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FeministTheoryModernFeminismbeganwithMaryWollstonecraft’sVindicationoftheRightsofWomen(1792),aworkthatcriticizesstereotypesofwomenasemotionalandinstinctiveandarguesthatwomenshouldaspiretothesamerationalityprizedbymen.AproductoftheEnlightenment,Woll-stonecraftbelievedthatwomenshouldenjoysocial,legal,andintellec-tualequalitywithmenanddrewforsupportfromtheworkofprogressivesocialphilosophers.LiberalintellectualslikeJohnStuartMillandhiswife,HarrietTaylor,developedthisargument,infusingitwiththeprin-ciplesofindividualismthatMillhaddevelopedoutoftheutilitarianphilosophyofJeremyBentham.In1866,Millintroducedabillinparlia-mentthatcalledforanextensionofthefranchisetowomenand,in1869,publishedTheSubjectionofWomen(1869).Inthatessayhearguedthatwomenoughttoenjoyequalityinthesocialsphere,especiallyinmar-riage,andcondemned“forcedrepression”and“unnaturalstimulation”(276):“Allwomenarebroughtupfromtheveryearliestyearsinthebeliefthattheiridealofcharacteristheveryoppositetothatofmen;notself-will,andgovernmentbyself-control,butsubmission,andyield-ingtothecontrolofothers”(271).Mill’sviews,influencedstronglybyTaylor,markedasignificantadvanceforwomenandprovidedtheinspi-rationfortheNewWomanmovementattheendofthenineteenth-andtheearly-twentieth-centurysuffragettemovementscommittedtosocialequalityandindividualfreedom.Thefirstphaseor“wave”ofmodernFeminism,then,wasconcernedprimarilywiththeissueofsuffrage(therighttovote).Thedominantfiguresatmid-nineteenthcenturyintheUSwereElizabethCadyStantonandSusanB.Anthony,whosepoliticalrootswereinanti-slaveryactiv-ismand,toalesserdegree,temperancemovements.Stantoncomposedthe“DeclarationofSentiments”fortheSenecaFallswomen’srightsconventionin1848,awatershedmomentinUSFeminism.ModeledontheUSConstitution,theDeclarationasserts“thatallmenandwomenarecreatedequal,”andindictsapatriarchalcultureforrepressingtherightsofwomen:“Thehistoryofmankindisahistoryofrepeatedinju-riesandusurpationsonthepartofmantowardwoman,havingindirectobjecttheestablishmentofanabsolutetyrannyoverher”(Sourcebook).TogetherwithMatildaJoslynGage,Stantonwrotethe“Declarationof95RightsoftheWomenoftheUnitedStates”fortheCentennialcelebrationinWashingtonin1876.Thoughnotofficiallyinvited,Anthonyreadtheaddress.AnthonyandStantonlaterfoundedtheNationalWomanSuf-frageAssociation,whichin1890mergedwiththemoreconservativeAmericanWomanSuffrageAssociation.Theseorganizationswereinstrumentalinsecuringsuffrageforwomen–in1920,withtheSusanB.AnthonyAmendment–andservedasthefoundationformodernFeminism.Notallfeministmovementsinvolvedpoliticalactivisminthisearlyperiod.LiteraryModernismproducedfoundationalfeministwriters,includingpreeminentlyVirginiaWoolf,H.D.(HildaDoolittle),andDjunaBarnes.TheirworkdramatizedthepotentiallydamagingeffectsoftherationalismthatWollstonecraftandMillprofferedasthebirth-rightofwomenandthesocialentitlementcalledforbytheNewWomanmovement,whichemergedinthelatenineteenthcentury.Woolf’sRoomofOne’sOwn(1929)wasalandmarkworkinwhichrepresentationsofwomenbymaleauthorsareroundlycriticizedandanewmodelforfemaleIDENTITYandAGENCYisproffered.Woolfalsoinsistedthatwomenbeallowedtheeconomicandsocialfreedomtofollowtheiraspirationsandtoforegothetraditionalroleofservingasanenlargingmirrorformaleidentity.“Howishetogoongivingjudgement,civilisingnatives,makinglaws,writingbooks,dressingupandspeechifyingatbanquets,unlesshecanseehimselfatbreakfastandatdinneratleasttwicethesizehereallyis?”(60).AsecondwaveofFeminism,crestinginthe1960s,focusedattentiononcivilrights,specificallysocialandeconomicequality.SimonedeBeauvoir’sTheSecondSex(1949)wasafoundationaltext.Claimingthat“oneisnotborn,onebecomesawoman,”deBeauvoirchallengedtheideathatawoman’sessencewasdistinctfromaman’s,thatshewasbornwithcertaininherentpotentialitiesandqualitiesthatdefinedherper-sonal,social,andlegalexistence.Thisinsight,andtheSOCIALCONSTRUC-TIONISTthesisitentails,wasfurtherdevelopedbyUSfeministsinthe1960s.InTheFemaleEunuch,GermaineGreer,likedeBeauvoir,arguesthatthereisno“natural”distinctionbetweenthesexes.SheiscriticalofFreud’sinfluenceonAmericancultureandrejectshisideasaboutfemininityaslargelyirrelevanttounderstandingmodernwomen.Herbookbeginswithanumberofquotationsfrommiddle-class,suburbanhousewivesshehadinterviewed,andthepictureshepaintsisofaFEMINISTTHEORY96pervasivesenseofdissatisfaction:“Ihaveheardsomanywomentrytodenythisdissatisfiedvoicewithinthemselvesbecauseitdoesnotfittheprettypictureoffemininitytheexpertshavegiventhem.Ithink,infact,thatthisisthefirstcluetothemystery;theproblemcannotbeunder-stoodinthegenerallyacceptedtermsbywhichscientistshavestudiedwomen,doctorshavetreatedthem,counselorshaveadvisedthem,andwritershavewrittenaboutthem”(27).ForKateMillet,theproblemwasfundamentallypolitical.AlsolikedeBeauvoir,shearguedagainsttheconceptof“biologism,”theideathatgenderdifferenceis“natural.”Butunlikeothersinthe1960s,Millettookaimatthe“power-structuredrelationships”ofdomination(23)characteristicofPATRIARCHY,relation-shipsthatconditiongenderandcausetheoppressionofwomen.Shedismissedtheargumentsofcontemporaryscien