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The emergence of feminism
Essay about the history of feminism
Essay about the history of feminism
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When I think about feminist, I can’t help myself but to think that feminist just hate men. After reading the book, Thinking about Women: The Sociological Perspective on Sex and Gender, I wondered if I was really a feminist. I went on Gotoquiz.com, a website that asked variety of questions to determine if someone was a feminist. I was appalled when the results said that I was a “full blooded feminist”. I believe in women’s rights and equality for all women around the world. Liberal feminism emphasizes the importance of equality for all people around the world, who can exercise individual freedom (Andersen, 367). However, liberal feminism does not explain the start of gender inequality, nor does it explain the effects of race and class stratification on women’s lives (Andersen, 382). Liberal feminist states …show more content…
Collin states that when thinking about oppression, black feminist thought includes “paradigmatic shift” because it rejects additive approaches to oppression (Collin, p.1). This means that equality does not just start with gender then add other variables such as race, class, and sexual orientation. . Although, there are different forms of domination, they are all part of the “one overarching structure of domination.” (Collins, p. 2). Collin does not believe that oppression only occurs to black-white and male-female groups. Rather, oppression is related to age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity (Collin, p.3). Placing African-American at the center of analysis can open up new ways of thinking about feminism. For example, black feminist state that it would be difficult for them to remove race and sex oppression because it occurs to them simultaneously (Combahee River, p.3). Instead of focusing on how one group is affected the most, Collin’s matrix of dominance focuses attention on how these systems of oppression interconnect in different people’s
Collin thinks “race, class and gender represent the three system of oppression that most heavily affects African American women”. She also believes there are other groups than Black Women being affected by this oppression.
Collins, Patricia. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000
Regarding “Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance”, Cheryl Clarke shows that she understands that black men are capable of oppressing black women. She states that “now, as ex-slaves, black men have more latitude to oppress black women, because the brothers no longer have to compete directly with the white man for control of black women’s
Focusing on gender as a construct that perpetuates inequality between men and women in society, the ideology of Feminism is based on the fundamental principles of Liberalism. While Feminism summarily promotes social, political, and economic equality between men and women, historically it’s fulcrum was and remains to a significant extent the fight for women’s rights and interests.
According to feminist Victoria L. Bromley, if feminism is about combating all forms of inequalities, including oppression, towards all social groups, then feminists must study how masculinity oppresses both men and women. Patriarchy, men’s powers and dominance, hegemonic masculinity, the idea that the “dominant group” in society is most powerful, and hyper masculinity, the exaggeration of the emphasis on male characteristics, all lead to oppression through multiple forms: privileges and unearned privileges, hierarchies of power and exclusion. Bromley argues that the feminist approach towards eliminating oppression, is to use an intersectional analysis, a theoretical tool used for understanding how multiple identities are connected and how systems
In the U.S., feminism is understood as the rights of women (usually affluent white women) to share the spoils of capitalism, and imperial power. By refusing to fully confront the exclusions of non-whites, foreigners, and other marginalized groups from this vision, liberal feminists miss a crucial opportunity to create a more inclusive and more powerful movement. Feminist movements within the U.S. and internationally have long since accepted that, for them, feminism entails the communal confrontation of not only patriarchy, but capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy, and other forms of oppressions that combine together and reinforce their struggle. It means the fighting for the replacement of a system in which their rights are negated in the quest for corporate and political profit. It includes fighting so that all people anywhere on the gender, sexual, and body spectrum are allowed to enjoy basic rights like food, housing, healthcare, and control of their labor.
Society has long since considered women the lessor gender and one of the most highly debated topics in society through the years has been that of women’s equality. The debates began over the meaning between a man and woman’s morality and a woman’s rights and obligations in society. After the 19th Amendment was sanctioned around 1920, the ball started rolling on women’s suffrage. Modern times have brought about the union of these causes, but due to the differences between the genetic makeup and socio demographics, the battle over women’s equality issue still continues to exist. While men have always held the covenant role of the dominant sex, it was only since the end of the 19th century that the movement for women’s equality and the entitlement of women have become more prevalent. “The general consensus at the time was that men were more capable of dealing with the competitive work world they now found themselves thrust into. Women, it was assumed, were unable to handle the pressures outside of the home. They couldn’t vote, were discourages from working, and were excluded from politics. Their duty to society was raising moral children, passing on the values that were unjustly thrust upon them as society began to modernize” (America’s Job Exchange, 2013). Although there have been many improvements in the changes of women’s equality towards the lives of women’s freedom and rights in society, some liberals believe that women have a journey to go before they receive total equality. After WWII, women continued to progress in there crusade towards receiving equality in many areas such as pay and education, discrimination in employment, reproductive rights and later was followed by not only white women but women from other nationalities ...
Throughout the waves of liberal feminism, there is a new characteristic to be associated with the feminist group. In the first waves, it’s white, married, wealthy women who fit the criteria to be a feminist. The first wave begins in 1900 and ends around 1920, during the times of the Suffragettes. This wave began to introduce the inequalities between men and women, especially relating to voting and education. The second wave began to rise in 1950 which introduced reproductive rights, entitlement to sex, marriage, jobs, social lives, and politics. This wave continued to the 1970’s. It’s not until the third wave, which hits in the 1990’s, when inequalities among women are introduced to the feminist movement (FYS Class Notes).
Ecofeminism deals with ecological and feminist analyses and movements. It shows the relationship between women and nature in the view of historically, human-earth, patriarchal social structures and world views interconnected with oppression of women and nature. Feminist analysis mainly focused on Liberal, Marxist or Socialist, Cultural, Radical, Post-colonialist and Post-modernist approaches. Political ideology of feminism makes an effort to make women a self-conscious category, and it gives a power to generate a rational sensible attitude towards women, an approach to view the women in their own positions as well as own perspectives. Eco-feminist movements look for non-violent solutions to world problems. They always consider that feminine
The matrix of domination sheds light on the invisible hierarchy that entwines both the homeless black man and the upper middle class white women in these situations. Collins’ matrix includes an individuals separate levels of social superiority in race, gender and social status and measures their level of oppression by all these factors, not by each characteristic individually. In this societies system, white is seen as superior to black, male superior to female, and wealthy superior to poor. The individuals exhibiting the least superior qualities thus are the most oppressed, and the individuals with the most superior qualities are the least oppressed. (Collins 228)
In this week's readings, the subjects that writers, feminist theorists, feminist advocates, and (or) professors Bell Hooks, Sara Ahmed, Roxane Gay, Mary E. Swigonski, Salome Raheim, Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards explores tend to be broad, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The topics that resonated throughout the readings included feminist “movements” as micro-events, the loss of feminism’s two long-standing goals (political equality and personal freedom), the buzz phrase of the early radical groups, the exclusion of African American Women in the feminist's movement, the interconnection of Social Work and feminism, the feminist’s lifestyle and its complexities, and most importantly, the evolution of contemporary intersectional
“The logical outcome of liberal feminism is a society that is not based on dividing people into two, and only two, separate and distinct sex-gender categories” (Lorber 45). This point is interesting to me because of the way that feminism is generally viewed in society. Many people believe that feminism is man-hating and that the movement is only interested in uplifting and empowering women and taking power away from men. While most of that statement is true, there is more to the goal of feminism than those factors. First of, feminism is man-hating, and while it is about taking power away from men, it is not about leaving men powerless. Feminism is inclusive, and is about equality between men and women, and equality for all genders and people. Society and the media needs to research the core value and what feminism is based on in order to eliminate this bad wrap that the movement is
One of the biggest stereotypes about feminists is that they want to abolish the patriarchy, a government run by men, and replace it with a matriarchy, a government run by women. As I previously mentioned, I consider myself a liberal feminist who does not have a problem living in a world with a patriarchal government, I just care that it allows rights and equality for women. Also, feminism is not meant to bash men in anyway, it is mainly focused on empowering women. Every female is different, some of them were destined to be society’s depiction of a woman - a housewife who stays at home as she raises her children, cooks, cleans the house, and run errands. However, some are destined to work in a professional career field, and we just want those women to be able to do that without being bashed or denied. Liberal feminists do not want to stop men from having these jobs, nor do they have anything against men, they just want it to become a norm for woman to do
Feminism is defined as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes.” (Oxford English Dictionary) Politics has generally been seen as a mainly male dominated area, feminists have challenged this in recent years as women are stepping out of the stigmatic domestic roles and assuming roles in areas such as politics. Since the end of the 19th century, feminists have represented collective movement; liberal feminism on the other hand gears more towards the individual “rather than advocating wholesale revolutionary change.” (Browning, Gary K. 1997) Liberal feminism suggests that women should have same legal and political rights as men and participate fully in public political life. Their achievements include a reformation
The war of gender equality has been in existence throughout history and it is only until recently that it is being taken seriously. It was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that women have pushed to make their rights on the same level as men. Through the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, Feminism was formed around this time and those involved with it have changed history since they first started. Feminism has been through three waves, each with their own set of goals and ideas they had wished to accomplish throughout those times. In spite of this, there are those who oppose their views and feel as if the feminists have accomplished nothing. Even if discrimination of women still exists, feminists have come close to accomplishing their goal of equal rights between genders through the passing of women’s suffrage, equal education opportunities, and equal pay.