1.
Take a look in this
snazzy lil zine & you
m i g h t j u s t l e a r n
s o m e t h i n g !
ISSUE // 1
W h a t i s f e m i n i s m ?
Why do we need it?
What does it all mean?

2.
elliesmithdesign.tumblr.com
C o n t e n t &
d e s i g n b y
Ellie Smith

3.
Feminism is the demand for
full equality of the sexes
and addresses many layers of
discrimination such as
class, race, sexuality and
age. Journalist & suffragist
Rebecca West famously de-fined
feminism as the
‘Radical notion that women
are people’.

4.
The Suffragettes were a
group of women, who came
together in 1897 during the
first wave of feminism, in
order to improve the place
of women in society. One of
1st their main causes was to
change the law so that
women could vote. They
fought hard and finally
were rewarded the vote in
1918, showing women every-where
2nd 3rd
that they were able
to get what they want.
The Second Wave of Feminism
came in the 1960s and
lasted throughout-the 70s &
80s. The movement encour-aged
women to realise that
aspects of their personal
lives were deeply con-trolled
by politics and
reflected the sexist power
structure. During this time
‘women’s liberation’ became
a common phrase and many
women joined in with ral-lies
and marches campaign-ing
for reproductive free-dom
and against events such
as the Miss America Pageant
in September 1967.
Third wave Feminism ap-peared
in the early 1990s
in response to the failings
of the second wave which
they believed were their
over-emphasis on white,
middle/upper class women
and a concentration of the
definitions of ‘feminini-ty’.
The idea of the under-standing
of gender and sex-uality
outside of the
binary was key to the ide-ology
of the third wave.
The groups encouraged
sexual freedom and libera-tion
for women as well as
rallying for reproductive
self-control through con-traception,
allowing women
to become independent from
men.
Feminist movements over
time have split into 3 main
‘waves’...

5.
The common diagnosis of
the place of women in
our ‘modern’ world is
that we are equal to
men. Most people see
the fact we have ca-reers,
access to educa-tion
and the vote means
that we are being
treated equally, but
this is not the case.
In order to get
some idea of the
general opinion of
feminism, I sent
out a survey to my
friends, family and
peers.
W H Y D O W E
NEED IT?
RESULTS
Do you consider your-self
a feminist?
60%
YES
40%
NO
FEMALE
Gender?
MALE
OTHER
67% 32% 1%
Is femi-nism
a
positive
or nega-t
i v e
c a u s e ?
Positive
Negative
Don't
K n o w
80%
9%
11%

6.
If the meaning of feminism is the
belief that women are equal, then
the fact 40% of the people in the
survey don’t class themselves as
a feminist can be seen as reason
of why we need feminism.
Do this 40% of people believe
that women don’t deserve equal
rights? Do they think a woman’s
place is under the rule of a man?
Or are they just ignorant to the
inequalities that occur around
them everyday?
Knowing the facts that I do, it
seems like common courtesy that
someone would consider themselves
as a feminist. However there are
people out there who don’t know
that
2 Women are killed every week
as a result of domestic violence
or that
1 in 5 women will experience
some form of sexual violence
during their lifetime
Have I persuaded you -- GGlloorriiaa SStteeiinneemm
yet?

7.
One of the very important
issues that modern femi-nists
are trying their best
to tackle is the idea that
one kind of body is the
right one and that other
types should be ridiculed
and shamed. Every single
young girl (and boy) grow-ing
up is socialised into a
world that sees a slim,
blond, white-skinned body
as the idea to strive for.
This myth that the perfect
body looks like this is
mostly perpetuated by the
mainstream media which
shames ‘fat’ celebrities,
dismisses men and women of
colour and praises un-healthy
and extreme dieting
techniques. The real health
problem when it comes to
body issues is the thou-sands
of young girls every
year who become withdrawn,
depressed and even suicidal
through of stigma and bul-lying
because of their
size, hair colour, skin
colour, nose length etc.
In order to counter this
body shaming propaganda,
modern feminists are
trying to spread the mes-sage
of body love and ac-ceptance
by campaigning
for more representation
for women of colour,
larger ladies and disabled
women in the media. We
need to focus our atten-tion
on the forces that
drive wedges between us as
women: racism, sexism,
able-ism, ageism, and our
national obsession with
size and shape. If we come
together as women and show
men and the media that we
love and are proud of our
bodies, they can no longer
shame us. None of this is
to say that being blonde,
thin and white is wrong,
but it is not the only
right way to be.

8.
"We teach girls to shrink themselves
To make themselves smaller
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We say to girls:

9.
The media is probably the
most important agent when it
comes to how women feel
about and see themselves.
From a young age, girls are
exposed to information and
opinions that tell them they
should act in a certain way
and like certain things in
order to fit in with society
and ultimately, find a hus-band.
Films, television and
magazines are full of male
protagonists and stereotypi-cal
women, which leads many
feeling put-out and alienat-ed
because of a lack of rep-resentation.
Studies show
that 80% of the women on TV
are underweight, and those
who aren’t, are ridiculed
and put down because of
their weight.
...because of the influence
of feminism and the growth of
liberated women asking for
representation, some films
and TV have begun to present
strong, independent women of
many different colours,
shapes and sizes. Characters
such as Lieutenant Uhura
(Star Trek), Buffy Summers,
Katniss Everdeen and Princess
Leia are giving women and
girls everywhere confidence
that they too can do and be
whatever they want. Go girls!

10.
When it comes to fashion, the feminist way is
to wear whatever you want, however you want and
not to listen to anyone who tells you what you
should or shouldn’t look like. Wear what makes
you feel good, whether that is fishnets and
heels or joggers and a sweatshirt.

11.
w a n t t o l e a r n m o r e
o r g e t i n v o l v e d ?
FEMINISMAINTDEAD.TUMBLR.COM
http://whoneedsfeminism.tumblr.com
http://feminspire.com
http://thechapess.tumblr.com
http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/