Feminist is someone who supports and is part of Feminism.
Feminism is a social movement that, according to historians, arose after the French Revolution and which was strengthened in England, during the 19th century, and then in the United States, at the beginning of the 20th century. This movement fights for equal conditions between men and women, in the sense that both have the same rights and the same opportunities.
It is important to point out that feminism is not the opposite of chauvinism, since chauvinism is a social construction that promotes and justifies acts of aggression and oppression against women. Feminism, as mentioned, is the social movement that fights against the manifestations of chauvinism in society. Thus, the ultimate goal of feminism is to build a society that offers equal conditions between the two genders.
The origins of the feminist movement date back to the period of liberal revolutions, of which the great highlight was the French Revolution, influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment. From this period, we can highlight the action of Olympia of Gouges, who, during the early years of the Revolution, fought for the emancipation of women's rights, defending, mainly, the right of women to participate actively in politics.
He strongly criticized the actions of the revolutionaries, who, despite defending causes of “freedom” and “equality”, still kept women in subjection to the domestic environment, not allowing them to enter politics. In 1791, he launched the Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens in opposition to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, in which he criticized the existing inequalities between genders.