Therefore, if one fails when describing women"s lives to take account of the relevant differences, then one"s explanations will probably fail to be adequate, one"s recommendations for reforms will be incorrect, and penultimately one will fail to eliminate social inequalities.

             It is according to the four elements that feminist theory should be analysed against, as well as the possibility that false universalisation could have occurred in the construction of such thought. .

             Unlike Jagger who believes that women must have their own gender identity, therefore their own gender ideology; Sally Alexander states that the core of feminism is "always posed in terms of women"s perceptions of themselves and their status in relation to men"5 .

             It therefore becomes apparent that there will be many discrepancies in feminist .

             theory , with some theories being more acceptable than others. Feminism strives to seek equality for women,yet as an ideology this "conquest" both succeeds on certain levels but as an all encompassing ideology seems to fail. .

             II) First Wave Feminism.

             a) A brief overview of the First Wave:.

             First Wave Feminism can be loosely categorised , into five periods: Late 18 th Century Feminism, Feminist Abolitionism, "Declaration" Feminism, Militant Suffragist Feminism, and, finally, Early Socialist/Marxist Feminism.6 There is chronologically no clear distinction between these five periods, the time periods seem to overlap into each other. However it makes it possible to classify them into categories because of either one or two distinct characteristics.

             b) 18 th Century Feminism in Britain and the US:.

             1760-1800.

             During this period feminist activism focused on three issues: the education of women, marriage and property rights, and, later, abolitionism. Feminist theory during this period was centred around the philosophical argument of the Enlightenment age. The theories attention was predominantly focused around the issues of what women were by nature.