History of Feminism

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is signed into law by George H.W. Bush. After a several-year fight, the ADA finally passed, following the Capitol Crawl, where 60 activists with disabilities crawled up the 83 steps of the United States Capitol to bring visibility to the barriers the disabled community faces in an ableist society. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in their everyday life — including but not limited to their workplace, public businesses, and public transportation.

Dr. Antonia Novello makes history as the first woman and the first Hispanic person to serve as Surgeon General of the U.S.

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) is established by National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance the understanding of biological and social factors influencing women’s health and disease.

Anita Hill testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee during Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court confirmation hearing, October 11, 1991. Credit: R. Michael Jenkins

Anita Hill makes history by testifying against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, whom she said sexually harassed her while she worked for him. Despite her testimony, the Senate confirmed Thomas in a 52-48 vote, and Hill was unfortunately unprotected from condemnation and death threats for speaking out. At the same time, she heard from survivors who shared their stories with her. Her decision to speak out on the national stage continues to make survivors feel seen.

“For me, when I think about the hearing, what motivated me to do it was bigger than the consequences of doing it. I mean, I knew that I had important information about Clarence Thomas, what kind of judge he was going to be, because I knew about his own behavior that really said that he had no respect for the law and that he believed himself to be above the law…. And knowing that the law was going to be written by and shaped by someone with a disregard for it was what I was looking at. That was really what motivated me — it just outweighed the consequences. I think that there’s someplace in your conscience that says, ‘If I don’t act, then I will have been a part of something that I don’t want to live with.’ I would have been moving away from something and turning my back on something.”

—Anita Hill from interview with Marianne Schnall in What Will It Take to Make a Woman President?: Conversations about Women, Leadership and Power

Top Row (L-R): Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Bottom Row: Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) 1992

This year is dubbed the “Year of the Woman” after a record number of women were elected to Congress — 24 to the United States House of Representatives and four to the Senate. This brought the total number of women in Congress to 48. This influx of women leaders was not a coincidence; many were influenced by Anita Hill’s testimony. When American women saw the number of male senators questioning Hill, they wondered where the women senators were. When Senate seats opened up, some of these same women ran to fill them — and won.

Carol Moseley Braun becomes the first Black woman and the first woman of color to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Marital rape is criminalized federally nationwide by the Federal Sexual Abuse Act. While rape is considered a crime in all 50 states, there are unfortunately exemptions or loophooles in some states. For more about this, read this explainer from the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Senate Judiciary Committee - Ruth Bader Ginsburg hearing Credit: R. Michael Jenkins

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is appointed by President Bill Clinton as the second female justice ever to sit on the Supreme Court. During her long and prestigious career, Justice Ginsburg co-founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and argued six groundbreaking gender discrimination cases in front of the Supreme Court as a litigator (winning five of those six cases). As a justice, she continued her work as an advocate for gender equality, writing the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia in 1996, which ruled that qualified women could not be denied admission to Virginia Military Institute. She also famously read her dissent to the decision in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case, in which a female employee was denied equal pay for equal work over a 19-year period. Until her death in 2020, Ginsburg was a superpower on the Supreme Court and a staunch advocate for reproductive rights and women’s rights overall.

President Clinton signs the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law. FMLA guarantees eligible employees of covered employers to take 12 weeks of leave following the birth of a child, adoption of a child, to care for a sick family member, or to care for their own serious health condition. Although the legislation is gender-neutral, it was a particular win for women, who do the majority of care work, ensuring they won’t lose their jobs or health benefits for doing so.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act is signed into law to ensure that women and minorities are included in all clinical NIH-funded medical research, which has led to improving the diagnosis and treatment of conditions that affect women differently than men.

Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun buck tradition by wearing pants on the Senate floor, breaking an unofficial rule that women must wear dresses or skirts.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is signed into law by President Bill Clinton. In 1990, Sen. Joe Biden initiated efforts to get Congress to pass this legislation, and though it took four years, it finally passed with 226 sponsors in the House and 68 in the Senate. This final version of VAWA included the first federal criminal law against battering and provisions on rape. The bill also focused on prevention and funding for victim services. VAWA has been reauthorized four times and will be up for reauthorization again in 2028.

12 Black women — Dr. Toni M. Bond Leonard, Rev. Alma Crawford, Evelyn S. Field, Terri James, Bisola Marignay, Cassandra McConnell, Cynthia Newbille, Lorretta Ross, Elizabeth Terry, ‘Able’ Mable Thomas, Winnette P. Willis, and Kim Youngblood — establish the Reproductive Justice movement. This framework of “reproductive justice” began as an effort to ensure reproductive rights be included in intersectional conversations surrounding other social justice issues that especially affect Black women and other women of color.

Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers the keynote address at the 4th U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing, China, September 5, 1995 Credit: Sharon Farmer

First Lady Hillary Clinton makes history with her remarks at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where she famously said, "If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all.” Her words have since gone down in history as one of the most significant rallying cries for gender equality. At the closing of the conference the representatives of 189 governments agreed on powering up a comprehensive plan to achieve gender equality: the Beijing Platform for Action. The plan outlined steps to improve the lives of women and girls from accessing education, equal pay, participation in decision-making and living a life free from violence.

Feminist.com is founded in the early days of the Internet, as the first web home for a variety of important women's groups such as the Ms. Foundation for Women, Equality Now, V-Day, Girls Inc., and more.

Eve Ensler, now known as V, premieres her episodic play, The Vagina Monologues, which is based on interviews V conducted with more than 200 women. The play explores “women’s sexuality and the social stigma surrounding rape and abuse, creating a new conversation about and with women.” The Vagina Monologues performances still take place across the world each year, including at hundreds of U.S. college campuses.

The creation of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors. The first game takes place in 1997.

Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to be United States Secretary of State, appointed during the Clinton Administration, making her the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. government. During this time, she was a key advocate for the eastern expansion of NATO and for the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo.

Credit: V-Day

Stemming from an idea sparked at a Feminist.com board meeting, V (formerly Eve Ensler) and a group of New York City women established the V-Day organization on Valentine’s Day 1998 to raise money for survivors and educate people about violence against women. V-Day has since raised over $150 million dollars for grassroots anti-violence groups across the globe and has expanded its mission: to end violence against all women, gender expansive people, and the Earth.

“When we started, there was no mainstream reporting on violence. It was never a front-page issue. People didn't want to hear about it. And it is now real and it's mainstream, and there is acknowledgement that this is a central issue of our times.”

– V (formerly Eve Ensler) from interview with Marianne Schnall

The Women’s World Cup becomes the most successful women's sporting event in history with eighteen million viewers watching the final on television.

The Food and Drug Administration approves mifepristone to be available to the American public, providing a non-surgical option for patients in need of abortion care and miscarriage management. This increased autonomy and access for patients, allowing for care in a private, at-home setting.

Women’s Media Center (WMC) is founded by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, and Robin Morgan. WMC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with the mission to make women and girls more visible in the media.

Condoleezza Rice becomes the first Black woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.

Activist and survivor Tarana Burke starts the MeToo Movement to help sexual violence survivors, particularly women of color. Using the phrase “me too” makes survivors feel a sense of community in what can feel like an isolated experience and inspires them to share their own stories. The movement also helps build a sense of empathy for survivors, who, for decades, have often not been believed or supported when they come forward.

Nancy Pelosi breaks what she calls the “marble ceiling” by becoming the first woman to be Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was elected for the position again in 2019 and served until 2023. During her time in the position, Pelosi’s crowning achievement was as a key force behind the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Throughout her career, she has remained a strong advocate for healthcare, LGBTQ+, and overall human rights, and environmental protections, among various other issues central to the Democratic Party.

As his very first piece of legislation in office, President Barack Obama signs into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as a direct response to the 2007 Supreme Court decision Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Justice Ginsburg, who had expressed her strong dissent in the Supreme Court’s decision to limit how employees could challenge unequal pay. According to a statement from the White House at the time, this legislation “amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964, so that unfair pay complaints can be filed within 180 days of a discriminatory paycheck — and that 180 days resets after each paycheck is issued.” Justice Ginsburg was a vocal champion of this legislation and proudly kept a framed copy of it in her office.

Sonia Sotomayor is appointed as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama, becoming the first Hispanic and third female member of the Court.