Sheryl Sandberg's Role Of Women

“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.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is known as the first American writer who has feminist approach. Gilman criticises inequality between male and female during her life, hence it is mostly possible to see the traces of feminist approach in her works. She deals with the struggles and obstacles which women face in patriarchal society. Moreover, Gilman argues that marriages cause the subordination of women, because male is active, whereas female plays a domestic role in the marriage. Gilman also argues that the situation should change; therefore women are only able to accomplish full development of their identities.

The Misrepresentation of Feminism A feminist is defined as someone who believes in the social, economic, and political equality between men and women in society. However, in recent years, there are new understandings of the feminist movement. The idea of a feminist is often misconstrued as a woman who lives for herself, a woman who despises all men. A lady who refuses to shave their legs or partake in “female stereotypical” grooming to emphasize her standpoint. Though, the argument of this paper is what is the reason behind the misrepresentation of feminism, and where did it come from?

Through the interaction between the characters, and the wife’s inner thoughts, one can say that the women during the time period had very little or no freedom of speech. As well, the confined surroundings around the wife represent how oppressed and imprisoned women were physically and mentally. Gilman’s feminist writing of The Yellow Wallpaper gained her a little bit of that power and freedom she so desired. Gender roles and power differences must be removed from the social order for women to ever be free and equal to those of men—only then will social harmony prosper. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte Perkins.

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.

Feminism refers to the body of thought on the cause and nature of women's disadvantaged and subordinate position in society, and efforts to minimize and eliminate the subordination (Hughes, 2002:160). Understanding that the need for independency and self-respect is not a real disease, it is just a metaphor for how women go about trying to achieve them. "For nearly one hundred and fifty years, women have fought for equality and been oppressed by men, and no matter what they do, they will never be considered equals" (Hughes, 2002:161). Feminism focuses on the relations between genders and how both male and female become classified as distinct groups rather than a team united as one. The preceding was what feminists and historians want us believe, however, this is not always the case and quite possibly, it has never been the case.

We live in the modern society where women can vote, work, have access to birth control, freedom of speech, and be independent. However, two articles written by feminist writers Jessica Valenti and bell hooks demonstrate that feminism still exist because of an inevitable inequality that women face in the society. Both writers are convinced that most of the people do not really know what feminism is about or they do not look at it closer in order to be able to understand the purpose of this movement. According to them, feminism is not about being anti-men and spreading hatred towards males as many individuals claim. As bell hooks states in her article “[…] I tend to hear about the evil of feminism […] how ‘they’ hate men […]” (11).

True feminism sought for women to have freedom and rights, such as the right to vote, the right to gain an education, and the right to equal wages. In most aspects, we have been given these rights, but radical feminists are not content. There has been a jump from “We are equal to men,” to “women are superior.” Women have been fighting stereotypes for ages, proclaiming how horrid they are, yet quickly turn around and stereotype men and see no issue with this hypocrisy. The way for women to reach the equality they seek is to bring others up as well as themselves, not to tear them down. When feminists realize and act upon this, they will begin to see the results they have been hoping

Feminism is commonly thought of as a tool for educating society on the rights of women. It teaches that a woman is equal to a man in every civil and societal accord. Realizing this is not always the case, Charlotte Bunch, a noted lesbian feminist of the 1970s also defined feminism as "a way of looking at the world - a questioning of power [and] domination issues" (WIE). Many feminists attempt to bulrush the ideals of stereotypical women and push them away from those who believe in these standards. "Feminist scholars also seek to question and transform androcentric [sic] systems of thought which position the male as the norm," says Barbara McManus.

There is no upper limit to the risks men are willing to take in order to succeed, and if there is an upper limit for women, they will succeed less.” (Clay Shirky, 202) Shirky, the author of “A Rant about Women” argues that women must become more aggressive and demanding to ultimately achieve their goals. No matter how society reacts, men take on any action, bypassing the “Golden Rule” to achieve their goals and desires. On the other hand, women lack this procedure in their search for self-promotion, as Shirky argues. However, in Chisholm’s speech “Equal Rights for Women”, Chisholm argues that the undeniable reason for gender inequality in the 1970’s, was the lack of opportunities women were given in the workplace. Chisholm’s viewpoint includes the reason women weren’t treated with equal respect as men, was because women weren’t given the chance.