User:T.o.wgs/Women's History in 1997

Third Wave Feminism

In 1997 Women's History was in it's Third-wave feminism movement. The third wave is characterized by its lack of singular goals to accomplish. The third wave started to expand into individual thinking and views on feminism. Like the first and second wave, many subgroups were created within the third wave. The year 1997 brought the following events in Women's history.

Political Advancements and Movements

Politically in 1997 we saw advancements with women in politics, Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the first female secretary of states for the United States. Madeleine is a refugee from Czechoslovakia who worked to promote peace.

The formation of the Swedish Women's Lobby occurred, sparked by Gunver Ngarambe. The Swedish Women's Lobby (SWL) becomes an umbrella organization, which joins multiple other organizations based around women's rights. The purpose of the SWL is to bring forth and emphasize a central voice for women's rights.

The Million Women March took place on October 25th in Philadelphia on the Ben Franklin Parkway. Their purpose was to gather in a march where prayer, music and speeches took place. Speakers included Maxine Waters, Jada Pinkett Smith, and the daughters of Malcom X, Ilyasah Shabazz and Attallah Shabazz. The overall purpose of this march was to bring together and inspire African American women to protest economic disparities and call for civil rights.

Timeline of 1997

February - 46th Miss USA crowns Brook Lee who goes on to become Miss Universe (of the same year). Beauty pageants like such were a target of second wave feminism because the movement wanted to decenter the classic idea of beauty equating a woman's worth. This changed with the third wave of feminism and allowed for a difference of opinions within the movement. Some third wave feminist groups still disliked beauty pageants, and some supported them.

April 30th - Ellen DeGeneres announces she is gay on live TV. The third wave of feminism fought for LGBTQ advancements like this announcement from Ellen.

May 12 - Swimmer Susie Maroney swims from Cuba to Florida. This was a 118 mile swim which took her 24 and a half hours to complete. This swim took place inside of a cage for protection from sharks, which was attached to an escort boat. She was the first woman to complete this swim.

June - Birutė Galdikas is awarded the Kalpataru. The Kalpataru award is the highest award one can be given from the Republic of Indonesia. She was in Indonesia when she saw her first mother and infant orangutans. She is both one of the first women and the only non native Indonesian to win this award. Galdikas used modern techniques to collect her data, and had patience when it came to producing quality work. Sometimes critiqued for her lack of publishing quantity it's argued that it may be the difference between women and men scientific researchers. She graduated from University of California Los Angeles.  

July 5 - The Women's Title at Wimbledon is won by Martina Hingis. She is only 16 at the time, making herself the youngest Wimbledon winner since Lottie Dod in 1887.

August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales dies in a car accident in Paris, France. She was 36 years old when she died. She was known as the people's princess. There was a public outpour of grief and dedications of flowers and notes to where the crash took place.

September 5 - Mother Teresa passes away. Mother Teresa had opposite views of the third wave of feminism when it comes to abortion rights.