The 1st wave took place between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century and was characterized by demands for access to higher education and voting rights.
The 2nd wave happened between the 1960s and 1970s. The right to physical self-determination as well as an active voice in politics, unrestricted access to skilled jobs underpinned the movement. This group employed the slogan: The personal is political.
The 3rd in the 1990s was typified by the internationalization of the movement. And came with the inclusion of demands from the Global South. In 1989, the African American feminist lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw defined the concept of “intersectionality” to mean a combination of different dimensions of diversity such as gender or sexual orientation, skin color, disabilities, different religious affiliations, poverty, etc. These groups can be simultaneously exposed to multiple forms of discrimination.
Since 2012, the 4th wave has sought further internationalization through social media. Bodily integrity and self-determination in sexual orientation, against sexualized violence and abuse of power, against homophobia and transphobia are the tenets of the 4th wave. Slogans: #MeToo, #NotOneLess, #OneOfUs