At the beginning of the 21st century, the question of whether the feminist movement that had its heyday in the 1950"s through the 1970"s and 1980"s, continues, now, to exist, depends, first, on how one defines feminism; second on where one lives, works, or attends school, and third, on with whom does business, socializes, or otherwise associates. For example, according to Judy Rebick, speaking in Canada, in March, 2005:.

             March 8 is International Women's Day (IWD). In most of the world, it is an.

             important holiday recognizing the struggles of women for equality. Most of.

             what my generation of feminists fought for has been won. Yet women labour.

             longer under the double day, still face the fear of violence, and are subject to.

             even worse pressures to fit into an impossible model of beauty.

             And men still hold a lock on power. While some women have reached the.

             highest echelons of power in government and the corporate world, they are.

             still a handful. Patriarchy is still alive and well even if some women have been.

             accepted into the boys' club.

             Feminism needs to reinvent itself to deal with these new realities. Third.

             wave feminists have begun to redefine feminism but their work remains.

             mostly in the cultural domain. A global women's movement is redefining.

             feminism on a world scale to meet the challenges of corporate globalization.

             ("The Making of a Feminist Revolution").

             It is true (as Rebick observes) that many social, economic, and psychological battles fought and won by the late 20th century women"s movement have arguably been won (at least in the western world). Still, feminism is not now irrelevant (or dead). In this essay, then, I will argue that the feminist movement does indeed still exist (with good reason); but that it has lost focus, for two reasons. The first of these is the relatively new complacency of many women today, based on enjoyment of rights, privileges, and protections already won for them, which they now take for granted.