Gay mentions in her essay collection that feminism “doesn 't allow for the complexities of human experience or individuality” Which does feel true we all see feminism as angry females that hate men, the objectification of women, and what we all assume no shaving of the arms, legs, underarms, etc. which is not all true maybe some feminist can be what we all assume but not all. Women should be allowed to believe in women’s right but also be able to get married, have kids, dress, like a girl, or shave their legs and not feel obligated to hate all those beliefs. Gay mentions that she does/wants all those things but by doing so would make her a “bad feminist”. By her looking past the essential feminist “guidlines” Gay concludes that “she rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all”.
Feminists are being distinguished by different constructs. They are identifying themselves self-identified feminists, non-labelers, and non-feminists. Non-labelers reject the feminist label, feminist endorse the attitudes associated with feminism, and non-feminists don’t see feminism as important. Women are labeled as angry and look to shame men because they were dissatisfied when it’s just women taking a different approach to resisting male dominance and achieve solidarity with other women (Anderson). There are some feminist that “wrote pretty hardcore literature about the extermination of masculinity and male gender roles, and thus the assumption is that all woman who are feminists today hate men too” (Holly-Malett).
They suffer from being silenced. However, feminism is the solution to freeing the oppressed and empo... ... middle of paper ... ... world is taught to believe is the only key to equality. The absence of feminism is stunning and people need to allow it in their lives; with the acknowledgments of the reasons why millions of women are oppressed, how society defines feminism, and the goals that every feminist and everybody should strive for, it is evident now, feminism is strong needed in the world. Both men and women suffer from it and it plays an integral role in society’s culture today. To fix this problem, society’s way of living needs to go through an upheaval of ways.
Today, many feminists go around stating there isn’t a need for men, women can survive on their own, and that women are better than men. As Saira Khan states in her article on Spiked, “modern-day feminists engage in man-bashing rather than dignified demands for equality.” (Khan 1). It just shows how feminists would rather take their anger out on men rather than realize we a... ... middle of paper ... ...oncludes is his article, “That’s how we’ve come to this backwards point where the new feminist activism, for some, is about oppressing those with different views. So much for equality!” (Furey 1). They would rather demand dominance than equality, call for justice for issues that are not really there, claim gender discrimination in the work place, and argue against any who try to oppose them.
“Remember that forgiveness too is a power,” she continues, “to beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest.”(135) This powerful message speaks to human behavior no matter the societal construction. Marginalizing women in feminist groups and Gilead is not a matter of controlling power. Instead, Offred believes “it’s about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it” (135), warning society not to forget how to treat others and learn from past mistakes. Sexual objectification, patriarchal authority, and lack of solidarity are methods to silence women. Women in The Handmaid’s Tale are marginalized to critique utopian feminism.
Unfortunately, I feel we have lost a great deal in the process. I think we often confuse the desire to have equal rights with the view that gender differentiation is an oppressive concept that should be abolished. The feminists of today do little more than dissolve the family unit, confuse relationships, and weaken a woman's role in society. In reality, men and women are very different and instead of trying to completely erase the differences between us, we should embrace them. By acknowledging our separate identities, rather than ignoring them, we would be better able to work together and improve society as a whole.
Hiding the evidence is a clear action that portrayed feminism because they were belittled in several instances by the men and wanted to fight back against that constant neglect. They took actions that advocated and stood up to the gender roles of men being superior and better than them. Another aspect of feminism in the short story “Trifles” is the idea that a woman cannot do a “man’s job” at all or if they attempt it cannot be better than a man. “Trifles” contradicts
Many racial slurs have been condemned and frowned upon by our modern society, yet the words directed at women are trivialized and ignored despite their harmful intentions and effects. We must reclaim the word cunt from its negative connotations and strive to replace the double standards and shame directed at women for their gender. Works Cited "Celebrating the Word "Cunt"" Origins of the Word "Cunt" N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar.
Focusing on the the American language, the language makes it seem that women are far much inferior. In society we use words such as fireman, policeman, man-made, mankind, and so much other words, we never realized how much we generalize women while using male terms. In the article Why Sexist Language Matters by Sherryl Kleinman who feels strongly in the change of the sexist language because “If we aren’t even deserving of our place in humanity in language, why should we expect to be treated as decent human beings otherwise? (Welkley & Torres, 2015, p. 70). Kleiman is saying that she really feels that women are very below men on the ladder, so if we can’t even acknowledge them in language then how can we even treat them equally.
Inner beauty is forgotten and deemed unimportant in our society. The problems leave us with nothing but a shallow, depressed, miserable, unrealistic society with standards that leave people feeling inadequate and rejected. The media should give a more realistic body type for women to look up to. Women need to work together to help change attitudes, and neutralize the negativity that society and the media create. We can refuse to take the media so seriously and try to challenge the idealistic images in advertising and their demeaning messages.