First Wave Feminism Of The Earlier Twentieth Century

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What distinguished the second-wave feminism of the 1960s and 1970s from the first-wave feminism of the earlier twentieth century?
Feminism refers to a string of different political movements that originated in the United States to put an end to gender inequity as well as achieve equal opportunities and rights for women (Reger, n.p.). While it began as a political movement, the reality is that feminism actually addressed all aspects of women’s existence. This is to imply that feminism addressed not only the political but also the sociocultural and economic rights of women. It aimed at establishing a level playing ground for both genders in all spheres of life, but in particular agitated for the rights of women.
Similarly, beginning with Martha Weinman’s article of 1968 “Second Feminist Wave” published by the New York Times Magazine, the “waves” metaphor was used to describe feminism at different points in the history (Nancy, n.p.). However, there is a consensus regarding the characterization of the waves or women's movements before and after the 19th century (Ritzer and Ryan 224). These women movements/waves are broken down into several successive feminism waves. However, the definition takes into account the three common waves as well as the emerging fourth wave which is taking shape on the horizon.
First wave feminists were the pioneers who prepared the field with their achievements and their questioning of the capacities of the female gender that led to the beginning of debates about gender roles. The second-wave feminism of the 1960s and 1970s in the US distinguished from its predecessor first-wave feminism of the earlier twentieth century in a wide range of factors that range from the main focus of their claims, the context they developed their arguments from and the self-awareness of a woman as an individual. Feminism is not a homogeneous movement through the United States, therefore, a monocausal or simple attempt to distinguish one wave form another would be insufficient in addressing this issue.
Therefore, as an attempt to focus on the main explanation, some generalizations must be made. While the first wave of feminism centers their strife in the female suffrage and the female role in public spheres, the second wave feminism can be described in general term as “women’s liberation,” where the development of the female sex as an individual step to the foreground Ritzer and Ryan, 224). This meant the questioning of women sexuality and their role not just in public, but in the domestic spheres which brought into light new concerns about the society.
The first wave feminists fought against the constitutional/official inequalities while the second wave fought against unofficial inequalities (Ritzer and Ryan 224). The first wave of feminism was an offshoot of politics that bordered on socialism and industrialism, with a great influence of liberalism. The first wave issues were property and voting rights which were constitutional concerns. It was about breaking off the chains of the so-called “gender slavery.” On the same subject, the second wave of feminism fought against social inequalities. The inequalities were more general to the society such as sexuality, family, reproductive and workplace rights.
The first wave addressed issues such as voting rights for women. By then, the general debate was that women were assumed to be more morally correct compared to men (Ritzer and Ryan, 224). Considering that voting entailed choosing people to represent even more people in a public office, it meant that such a representative was expected to be of high standards of integrity and values. Women were therefore taken to be more likely to vote for such individuals than men out of that perception and were, therefore, agitating for voting rights.
The first wave marked the beggining of women movement with a hierarchical organization while the second wave marked the advancement of women movements without such organizational structure. The first wave started in 1848 as a result of the Seneca Falls Convention. This was the foundation of feminism, and it marked the start of women movements. However, this wave is also assumed to have ended in 1920, with the Nineteenth Amendment passage that gave the American women a most needed right to vote (Ritzer and Ryan 225). The second wave of feminism started in the early 1960s as a result of the first feminist wave to advocate for the advancement of women towards equality. 
The second wave completely alienated itself from such organizational structure because of the patriarchal system itself (Ritzer and Ryan 225). Additionally, the second wave lasted up to 1970s as some credence rose to the reflection of waves’ cresting (Ritzer and Ryan 225). Similarly, water started to fall back after this period of serious activism and backlash. This wave was not very much felt since even though it was a just and valid, it was also at a time when there were so many other social movements agitating for various rights too.
The second wave feminism was an era that realized more success than the first wave era. The First Wave of feminism is referred to as Marie Stopes/Susan B. Anthony era (Bailey 18). This is because their “stuff” sought to redress various manifested injustices in that era, most remarkably the women’s right to vote. The era was marked by the end of the US women’s right to vote. Although we agree that feminism never stopped, we can appreciate the beginning of the second wave known as the Gloria Steinem/ Betty Friedan era, also known as the "Women's Liberation" (Ritzer and Ryan, 225). This era ended with the Equal Rights Amendment failure, a part of backlash on an anti-feminism that ultimately turned to backbiting. However, the era was a success in advancing women rights equal treatment in politics, work, school, and the society as a whole.
First wave feminism used traditional approach while the second wave used new and advanced modern approach. Much of the first wave was marked by women breaching social roles and norms imposed on them as well as restructuring the stigma connected to perceptions of humans’ expectations of women as what they should or must be. The second wave of feminism was marked by the provision of new feminism information. For example, the publications on feminism began in this wave with the production of books like “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan (Ritzer and Ryan 225). However, the second wave highlights comprised of legislative issue and victories over the abortion right and sexism in the education systems.
The first wave was fuelled by demand for change while the second wave was fuelled by war experience and self-consciousness. Women had realized that they had to gain some political power first. Women leaders in first wave era used political agenda and expanded on issues related to economic, sexual, and reproductive matters. The seed planted was that women got the potential to make contributions equal to if not more than men (Ritzer and Ryan 225). Coming off the World War II heels, women were more focused on sexuality, family, reproductive and workplace rights. They portrayed a growth in self-consciousness. The wave talked about opening up more opportunities for the women. Lastly, during this time, the US was trying so hard to restructure itself and thus, there was a perception that women had attained their equality goals except for the Equal Rights Amendment rectification failure, which was yet to pass.
The first wave of feminism was specifically on women rights while the second wave was more open on many contexts despite the sex of concern. The second wave of feminism unfolded in the civil and anti-war rights movements as well as the increase in self-consciousness context. This wave unfolded these contexts for several minority groups across the globe. The phase predominantly talked about reproduction and sexuality regardless of the sexes (Rutherford and Pettit 223). Support from both sexes energized the movement to push for the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment ...