This issue makes a stimulating contribution to the growing store of knowledge about the feminist movement which immediately preceded current ones. What emerges is the similarity of purpose between past and present movements; the task of seeking women's equal participation in the administration and work of the world, and that of liberating women from sexual slavery, and the basic commitment to expose the system of male power. A rich and varied collection of articles, this issue reflects both the achievements of current feminist historical research and the obstacles which stand in the way of the full development of such research.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Osnabrück, 21 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The following work should give a short overview about the so called "First Wave Feminism". It was the first recognized movement of women for equal treatment and for a society that must become aware of the special needs and desire of women which are not limited to the important question of suffrage. Firstly, I will introduce some main ideas of the political ideology of the early women's movement and their fight for the right to vote. I will try to point out which new and important thoughts the feminists of the late 18th and early 19th century shared and which goals they tried to achieve. Secondly, I will focus on feminism in literature. How were the political ideas represented in literature of that time? With which problems had women writers to deal? What was the reaction of male authors towards the ́New Woman`, the ́scribbling women ́? Therefore Chapter 2 concentrates on the problems of early women writer's and the new theme ́gender ́ on the literary agenda. Thirdly, my work concentrates on Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour". Kate Chopin's Work The Awakening is her probably best-known novel, dealing with a woman who demands her own direction and chooses her own freedom. But also her short stories contain a lot of feministic themes and questions. With a closer look at the main themes and the ne w feministic attitude at one of her shortest but most radical short stories, I will show what kind of feminism is ́hidden ́ in "The Story of an Hour". Fourthly, the interpretation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" will follow the same pattern as the interpretation of Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour". What are her main themes and how does Charlotte Perkins Gilman deal with the themes of feminism in a gothic atmosphere? Is she more radical or has she a different view on

Contemporary feminists are used to juggling many different identities at once, balancing affiliations based on race, nation, class, and sexuality. First-wave feminists also negotiated--or failed to negotiate--similar tensions in their international organizing. Using primary documents dating from the abolitionist movement to the Second World War, Maureen Moynagh and Nancy Forestell investigate the tensions inherent in organizing early transnational feminist movements. Documenting First Wave Feminisms: Volume 1 provides a historical framework to bring together voices of women both canonical and less well known, from Mary Wollstonecraft to Mabel Dove, who were active in feminist movements in all corners of the world. Suffrage, imperialism, citizenship, sexuality, and moral reform are shown to be key issues in a variety of exchanges across North America, Europe, the global south, and the Pan-Pacific region. This source book is as nuanced as first-wave feminism itself and will prove a valuable resource for studying women's rights in an increasingly globalized world.

Contemporary feminists are used to juggling many different identities at once, balancing affiliations based on race, nation, class, and sexuality. First-wave feminists also negotiated—or failed to negotiate—similar tensions in their international organizing. Using primary documents dating from the abolitionist movement to the Second World War, Maureen Moynagh and Nancy Forestell investigate the tensions inherent in organizing early transnational feminist movements. Documenting First Wave Feminisms: Volume 1 provides a historical framework to bring together voices of women both canonical and less well known, from Mary Wollstonecraft to Mabel Dove, who were active in feminist movements in all corners of the world. Suffrage, imperialism, citizenship, sexuality, and moral reform are shown to be key issues in a variety of exchanges across North America, Europe, the global south, and the Pan-Pacific region. This source book is as nuanced as first-wave feminism itself and will prove a valuable resource for studying women's rights in an increasingly globalized world.

The nineteenth century, a time of far-reaching cultural, political, and socio-economic transformation in Europe, brought about fundamental changes in the role of women. Women achieved this by fighting for their rights in the legal, economic, and political spheres. In the various parts of Europe, this process went forward at a different pace and followed different patterns. Most historical research up to now has ignored this diversity, preferring to focus on women’s emancipation movements in major western European countries such as Britain and France. The present volume provides a broader context to the movement by including countries both large and small from all regions of Europe. Fourteen historians, all of them specialists in women’s history, examine the origins and development of women’s emancipation movements in their respective areas of expertise. By exploring the cultural and political diversity of nineteenth-century Europe and at the same time pointing out connections to questions explored by conventional scholarship, the essays shed new light on common developments and problems.