Feminism is a complex system of ideology, theory, and activism to fight and end sexist beliefs and practices, particularly against women. At its most basic, it aims to achieve equality for women in all areas of life: social, political, cultural, and economic. However, it is an umbrella term that only loosely connects many different methods, philosophies, and ideologies about how to achieve these things, what equality would look like, and even how one defines “women.”

Historically-speaking, some cite Mary Wollstonecraft’s foundational book A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) as the beginning of the feminist movement, though the word “feminism” itself was coined in the 1870s in France. The main thrust of Wollstonecraft’s argument was that women should have the right to education. She believed that through education, women could achieve full emancipation. Education has continued to be a rallying cry for many feminist movements throughout history, including current feminist activists like Malala Yousafzai, who fights for girls’ educational rights in Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries. Her work made her the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 2014, at the age of 17.

The suffrage movement (“suffrage” meaning the right to vote in representative governments) took place on the largest scale in England and the US.