Essays on Feminism
Feminism is the principle that values women’s experiences and ideas; feminism also emphasizes that women and men should be socially, economically, and legally equal. Feminism is to be a voice of advancement towards women’s rights and to also advocate for the equality of all types of people. Everyone should be advocates for equality of everyone, looking past sex, whether it be differences on legal standpoints, religion, morals, sexual orientation, etc. Women, however, tend to carry a heavier role in this advocacy because women tend to have experiences and ideas of peace and understanding in such a way that men cannot grasp. Both exemplify the advancement of women in the past and current climate as well as the fight for equality. But, to contrast, although the book's definition does not blackball other types of people, it does only state that men and women should be socially, economically, and legally equal making it vague to me.
Men can be feminists and play a role in feminism. These men that are in support of feminism are called profeminists. Profeminists support feminism and they want to eliminate destructive aspects of gender, such as gender stereotypes, gender inequalities, and gender-related violence. The pro-feminist men can also be known as allies, providing support to groups other than their own. Men are stuck between the rock and the hard place: wanting to help and be an ally for feminist, but, due to the virtue of their birth, they don’t tend to have the experience that goes with gender-based oppression which makes it hard for them to offer help, or is turned down by the women who “hate men”.
What most people don’t know, feminism has many different branches that entail many different ideas and outlooks on feminism. These are the four different theoretical approaches to feminism: liberal feminism, cultural feminism, radical feminism, and women-of-color feminism. Starting with liberal feminism, this stresses the goal of gender equality by giving the same rights and opportunities to both women and men. This group believes that there can be laws passed to equal the rights of both genders. Cultural feminism underlines the positive qualities that are stronger in women than in men, for example, nurturing and caretaking. Cultural feminism more because shines a light on positive qualities that woman possesses that man don’t. But, some of these qualities are brought upon a woman, not by choice, but because she is solely a woman. Cultural feminist considers reconstructing society to benefit both the working man and woman as well as emphasizing cooperation. Another approach to feminism is radical feminism, arguing that the basic cause of woman’s oppression lies deep in the entire sex and gender system, rather than superficial laws and policies. This as a way of saying that men are “scums”. This approach is usually portrayed in media making certain people turn down the idea of feminism. The organization known as Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity stated that “both men and women function best and have the richest relationships if they can move beyond the traditional definitions of gender roles” (SPSMM, Division 51 of the American Psychological Association, 2010). The last idea of feminism is women-of-color feminism which points out that the other types of feminism overemphasize gender, whereas woman-of-color states that feminism must pay attention to other dimensions such as ethnicity and social class.
In the Feminist Perspective Scale (Henley, Meng, O’Brien, McCarthy, & Sockloskie, 1998), statements are given and are rated based on readers' opinion. For liberal feminism, some statements include “The government is responsible for making sure that all women receive an equal chance at education and employment”, “A socialist restructuring of businesses and institutions is necessary for women and people of color to assume equal leadership with White men”, “Legislation is the best means to ensure a woman’s choice of whether or not to have an abortion”, “It is the capitalist system which forces women to be responsible for child care”. These statements blame the government for not having an active voice in feminism and gender equality. Statements such as “The availability of adequate child care is central to a woman’s right to work outside the home”, “Men should follow women’s lead in religious matters because women have a higher regard for love and peace than men”, “Women’s experience in life’s realities of cleaning, feeding people, caring for babies, etc., makes their vision of reality clearer than men’s” lean more toward cultural feminism, in my opinion, because they focus on gender differences and a woman’s qualities that makes her a woman. “Racism and sexism make double the oppression for women of color in the work environment”, ” Sex-role stereotypes are only one symptom of the larger system of patriarchal power, which is the true source of women’s subordination”, “Rape is best stopped by replacing the current male-oriented culture of violence with an alternative culture based on more gentle, womanly qualities”, “Rape is ultimately a powerful tool that keeps women in their place, subservient to and terrorized by men” indicates ideas of radical feminism because oppression lies in the sex and gender system rather than laws and policies. Lastly, woman-color feminism shows differences not only lie in gender but in ethnicity and social class: “Women of color are oppressed by White standards of beauty”, “Much of the talk about power for women overlooks the need to empower people of all races and colors first.”
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Prior to 1870 education was not formally recognised and only available to the elite few who could afford to educate their children privately or at private schools. The poorer people of society would have to rely on the education of the church and its moral …
Women have been suffering since the beginning of the history because of patriarchal order. Feminism is a clash of women against patriarchy. Suffering of women created the concept of feminism as a gender based political and social movement. In public and private sphere, women have …
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This view is held by Radical feminists, they believe that patriarchy is society is the reason that women are oppressed and exploited by men, and Marxists for example hold the view that the capitalist system is the reason for the gender inequality. Feminists believe that …
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Hemingway’s works have largely covered the subject of feminism, and his short story ”Hills like white elephants” perfectly portrays a woman who breaks the norms of a society dominated by men and masculinity. As we all know, feminism is a social movement , an ideology …
Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women In 1797. Her tract was based on the enlightenment that she used in many of her arguments. She believed that reason, rationality and virtue lead to a better society. She also believed that reason and education …
Changing Role of Women in Society How was the status of woman and their rights represented in western society in the 1600 to early 20th century? For centuries, woman and their rights have been oppressed by the dominance of man. There has been continued struggle …
The average man also tends to be faster ND stronger than the average woman according to Livingston. Com. Women, nonetheless, are very athletic and skilled in their own right and deserve the same recognition as athletes as men receive. The reason their games are not …
It would seem unbelievable that the women who lived before the 19th century were confined to their homes and actually had no freedom to choose the leaders that they wanted simply because they could not vote. This was not until the suffrage movement was formed …
The Importance Of Being Earnest “Women’s roles are often tokenistic in dramatic comedy” To what extent do you believe this to be the case in relation to the play you have been studying? In dramatic comedy it can often be said that women’s roles are …
This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies that serving as a background and frame of preference upon which conceptual framework was formulated. This material gave much background and information for the present study. Related Literature (12 page single space) p 7-21 2. …
Gender by definition refers to the characteristics, trades, attributes or even roles that are expected for males and females by a given culture or society. Some can say the general social meaning of being male or female. The WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT (WID) this approach was …
Chapter 4: A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist- Feminism in the Late 20th Century* DONNA HARAWAY History of Consciousness Program, University of California, at Santa Cruz 1. AN IRONIC DREAM OF A COMMON LANGUAGE FOR WOMEN IN THE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT This chapter is an …
Feminist criticism draws attention to “…the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (Tyson 83). This theory displays male domination in society as well as targets to uncover women discrimination in literary …
“Feminism in general is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. ” Black Feminism is a strand of feminist thought, which highlights the manifold disadvantages of gender, class and race that shape the experiences of …
The human physical appearance is very vital in the development of social relations with the others as they interact. The appearance is also important in relation to an individual’s personality. Because human beings are influenced by what they can see, physical attractiveness of a person …
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s women’s lives were consumed with fighting for what they should have always had; equality. This fight for fairness is the main driving force behind the Progressive Era. Women were coming together all over the country in a unified …
The beginning of the 19 the century is characterized by strong discrimination and oppression of women in society meaning that women were something like private property being able only to keep house and to bear children. Gilman comes from a long list of freedom fighters …
Was an American novelist, lecturer, and public supporter of feminist reforms. Today when we speak of her we primarily recall her well-known short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. This short novel is based on the personal experiences of the author when she had a mental distress …
The Vietnam War was a controversial war that caused much anger and resentment in the United States. The war began in 1959 as a result of the United States attempting to stop communism from spreading throughout Vietnam and to the rest of the world (Vietnam …
The construction of a just and humane society, just like other social and institutional facts is a long and tedious process, nevertheless, the task needs to be done. Within the United States, the construction of such a society stands as a result of the various …
The Awakening is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899 , set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century. The plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes …
Jewish feminism has had a significant impact on the development and expression of Judaism. They have faced many obstacles and brought about much change in the Jewish tradition. Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious, legal and social role and contribution …
In the current generation where the role of the woman has been demystified, politics has been configured to gender appealing manifestos such as promoting maternal healthcare and childcare so as to woo women electorate. Gender beliefs and have also been used negatively in smear campaigns …
Feminist theorists Camille Paglia and Foucault give opposing views on the topic of women and their sexuality as they addressed topics such as homosexuality and pornography as ways of expressing sexual desires and the role a woman plays in society in reference to her sexuality. …
During the 19th century women were seen differently, through the eyes of the law, men and work. Most people believed that women should be passive ‘ladies’; obedient to their husbands and should stay at home. Married women’s property was owned by their husbands and so …
Yesterday, 22:02 in: Essay samples The question is to outline and critically evaluate the functionalist view that the typical family unit is nuclear. The other part of the question is to critically evaluate the work of Willmott and Young that suggests that the family is becoming increasingly …
Many sociologists (e. g. Goran Therborn) argue that the typical nuclear family has disintegrated due to many different reasons, for example, the rise in feminism and women gaining more independence; higher diversity of relationships for example higher divorce rates, higher number of families co-habiting. his …
1. The sex/gender distinction. The terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ mean different things to different feminist theorists and neither are easy or straightforward to characterize. Sketching out some feminist history of the terms provides a helpful starting point. 1. 1 Biological determinism Most people ordinarily seem …
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Feminist organizations
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