Feminism: The Fourth Wave

As feminists moved out of the third wave, they continued to advocate for their rights. One of the constant concerns across all of the waves was their access to reproductive healthcare. Many women in the movement believed that they should have reproductive freedom and the option to have an abortion if they chose to have one. However, various controversial legislation often prevented them from achieving full autonomy when it comes to their reproductive health. The National Organization for Women (NOW) organized several marches to fight against restrictive legislation and advocate for women’s reproductive rights, including three separate “March for Women’s Lives” in 1989, 1992, and 2004.

In addition to these marches, women continued to make great strides in the political realm. Several women made history by assuming political leadership in various state and national offices. In 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first woman to serve as the United States Secretary of State. She served until 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A decade after Albright’s appointment, another milestone was reached. Nancy Pelosi became the first and only woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Since her election to the position in 2007, Pelosi has been the highest-ranking woman, and second after the vice president in the presidential line of succession.

For the next ten years, Burke developed ‘me too’ while serving as the director of various art and cultural institutions across the country. However in 2017, Burke’s hashtag #metoo went viral on social media. In October of that year, a controversial sex scandal made headlines. Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed for using his power to sexually harass and exploit women in the entertainment industry for over thirty years. In addition to the over ninety women that came forward against Weinstein, women around the world publicly shared their own experiences with sexual assault.

Shortly after the scandal broke, actress Alyssa Milano helped popularize the #metoo movement by tweeting: "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too.' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” In less than 24 hours, 4.7 million people engaged in the "Me too" conversation, with more than 12 million posts, comments or reactions on Facebook.

In 2017, TIME Magazine named Tarana Burke, Alyssa Milano, and many other “Silence Breakers” as their “Time Person of the Year.” The public outcry grew as women and men internationally translated ‘me too’ into their various languages and aligned with the movement. These allegations spurred a global "reckoning” against sexual assault and harassment that became known as the "Weinstein effect.”

A month after the scandal broke, a group of 700,000 Latina farmworkers from across the country wrote an open letter of support to the Silence Breakers in Hollywood that came forward against Harvey Weinstein. These women shared similar experiences and signed their message with: “We believe and stand with you.” These women were all members of a coalition of women farmworkers called Alianza Nacional de Campesinas (the National Farmworker Women’s Alliance).

Two days after the letter was released, hundreds of women in Los Angeles marched to protest sexual harassment. The Me Too Survivors March took place on November 12th, 2017 in downtown Los Angeles to create a safe space for survivors and allies to rally against sexual misconduct. On that same day, the Take Back the Workplace March also met in downtown Los Angeles to take a stand against sexual harassment in the workplace. The two marches met in the same place and joined forces to advocate for social reform and legislation that would support survivors of these crimes.

TIME’S UP also launched several initiatives to ensure gender parity and workplace safety in various industries. The TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund™ was established to help survivors, especially women of color and low-income women, get connected to lawyers and resources. This network has over 800 lawyers working to fight for women’s causes. In addition, TIME’S UP Now was established to prevent future acts of harassment and discrimination. In an effort to raise awareness for the cause, many attendees of the 75th Golden Globe Awards wore black with #MeToo and TIME’S UP pins to support the movement. A few activists including Tarana Burke and Mónica Ramírez (Board President of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas) were invited as guests of various actresses. Many other award shows followed suit including the 2018 Grammys and the 2018 BAFTA Film Awards in London.

In January of 2018, feminist activists drew from the momentum of the ‘me too’ and TIME’S UP movements to celebrate the anniversary of the 2017 Women’s March. Although the attendance was lower than the previous year, over 250 marches and rallies were held across the country to commemorate the first march and advocate for more change. Nancy Pelosi was one of the speakers at the Washington, D.C. march, while Whoopi Goldberg, Padma Lakshmi, Drew Barrymore, and Halsey were speakers at the New York City march.

Amidst the controversies and assault accusations, fourth wave feminists have used their political voice to stand up against sexual misconduct and injustice. In addition, they have continued to reach higher levels of political leadership. In 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic presidential nomination and became the first U.S. woman to lead a major party’s ticket. The following year, there were a record number of women in Congress, including 21 Senators, 104 House members, and the first Latina member to serve in the upper chamber. Unfortunately, the fight is far from over.