Which Wave of Feminism Suits You Best?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
8 min
Which Wave of Feminism Suits You Best?
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About This Quiz

In one form or another, feminism has been around for a couple of centuries now - but not until Edwardian times did it acquire its name. In the 100 years since it's come in four waves. Which of them makes the most sense to you? Take this quiz to find out!
What's a big problem you're trying to solve?
Women not having legal personhood
Women being shut out of jobs and education that they're capable of doing
Domestic violence and rape
Women being trapped in poverty

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Do you know what intersectionality is?
No idea
I've heard of it
Yes, but it's not the focus of feminism
Yes, and it informs everything we do

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Besides marches, do you get the word out?
Pamphlets, sit-ins, chaining ourselves to the gates of power, quiet networks of women
Radio, magazines
TV, newspapers, magazines
Digital and social media

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Who's your ideal feminist?
Emmeline Pankhurst
Gloria Steinem
bell hooks
Betty Dodson

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Who's your feminist ally?
Max Eastman
Martin Luther King Jr.
Alan Alda
Justin Trudeau

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What problem can you seriously not believe you still have to deal with?
Gaining suffrage
Being paid the same for doing the same thing
The fact that marital rape was legal into the 1990's and is still treated differently
The fact that there's still a large minority of men, and a smaller minority of women, who are against equality

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Can men be feminists?
Not in name, but they can participate with funding, access, speaking etc.
No, that's silly
Sure they can
Yes, but some prefer to call themselves allies in order not to center themselves in a movement that is not primarily about them

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What do you hope for women in 100 years?
Legal equality
Economic equality
Social equality
All of the above, plus an environment for workers and families alike that enables men and women to live to their fullest potential, free from the fear of poverty

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What do you fear for women in the next 10 years?
That we will simply never make any progress
That there will be a backlash and even more violence done to us to take away what we have done so far
That we might go too far down this road
Losing established rights, a weaker economy and a less stable world providing less of a solid basis on which to make up that lost ground and then move forward

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How does the public perceive abortion in your wave?
Icky and not to be spoken of, but sometimes necessary.
It's not a big issue yet as it hasn't been latched onto by political forces as it will be later; it's quietly understood that most people will get one if they need one, even though it's not actually legal.
It's legal so people can afford to get ridiculously self-righteous and sentimental about it, safe in the knowledge that they can always get one.
Most people are actually for it, and aware that education and contraception could almost eliminate the need - but since many don't realize they have majority support, and it's been politicized, even its advocates use the language and framing of their opponents.

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What do you think of sex work?
Very immoral and tragic
Exploitative and wrong
A matter of personal choice, that some people find empowering
A personal choice, but one that is mostly forced by economic circumstances, and thus would be rare in a better society

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How do you feel about the whole stay-at-home vs. going-to-work thing?
Being able to afford a stay-at-home spouse is a luxury that only the wealthy can afford.
It's an almost entirely white phenomenon, and almost entirely a trap.
It's a personal choice. You do you.
It's not really a choice when the forces against one partner's career are still so strong. But it should be a choice, open equally to men and women.

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How do you feel about workers' rights?
One thing at a time, please.
We're fighting for access to better careers. We're not communists.
Our movement cannot be expected to carry water for everyone facing injustice.
Workers' rights are indivisible from women's rights. We are the majority of the low-wage economy.

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Capitalism: friend or foe?
Baseline political gains, such as suffrage, personhood, and the right to control your own money, must come first, then we can worry about that.
A friend! Women need to control more of the pie to be free.
Definitely a foe. We should reject such values and ideas of success.
When done well, a friend. When done badly, a foe.

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Are men and women the same?
Of course not, but that's no excuse for the one controlling the other simply based on gender.
We have the same potential and should thus have the same opportunities.
We could be, but have been nurtured to be otherwise.
Aggregate differences have been shown to be pretty small, and no basis for judging individuals. Ultimately, any difference is a strong argument for greater representation and diversity, so that all industries and spheres of human life benefit from a variety of strengths and ideas.

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What's one way patriarchy hurts men?
By reducing women, it makes all of us poorer and weaker, which hurts men too.
It isolates them from their children and spouses, making them lonely.
It closes them off from their kinder, more nurturing sides, and thus robs them of the tools to be well-rounded. That's the major reason they are more prone to crime.
It caricatures them as unfeeling beasts, which justifies letting them behave horribly if they're powerful - which inevitably hurts everyone, male and female - and treating them horribly if they're not, in the form of prison, war, etc.

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What are some tactics you like?
Holding events to raise awareness. Failing that, jumping in front of a horse.
Marches, political lobbying, and educating
Boycotting products and companies that behave badly
Running for office, and running our companies differently

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What's a movement that helps feminism, even if it didn't set out to?
The Abolitionist movement
Civil Rights
Socialism
Fight for 15

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What's a sister movement that feminism can and should help?
Anti-imperialist movements
Civil Rights again!
Anti-globalization
Workers' rights

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What should Western feminists do for women elsewhere?
Show them the way
Solve our problems then use that as a model to solve theirs
Let them take care of themselves. Anything else is imperialism.
Listen, exchange ideas, and learn from each other

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How inevitable is feminism's victory?
Not even a teeny tiny bit
I give it even odds
Totally inevitable
More likely than not, but by no means certain.

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What's one way many women self-sabotage the movement?
They don't care about the vote.
They pretend being a housewife is fulfilling, even though in private many admit it is not.
They buy into the idea that success equals accepting a masculine definition of success, and being like a man.
They think we've finished doing when we've set out to do, when the truth is we've only just begun.

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What's one way that many men aren't helping either?
They are happy to take women's money and control our lives, so they do.
They built the glass ceiling and maintain it through a variety of means.
Even the less powerful men, who should know better, buy into the capitalist model of society that equates money with value.
They don't understand that there is no neutral: if you're not thinking about equality and how you can further it in the spaces you're in, you're passively contributing to the problem.

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Who's a great role model to you?
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Madeleine Albright
Oprah Winfrey
Malala Yousafzai

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What do you remember to say to your daughter about all this?
You can be more than just a helpmate to a husband, and need not even marry if you don't want to.
You can climb the very top of the career ladder, and need not be only a housewife.
You can have it all! Great career and great family.
You will have to balance things in your life, but with the right partner and support system, you can achieve whatever you set out to do.

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What do you remember to say to your son about all this?
You must further your wife's goals and ensure your daughters' education.
Look at us liberating ourselves! Woo!
Being a partner to someone strong will always be more rewarding than being a master to someone weak.
The world has changed in wonderful ways, and those who do not change with it will not succeed in it. The strong women in your life will be your allies, investors, friends, supporters, mentors, employers, colleagues, and that will take you further than if you could only look to men for those things. Also, let's talk about consent.

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How important is marriage?
It's the bedrock of society.
It's a trap!
It's something you should do if you want, and define it how you want. Choice, choice, choice!
It's important enough that the LGBT community is getting beat up trying to win it. You can make yours egalitarian if you choose wisely - but don't ever take it for granted that you can have it at all.

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What's one misunderstanding about your wave of feminism that is very frustrating?
That we seek to undermine society and are probably witches.
That we hate men and family life and are probably communists.
That we despise America and the West, and are totally socialists.
That there's nothing left to fight for so we should just give up. And also, we're socio-anarcho-commie-witches and we're going to make all your children gay.

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Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
Not yet
Yes, but it's a long slog from here to there
Totally. Just keep going!
Yes, but we just realized there's more tunnel than our mothers initially hoped.

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What one small thing could women do in their daily lives to secure their freedom?
Demand control of their own money, and stay single rather than marry a man who would deny it.
Ensure ownership of their own accounts and credit, and never, ever go without a paying job.
Learn about how their bodies work and don't fall for the lure of consumerism.
Assert their boundaries and break the conditioning that it's really important to be "nice". Being "one of the good ones" doesn't actually protect anyone.

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You Got: