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While there is no clear consensus as to when 'first wave' feminism occurred, most accept that in the 19th century, as industrialization progressed, and new mass movement began, first wave feminism emerged. The term itself was only coined in 1968 by Martha Lear, who also coined the term second wave. First wave feminism focused on what we now consider basic issues of inequality in light of more recent developments.

Although feminism can be argued to have its roots with many ancient periods, modern feminism begins around the late 17th and 18th centuries, during the Enlightenment in Europe. One of the early feminists was Mary Wollstonecraft, who mostly wrote in the late 18th century (Figure 1). She was heavily influenced by Rousseau and French political thinkers who began to advocate that societies, and individuals specifically, should have rights that the state provides. Individual rights, separate from teaching from the church, began to become a key focus for philosophers during this period. Individual liberty, as argued, was to be upheld by the state. Similarly, English philosophers, such as John Locke living earlier, had taken up similar ideas. However, philosophers and writers often ignored women and Wollstonecraft was among the first to call for gender equality. She believed reason and education should be the foundation of social order that included equality for women. Her books (<i>A Vindication of the Rights of Women</i>, published in 1792, and <i>Maria, or the Wrongs of Women</i>,published in 1798, were controversial in their day but also demonstrated her ideas. She saw the lack of focus in educating women as making them appear less informed as men in society. Although we see her views as largely expected and normal today, for over a century her writings and influence were minimized or even avoided by later feminists due to the morals of the day. She had at least two highly publicized affairs that produced at least one child out of wedlock and was explicit about her sexuality. The focus on her behavior, rather than ideas, unfortunately diminished her influence in the early 19th century as feminists ideas increasingly emerged.<ref>For more on Wollstonecraft, see: Taylor, B. (2003). <i>Mary Wollstonecraft and the feminist imagination</i>. Cambridge, U.K. ; New York: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

[[File:Suffragettes-1921.jpg|thumb|Figure 2. The suffrage movement and suffragettes helped create momentum for the right to vote for women.]]

While there has been much focus on feminists in the United States, feminists movements had also developed in various periods, most notably after the 18th century, in many countries. Southern Australia was among the first places women could vote, where in 1895 the right to vote was achieved by women there. Catherine Spence was a prominent figure who had campaigned for the vote.<ref>For more on Australia's struggle for the right to vote for women, see: Oldfield, A. (1992). <i>Woman suffrage in Australia: a gift or a struggle</i>? Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. </ref>

In the UK, women gained the right to vote in 1918, although their rights were not fully equal to men until 1928. The suffragettes were often notorious for their militancy in trying to achieve their goals. Perhaps the most prominent agitator was Sylvia Pankhurst, a famous socialist who helped campaign for women equality and many other causes she considered part of social injustice. By the 1910s, society in the UK had also increasingly saw that it was natural to have women be given the right to vote. The UK also had other restrictive laws, such as prohibition from wealthy women from controlling their property, that were not fully removed until the late 1890s. In the 1850s, divorce became an issue that was moved to the civil courts rather than requiring the Church to be responsible for.<ref>For more on the suffragettes and suffrage movement in the UK, see: Pankhurst, E. S. (2015). <i>SUFFRAGETTE: the history of the women’s militant suffrage movement</i>. Dover Children's.</ref>

First wave feminism was instrumental in giving women basic rights such as to vote and even administer their own property. World War II and recovery period that saw men retaking many of their old job, in some ways, slowed down the feminist movement. However, by the 1960s the political climate in the West began to change and accept more liberal ideals. While first wave feminists achieved their key goals, it was evident in countries such as the UK and the US that equality in voting did not translate to equality in the workplace or aspects of social acceptance such as marriage. Communist states emerged as early countries that embraced more equality, but in the West this took time as social norms began to change in the context of major wars and increasingly greater roles women played in society, both in a civil and political sense. Nevertheless, the key foundation for second wave feminism required the rights earned by first wave feminists, mainly in giving women political power through the vote.

First wave feminism was critical in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in giving women the right to vote and basic rights such as in property. While the roots of this feminism is not clear, new movements from the Enlightenment and industrialization began to focus on female rights and individuality. The 19th century was a time where people questioned basic rights and who had access to them. It emerged that both sexes, as well as different races, should have basic given rights such as emancipation, rights to vote, and rights to own property, even though the battles for equality continued into the 20th century. Achieving the right to vote was generally seen as the major achievement for first wave feminists.