Though never explicitly referenced, the feminist movements ungird much of Girl, Woman, Other. Before we take a look at how real-world feminism interacts with the novel, we should first define "feminism" or the "feminist movement."
"Feminism" refers to the general body of theory—the ideology—as well as the accompanying movements that strive to define and create a world where there is equality of the sexes. Historically, this equality has tended to refer specifically to equality for women. Crucially, feminism, like many other (if not all) other sociopolitical -isms first requires that a problem be defined before solutions can be proposed to address the problem. Since modern feminism's inception in the early 19th century, its central definitions have evolved greatly, and so, thus, have the social movements that accompany changes in ideology. For this reason, different "waves" or "movements" exist in the history of modern Western feminism.
Though the waves are nuanced and no one description can cover all aspects of each wave, here is an overview of each of the four waves that have rippled through feminism:
First-wave feminism (1848-1920) centered on the issue of women's suffrage in the United States—fighting for the right of women to vote. The movement was primarily led by a white, educated middle class that identified the lack of voting rights and educational access for women to be the primary challenge to overcome. When, in 1920, women were granted the constitutional right to vote, or in other words the goals of this first feminist movement were achieved, new generations of feminists set their sights on another goal, which leads us to the second wave.
Second-wave feminism (1963-80s) was still geographically centered in the United States, including the political climate of the civil rights movement and the ongoing Vietnam War. This movement was kick-started by the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, which advocated for the widespread entry of women—who were primarily wives and mothers—into the workforce, and called for an end to discrimination on the basis of gender.
As more women began to start jobs, feminism shifted again to focus on rights that women still didn't have—mainly rights involving sexual harassment and social or career mobility, which were still relatively limited when third-wave feminism (mid-1990s-2010s) arose. The third wavers, more than the first and second wavers, were focused on intersectionality (crucially, involving women of color in their discourses), reproductive rights, individual and sexual expression, and ending gender-based violence. During this time, feminism, which had mainly been localized to American contexts, also became more widespread globally.
The division between the third and fourth waves of feminism is somewhat blurry. Fourth-wave feminism (2010s-now) was born from the rise of the internet. Social-media-backed movements, like the #MeToo hashtag that raised awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault victims, spread awareness of feminism and helped it to evolve from the third wave. More than ever, feminists called for intersectional inclusivity, irrespective of sexuality, gender, race, and class.
With this brief history of feminism in mind, can you see how the different feminist movements play a role in Girl, Woman, Other? The different movements were all brought about by activists of different generations, who spotted new problems that required addressing. Feminism is a fundamentally generational issue, and Girl, Woman, Other is also essentially about various women of different generations: starting with the older generations of Grace, Hattie, and Penelope all the way to the latest generation, Yazz and Morgan. In fact, many chapters describe generational zeitgeists that correspond perfectly to the various waves of feminism. Penelope, for example, explicitly references Betty Friedan's second-wave feminist book, The Feminine Mystique. Penelope goes on to credit Friedan with inspiring her to join the workforce. In the generation after Penelope, we have Dominique and Amma, the rebellious lesbian feminist activists who protest outside of theaters with discriminatory practices and are concerned with intersectionality and sexual liberation—descriptors clearly corresponding to the third wave. Finally comes the generation of Yazz and Morgan—which, though similar in some ways to Dominique's and Amma's brand of feminism, ultimately also differs. The differences are evident in the conflicts in worldview that Yazz and Amma have, and in Dominique's refusal to allow trans women into her arts festival (an action that Morgan publicly disparages). Feminism, and specifically the four waves of the movement, clearly undercurrent Evaristo's novel. In fact, even Girl, Woman, Other itself can be understood as a feminist work: it highlights and comments on the generational shifts in feminism, through stories of struggle in individual women, and in so doing, perhaps itself also becomes part of the movement.
