"Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes" – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie .
Feminism is a modern force for change within the western world; it challenges the patriarchal dogma. This paper will give historical context to modern feminism, then assess the growing inner turmoil that many women face while dealing with the radically changing social landscape. Feminism is a movement that began in the early 1900's. Historically, males and females have very different roles when it comes to the family. Men's roles were the dominant head of household whereas the women were to stay in the home and focus on the family (Ferguson 2010). The First wave of feminism began with wealthy white Christian women (Ferguson 2010). Early feminist leaders brought light to women's rights by calling for a reformed legal status, economic opportunities and the right to vote. Educated middle class women led the second wave of feminism in the early 1960's. They were women who wanted the equal pay legislation, the end of sexual exploitation of pornography and beauty pageants, and changes to the abortion laws. The third and current wave of feminism emerged in the middle 1990's. Third wave feminists feel a need for further changes in stereotypes against women, the abolishment of patriarchy, and to destroy the cliche thought that women are the home makers. (Ferguson 2010). .
Numerous women feel trapped by the changes feminism has achieved and the general public's expectations of being homemakers. To the one side women are proud of the milestones that have been accomplished by other women such as the right to vote, the freedom to be out of the household and in the work force, and breaking social norms by being the breadwinner of the family. In opposition to this, we have women who feel that some traditions aren't meant to be broken. They accept the fact that men are the sole providers of the family and are more than happy to look after the children.
