity are associated with feminine style communication.
That said, powerful communicators are considered competent, as they seem to be in control of themselves (Bradac & Mulac, 1984). This is so much the case that less powerful speakers in the legal situations are considered the victims (Bradac, Hemphill, & Tardy, 1981). Nevertheless, positional authority is also a consideration for powerful language. For example, the boss requesting the secretary to type something, though he might use hedges and hesitate, does not negate the position of power that he is in. the hedges and hesitation may have the effect of making the request sound less like a demand, as the boss appears more polite. However, the boss remains the one with power.
Effective communication requires both the use of powerful and powerless language forms. Different environments and situations call for different forms of language. Depending on the objective of the speech, either form of speech could apply. Where an individual seeks to have a good presentation in front of a board meeting, both powerful and powerless language would boost their presentation to access all members in their audience. Consider a presentation regarding how Apple has applied business principles to succeed in the IT industry. For instances where strong business principles are in play, powerful language would be used. For instance, a point on the application of novelty and innovation in Apple would be a point requiring powerful language. However, aspects of Steve Job’s personal life would incorporate some powerless language.
Language in Professional Settings
Language in professional setting requires a good balance of both powerful and powerless language. While the gist of the presentation in a formal setting requires powerful language, interactions with people in the same setting may not call for powerful language. As seen in the above example, a boss speaking to his secretary may not employ powerful language. However, the same boss in a board meeting may directly employ powerful speech mechanisms to present his ideas. Therefore, environmental factors determine the type of language use in a given setting. Powerful language may bring about the perception of one who is in control and sure of what they are saying. Powerful language in a presentation may express the presenter’s confidence in what they are saying. Powerless language could be used in social settings to facilitate the growth of the relationship. This is because this type of speech is considered more feminine and thus more effective in relational conversations.
Again, different factors need to be considered during the use of powerless language. If the speaker’s first language is not English, it is less likely that they will find it comfortable to use powerless language cues such as ‘uh’ and ‘well’ as these are not regularly taught in second language learning classes. Therefore, they are more likely to engage powerful language until constant interaction with the language is achieved. Nevertheless, it is possible to achieve such ease of language use with continuous interaction with English speakers who are conversant with both forms of language.
References
Bradac, J. J., & Mulac, A. (1984). A molecular view of powerful and powerless speech styles: Attributional consequences of specific language features and communicator intentions. Communications Monographs, 51(4) , 307-319.
Bradac, J. J., Hemphill, M. R., & Tardy, C. H. (1981). Language style on trial: Effects of “powerful” and “powerless” speech upon judgments of victims and villains. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 45(4) , 327-341.
Freedman, M. (2003). Theorizing Israeli Feminism, 1970–2000. In K. Misra, & M. S. Rich, Jewish Feminism in Israel: Some Contemporary Perspectives (pp. 9–10). Hanover, N.H.: Univ. Press of New England (Brandeis Univ. Press).
Osamor, P. E., & Grady, C. (2016). Women’s autonomy in health care decision-making in developing countries: a synthesis of the literature. International journal of women's health, 8 , 191.
Quina, K., Wingard, J. A., & Bates, H. G. (1987). Language style and gender stereotypes in person perception. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11(1) , 111-122.
Snyder, R. C. (2008). What is third-wave feminism? A new directions essay. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 34(1) , 175-196.
