Feminism and Global Political Events

Feminism

• Feminism is driven by the belief that the sexes are equal and should be treated equally.

Waves of Feminism

First Wave Feminism

• Focused on women's suffrage, the basic right to vote.
• Pushed for women to have more equal access to higher education.

Second Wave Feminism (1960s-1980s)

• More political, aiming to change laws and policies.
• Fought for laws to prevent women from being fired for becoming pregnant.
• Advocated for women's rights to open bank accounts and obtain credit cards without male approval.
• Politicized women's lives.

Third Wave Feminism (1990s-Early 2000s)

• Focused on the issues of women of different races and classes.
• Addressed whether all women have the same issues and if laws need to account for different backgrounds and experiences.
• Highlighted debates about the differences between men and women, both physically and psychologically
• Explored the meaning of equality, considering aspects beyond just human dignity.
• Discussed how mental illnesses like autism and ADHD manifest differently in men versus women.
• Addressed physical illnesses and the need to base medical standards on women as well as men.
• Challenged the traditional male-centric standards in medicine, citing the example of heart attack symptoms differing between men and women.

Fourth Wave Feminism

• Driven by social media.
• Addresses issues like doxing and online bullying.
• Examines how social media affects the view of women.
• Linked to discussions of rape culture and the Me Too movement.
• Brought attention to accusations of sexual misconduct, leading to investigations and consequences for those accused.
• Involved debates about trans women and what defines a woman, leading to disagreements even within the feminist movement.
• The Women's March in 2016, organized largely through social media, exemplified the power of fourth wave feminism.

Key Texts and Figures

• The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex are important feminist works.
• Simone de Beauvoir, despite being highly educated and on speaking tours with Jean-Paul Sartre, faced sexist questions and treatment, highlighting the frustrations of intelligent women in the 1940s-1960s.

Global Political Events

The Use of Sports as Political Statements

• International sporting events, particularly the Olympics, are used to make political statements.
• Taking a knee at a football game isn't a new thing.
• These events can replace war by creating a competition to see which country is the best.

Mexico City Olympics, 1968

• During the medal ceremony for the 200-meter dash, American athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos, who won first and third place, respectively, raised black-gloved fists during the national anthem as a symbol of black freedom.
• Australian Peter Norman, who won second place, wore a human rights metal in solidarity.
• All three men faced consequences for their actions.

Munich Olympics, 1972

• A group of radicalized Palestinians took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage, resulting in the deaths of all hostages and several terrorists.
• Chose the Olympics because it's an international event.

Boycotting the Olympics

• In 1980, the US boycotted the Moscow Olympics due to the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan
• In 1984, the USSR boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics in response.
• Currently, athletes from countries boycotting or banned due to human rights violations can compete under the Olympic flag.

Sydney Olympics, 2000

• Cathy Freeman, the Aboriginal woman who won the 100-meter dash, carried both the Australian and Aboriginal flags as a symbol of moving past segregation.
• Australia has been dealing with segregation well into the 80's and 90's

The Cold War

Invasion of Afghanistan

• In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan under the pretense of helping the Afghans. This increased tensions with The US.

Ronald Reagan and Mutually Assured Destruction

• Ronald Reagan believed mutually assured destruction was a suicide pact and ramped up arms production to put pressure on the USSR economy.
• Introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed Star Wars, to neutralize nuclear missiles, but the technology was not yet available.
• Spent billions of dallars.

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the USSR, introduced policies of Glasnost (openness, freedom of speech) and Perestroika (restructuring of the government and economy).
• These policies led to easing of tensions, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the independence of Eastern Germany.

End of the Cold War

• The USSR was officially dismantled on December 26, 1991.
• Russia transitioned to a more democratic country, with free elections, until Vladimir Putin came to power.

Rise of Terrorist Groups

Iran Hostage Crisis

• On November 4, 1979, 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage in Tehran, Iran, by a radicalized Islamic Iranian group because the US refused to return the former Shah of Iran.
• Jimmy Carter held responsible for the way it was handled.
• The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, moments after Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.

Iran-Iraq War

• The president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, decided to invade Iran
• The US Supplied things to people who eventually became the Taliban, Al Qaeda, because they were freedom fighters at the time.

Iran-Contra Affair

• Members of Reagan's administration secretly sold arms to Iran and gave the money to the Nicaraguan Contras, which was against Congress's wishes.
• This scandal led to resignations and raised questions about Reagan's knowledge.

Terrorist Bombings

• In the 1980s, US embassies were bombed by terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
• Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party based in Lebanon.
• The bombings marked a new era of warfare, with terrorist groups not following rules known before.

Founding of Al Qaeda and Emergence of the Taliban

• The 1980s saw the founding of Al Qaeda, and the early 1990s saw the emergence of the Taliban.
• This created new challenges to the world because we didn't know how to handle terrorist groups.

Modern Technologies

• DNA being used in criminal court cases is new to some extent.
• Our first computer virus.
• We launched the Hubble Space Telescope for the space nerds.
• The rise of the iPhone.
• Google becomes a search engine.
• We now have flat screen TV's.
• The first living animal being cloned was Dolly in 1996.