Many women have stood up for women's rights or equal opportunities throughout the ages and became famous or well known through their struggle.
Fotocredits: feministing.com
Dutch feminists
One of the most important figures of the 'first feminist wave' is the electoral champion Aletta Jacobs. Other prominent feminists in that period were, for example, Wilhelmina Drucker, Suze Groeneweg, Johanna Westerdijk and Rosa Manus.
The 'second feminist wave' was triggered by Joke Smit with her essay Het onbehagen van de vrouw.
A range of famous women nowadays keep the feminist debate alive in the Netherlands.
International
On an international level, there are many women who have worked towards gender equality and thereby gained recognition throughout the centuries. Starting in the 18th century with Mary Wollstonecraft, who is seen as the first feminist writer.
In the following centuries, the example was followed by women such as Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan to contemporary names such as Malala Yousafzai and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Artists like Beyoncé and Emma Watson profile themselves in the media as outspoken feminist.
Male feminists
It is not just women who have worked for gender equality. For example, in the 17th and 18th centuries, famous male French writers became aware of the women's struggle through their stories.
In the 19th century, great thinkers such as Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx also dealt with women's emancipation, especially in relation to Marxist theory.
Nowadays more and more famous men come forward as feminists, from the Dalai Lama to the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
