Female anthropologists have been attempting to carve out a space for themselves since the early 20th century.
The first wave, between 1850- 1920, attempted to include women’s voices in ethnography. This was accompanied by the wave of ‘suffragist’ feminism that was concerned with voting rights, rethinking of women’s roles in the nuclear family and pushing for employment equality.
The second wave, saw women gaining more prominence in the academic world and with women being on the rise of anthropological theorising. Many female scholars challenged the androcentrism and male bias that was dominant at that time.
Anthropologists were encouraged to look into female centred issues, treating women as distinct cultural actors.