People who advocate for women's rights and gender equality, supporting the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. The plural form of feminist.
From French 'féminisme,' coined in the 1870s from Latin 'femina' (woman) + '-ism' (doctrine). The term emerged during the first wave of women's rights movements in Europe and America, initially focusing on suffrage and legal rights.
The word has undergone multiple waves of redefinition, from 19th-century suffragettes to 1960s liberation advocates to modern intersectional theorists. Interestingly, many historical figures we now consider feminist never used the term themselves, as it didn't exist during their lifetimes or carried different connotations.
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