Research Proposal Summary

Initial research question:
"How has feminism changed with each wave?"
   The initial feedback on this idea was that it was too vague, so I've altered my proposal to a more specific topic. I have decided to focus on western feminism, predominantly because of the availability of texts on the topic and you could argue that it has been the most progressive thus far, so there is more to examine.

After initial reading and taking another look at my essay from last year, "How has the role of women changed in the last 100 years?", I definitely want to investigate this topic further. This time however, I will be focusing on the movement that changed the female role.

"How has Western Feminism changed with each wave?" seems like a more appropriate question to investigate. Within this, I have identified a few more questions to try and answer:

1. Are there specific events that triggered each wave? Social/political/economic?
2. How successful has each wave been? How much has society changed in the last 150 years?
3. Will we ever learn from history? Will the movement ever reach it's ultimate goal?

For the practical aspect of the project, I want to use the information I gather to produce an activity pack for a younger audience. This is similar to what I did in level 5 but a more in depth investigation. The general age range for this pack would be 10 to 15 year olds, or possibly even younger? 10 to 13 year olds could be a more suitable audience because people's attitudes change a lot at this age. The pack would teach about the history of feminism, what it has done for society so far and highlight advocates for the movement (both current and throughout history). I intend to present this information in an illustrated booklet with activities such as 'make your own patches and badges' (inspired by current feminism diy culture). Presently, I want to make the pack appealing to both young girls and boys because I think that a lot of men grow up thinking that feminism is against them, when in actual fact it is a movement to ensure the equality of both the sexes, 

My reason for targeting a younger audience is that these people will be the leaders of our world one day, and it is important to educate them if we want to keep progressing. I feel quite strongly about educating people on the women's movement (not just the early suffragists) because nobody ever taught me about it whilst I was growing up - I think it is only right that the women who fought for my right to vote; receive an education; and generally be myself, should not be forgotten by the next generation. 

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

- George Santayana