Chapter 23

Feminism took on different struggles in the 20th century. In the United States, feminism lost some steam after the 1920s. It picked back up again in the 1960s. This time, it was not about voting, but about working outside of the home on a larger scale, better pay, and oppression of expression of sexuality. 

In the Global South, women had always had to work out of the home. The idea of being able to work outside the home was not a hot topic for feminists there. In fact, the vast difference between First World and Global South feminists caused a great rift. This is still the case today, except now these women are living in the same societies. 

Even in examining the pay gap in the United States between women of color and white women, white women are still better off. The problem is frame of reference. If you grow up in an economically stable home you are more likely to have stable supportive figures throughout your childhood. This means that you are more likely to achieve higher academic marks, and subsequent access to higher education. If you grow up in a financially unstable home, you are more exposed to adverse childhood experiences. This reduces achievement in school, and also puts people at risk of mental health challenges. 

Now understand that this is often times the difference in Fram of reference between Women of color and White women. Understanding the historical underpinnings of these struggles can enable privileged women to understand the plight of the less privileged. This is. not to say that the things that women fight for are not important, it is to say that it is important to recognize that some women are still fighting to be members of the first world in the first world.