Feminism is one of the political movements that emerged in the 19th century, and focused on fighting for the rights of women in through challenging patriarchy ideas in society. In this regard, feminism theories were developed to address a range of issues that affected women and as such, undermined their rights as human beings in society. Among these issues that these theories sought to address include fighting for political rights, addressing economic inequalities, and seeking to end gender stereotypes that had a negative impact on women. Importantly, the analysis of feminism movement reveals that it can be divided into three categories namely first wave feminism, second wave feminism and third wave feminism. This essay explores the second wave feminism, which focused on personal and social issues. Despite the fact that the first wave feminism created a platform for women to enjoy political rights such, it did not address the challenges that women faced in society because of its underlying social structures, thus creating a necessity for the second wave feminism.
女权主义是19世纪兴起的政治运动之一，它通过挑战社会上的父权制思想，致力于争取妇女的权利。在这方面，女权主义理论的发展是为了解决影响妇女的一系列问题，从而损害她们作为社会中的人的权利。这些理论试图解决的问题包括争取政治权利、解决经济不平等问题以及寻求结束对妇女产生负面影响的性别陈规定型观念。重要的是，对女性主义运动的分析表明，它可以分为三类，即波女性主义、第二波女性主义和第三波女性主义。本文探讨了关注个人和社会问题的第二次女权主义浪潮。尽管波女权主义为妇女创造了一个享有政治权利的平台，但由于其潜在的社会结构，它没有解决妇女在社会中面临的挑战，从而为第二波女权主义创造了必要性。
To begin with, the second wave feminism argues that the factors that undermined women in society, particular in the homes, were political in nature. For instance, issues that were perceived as personal such as child birth, sex and house chores were characterised as political elements that men used to gain power in society and as such, promote patriarchy and undermine women’s rights. Speaking from this perspective, the facilitators of the second wave feminism reiterated that if a woman was repositioned at the basic social structure such as the family, she would be able to gain significant milestone as far as fighting for her rights and equality in society is concerned. For instance, they argued that if a woman could manage to control when to have children and how many, she would be able to take control of her future by pursuing either her career or education since she was not confined to child rearing. Therefore, the second wave feminism aimed at redefining the political landscape to include personal elements that affect women, since through such a move, they would be able to gain power to fight for their rights.
首先，第二波女权主义认为，在社会中，特别是在家庭中，削弱妇女地位的因素是政治性的。例如，被视为个人问题的问题，如生育、性和家务等，被描述为男性用来在社会中获得权力的政治因素，从而促进父权制并损害妇女权利。从这个角度讲，第二次女权运动的促进者重申，如果妇女被重新定位在家庭等基本社会结构中，她将能够在争取社会权利和平等方面取得重大的里程碑。例如，他们认为，如果一名妇女能够控制何时生孩子以及生多少孩子，那么她就能够通过追求自己的职业或教育来控制自己的未来，因为她并不局限于抚养孩子。因此，第二次女权主义浪潮旨在重新定义政治格局，将影响妇女的个人因素包括在内，因为通过这样的行动，她们将能够获得争取权利的权力。
Similarly, another factor that motivated the second wave feminism to focus on personal and social issues was the need to recognise women as important not only in the home but also in society as a whole. In this regard, the second wave feminists argued that the society had over the years established perceptions and notions that failed to understand that women could exercise their intellectual and creative faculties. For instance, after the end of the Second World War, men returned from war and forced women to leave formal employment and continue with house chores and child birth, since this was perceived to be the place of women. Therefore, most women could not pursue their dreams and careers since the society dictated that their place was at home and not in formal employment. Therefore, the second wave feminism sought to challenge such ideologies with the aim of ensuring that women could pursue their dreams and careers just as men did in society.
同样，促使第二波女权主义关注个人和社会问题的另一个因素是，需要认识到妇女不仅在家庭中而且在整个社会中都很重要。在这方面，第二波女权主义者认为，多年来，社会已经形成了一些观念和观念，这些观念和观念未能理解妇女可以发挥她们的智力和创造力。例如，第二次世界大战结束后，男子从战争中返回，强迫妇女离开正式工作，继续做家务和生孩子，因为这被认为是妇女的地方。因此，大多数妇女无法追求她们的梦想和职业，因为社会规定她们的位置是在家里，而不是正式就业。因此，第二波女权主义试图挑战这些意识形态，目的是确保女性能够像男性一样在社会上追求自己的梦想和职业。