Feminism History

1244 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Feminism in modern perspective

Jacquelyn Talaga
Mick McGrath
Eng-112
15 April 2014

In 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York, 68 women and 32 men sat down at the first women’s rights convention to sign a Declaration of Sentiments to call for equal treatment of men and women under the law and voting rights for women (Imbornoni para 2). This is where feminism all began. From 1848 until 1920, many women, and even men, fought for the rights of women around the country. They fought for equality and liberty and in 1920, the 19th amendment was finally passed allowing women the right to vote (Imbornoni para 15). This was a major milestone in the women’s rights movement. Susan B. Anthony once said “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” (Susan B. Anthony para 1). If only feminism were the same today it wouldn’t be a bad connotation and would still be a positive movement. This is because many of those associated with feminism today no longer see the need for equality. Instead, it seems they are looking for superiority. Modern-day feminists in America do not see how well women are doing today, and they instead fight for justice for their victimhood that they still see themselves in. They also fight against the prominent wage gap claiming that women are being discriminated against in work place.
Modern-day feminism is no longer about equality but more about superiority. 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. Rarely any of the modern-day feminists see how women in America are doing better than any of the other women in history or even today. It is grim to think about the radical changes that have occurred. Furey also writes in his article, “Now that North America more or less has gender equality, empowerment feminists aren’t a visible group anymore. They’re regular people getting on with their lives, pursuing their goals.” (Furey 1). Feminism is no longer an applicable cause.

Show More
Related

  • The Challenges Of Feminism In The 1960's

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    While women continue to be ranked as the weaker sex by popular opinion, feminists have bright hopes in a change towards their liberation. As Rebecca Solnit stated, “feminism has just started and it’s not stopping now. We are witnessing a full-fledged war, not of the sexes but of gender roles”(Solnit). Feminism and the right to equality has been a long and arduous struggle for women before the Civil Rights Act. The Feminine Mystique sparked a change, questioning society, which continues today as women fight for equal treatment regardless of laws that claim for their protection. Feminists will continue to fight for the day where women will be treated as equals, where there will be no gender bias, and for the day when a woman can state her mind, just as her male counterpart, without being called an uptight

    Read More

  • The Social Value of 19th Amendment

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Women’s Suffrage Movements

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whereas the women’s suffrage movements focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to equality, the feminist movements successfully addressed a broad range of other feminist issues. The first dealt primarily with voting rights and the latter dealt with inequalities such as equal pay and reproductive rights. Both movements made vast gains to the social and legal status of women. One reached its goals while the other continues to fight for women’s rights.

    Read More

  • Dorment's Essay 'Why Men Still Can' T Have It All

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    In society today, it is often assumed that women are the victims of atrocious oppression at the hands of men. This belief consists of the thoughts that women are held back by unequal pay, being denied leadership roles, having to be the primary caretaker of children, and more. Richard Dorment is his essay “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All” explores this topic and attempts to show a different view. He shows the negative aspects of feminism and why it is really causing more harm than good. This stance challenges a movement that proclaims it is fighting for an honorable cause. In his essay, Dorment shows how feminism has changed today’s society and why neither men nor women can “have it all.” This text digs deep into the topic of feminism and shows

    Read More

  • The History Of The Women's Rights Movement

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive

    Read More

  • Violence Against Women In Canada

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the majority of early cultures and societies, women have always been considered subservient and inferior to men. Since the first wave of feminism in the 19th century, women began to revolt against those prejudicial social boundaries by branching out of the submissive scope, achieving monumental advances in their roles in civilization. However, gender inequality is still prevalent in developed countries. Women frequently fall victim to gender-based assault and violence, suffer from superficial expectations, and face discriminatory barriers in achieving leadership roles in employment and equal pay. Undoubtedly, women have gained tremendous recognition in their leaps towards equal opportunity, but to condone these discrepancies, especially

    Read More

  • Feminism In The 1900's

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feminism has growth over the decades, first they explain who they are fought for us (women), now they are fighting for themselves.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Second Wave Of Feminism

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women have been fighting for equal rights for centuries. The second wave of feminism was a time where women thought their fight for equality was not over, and there were more issues that needed to be addressed and pushed further. In response to the statement “Many women active in the mainstream Second Wave women’s movement believed that they were contributing to changes that would fundamentally revolutionize American society. By the end of the Second Wave, however, some of these women felt that they had failed.” Some feminist activists think they have failed due to limitations and abuse alongside of obtaining the rights focused on in the 1960’s-1970’s. By the time the second wave of feminism began it was already acknowledged that women may have taken a step back into their private spheres up until the 1960’s. From earning the right to vote and fighting for education and property rights, to being brainwashed into thinking their only role in life is to stay at home and be a housewife, led women to be unhappy. “Women wanted more than their husbands, their children and their home.” (Friedan, pp. 279) They wanted more job and career opportunities and to fight for the inequality of women who were employed outside of the home. They also wanted more control in their reproduction so

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In The 1960's

    476 Words  | 1 Pages

    In recent years feminism has gained more popularity and has become a normal thing for people to talk about; new age feminism has many of the same goals that feminism from the 1960’s and 70’s, but with a few more goals they would like to achieve, today’s feminist movement focuses on the wage gap between males and females, ending rape culture, encouraging more representation for people of color and people of all genders and sexualities, and ending the over-sexualization of women in advertisements and movies. The only way to fix the inequality of genders is change the mindset of people who do not believe that feminism is a topic of importance; people do not realize exactly what feminism is about. Many are misinformed and automatically assume that because it is called “feminism” it only focuses around female advancements, but there are also many aspects of feminism that focus on the advancements of

    Read More

  • Argumentative Paper Radical Feminism

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Could you ever imagine in this country a man and a women being in the same room and having equal rights? This idea would be possible if all the protesting stopped and would never happen again. The idea of Feminism has shaped this country since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1838. Since that Convention it has grown and prospered into something new known as “Radical Feminism.” Radical Feminism today is out of place in society and should not be supported.

    Read More

  • The Women's Liberation Movement

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    In just a few decades The Women’s Liberation Movement has changed typical gender roles that once were never challenged or questioned. As women, those of us who identified as feminist have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at...

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay On All Men Are Created Equal

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    The great United States was founded on the idea of freedom; though this great nation claims to be progressive and definitive in freedom when the majority of citizens have none. When it was declared in 1776 that ‘All men are created equal’ in the American Constitution they severely under-sided a majority of the country. The phrase ‘all men are created equal’ is not true equality, it is equality for the white man, particularly one who is wealthy and thrives off of a capitalist society. Our society needs feminism to provide the same freedoms for all American citizens; including achieving suffrage in every state, securing the vote not only for women, but people of colour, and promoting an environment in which every voice is heard.

    Read More

  • Feminist Political Ideology

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had been so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives.

    Read More

  • Feminist Movement Essay

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the 19th century, feminism played a huge role in society and women’s everyday lifestyle. Women had been living in a very restrictive society, and soon became tired of being told how they could and couldn’t live their lives. Soon, they all realized that they didn’t have to take it anymore, and as a whole they had enough power to make a change. That is when feminism started to change women’s roles in society. Before, women had little to no rights, while men, on the other hand, had all the rights. The feminist movement helped earn women the right to vote, but even then it wasn’t enough to get accepted into the workforce. They were given the strength to fight by the journey for equality and social justice. There has been known to be

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Feminism In Modern Society

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1920 the 19th amendment was passed which allowed women the right to vote; this was a significant achievement for the women’s suffrage movement. Since that time women have gained substantial freedom and equality, but some today still argue that gender inequality is a relevant cultural topic that needs to be addressed. Conversely, some people believe that feminism is irrelevant in modern society, or they believe the myth that feminism is only poorly disguised misandry. Despite the opposition, many women and men continue to be advocates for feminism.

    Read More

More about Feminism History

Open Document