The Impact that Feminism has had on Society
Feminism has been called into question time after time, and criticized relentlessly through the years. Feminists are labelled as “crazy” and “man-hating.” They are scolded for complaining about nothing and for disrupting the family values that have been held by society for years. The readings of this unit have time and time again spoken of the importance of feminism and how feminism can and will change the world. Yet, people still question the validity of the Feminist movement constantly. Feminism has an impacted our modern lives through the changes it has helped implement in the past, and it can further have an impact on our society’s future.
Our society has made strides towards equality as a whole
…show more content…
While opportunities of the past were limited for women, in A Day with Feminism, Baumgardner and Richards explain that in the near future this could be completely false. When speaking of what the future could hold, Baumgardner and Richards say that “women and men are paid equal wages for work of comparable value, as is every race and ethnic group.” (133) In “A Day Without Feminism” & “Third Wave Manifesta: A Thirteen-Point Agenda,” it is also brought up that women used to have a hard time living without a man and couldn’t fully participate in society without men (5 &6). While I know this isn’t the case today, and women can certainly succeed without having a man, sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. In my personal experience, I have always been told that one of the most important things in life is finding a man to take care of you. Men have historically been thought of as providers for a household, and I don’t think that this has entirely changed. While I will admit that we have made great strides in accomplishing …show more content…
I wanted to take a look at how sexism in society has changed and the damaging effects that it can potentially have and has had. “A Day Without Feminism” & “Third Wave Manifesta: A Thirteen-Point Agenda” is a look at how life would be without feminism, and it tells a tale filled with examples of sexism. In their writing, Baumgardner and Richards explain how education was aimed more towards men, almost in a way that guaranteed them success. These same opportunities were not available to women of the time. I still think that more opportunities are available for men today than there are for women. When I think of every person of power I’ve met in my life, only a handful have been women. I was always complimented on how pretty I was and never how smart I was; how I will make a great mother some day, never a great leader. It is explained in “A Day Without Feminism” & “Third Wave Manifesta: A Thirteen-Point Agenda” how women were expected to stay at home with kids and maintain their household, and I think this expectation is still very present in todays society. This is a point also brought up in The Social Construction of Gender by Christie Launius and Holly Hassel. Launius and Hassel say that “Social and policy structures… the responsibility for child care as a female one.” (35) These messages of what role women and men are meant to
It amazes me how a few decades ago can seem like a whole different world. A course of time can impact our lives more than we know it. In the article, A Day Without Feminism by Jennifer Boumgoidnei and Amy Richntds, both of these authors created this piece to inform their audience that although women have gained more rights over time, there was still more progress to be made. These authors gave many examples of how life for women had been, the obstacles they had to overcome, and the laws women had to break for equality.
The article, “Why We Still Need Feminism”, written by Casey Cavanaugh (2014), describes how women are treated and why feminism is looked at in such a negative light. She focuses on how the feminism movement doesn’t only concentrate on women and what concerns them, she also talks about how the movement can positively impact all humans. Cavanaugh explains how the treatment of women can go on for generations and how many women are simply dealing with the ill-treatment (Cavanaugh, 2014). The writer gives a few examples of how women are treated and the different ways that it can be changed for the better.
As Clive Emsly explained in The Old Bailey Proceedings, in the eighteenth century, men were viewed as the stronger sex. They were expected to be tougher, both physically and emotionally, to have determination and will. Men were to be logical thinkers and erudite, they had to dominate their households and provide for their families. By the nineteenth century, historians argue that even though women began to experience more freedom in the workforce, they were still confined socially. Men were still expected to lead their households and be “breadwinners.” For many years, men dominated almost every aspect of society. However, in the past few decades, a movement known as feminism emerged. The feminist movement fought for women’s rights to an education and equality. Women longed for an opportunity to gain knowledge and freedom to seek adventure. In recent years, more so than ever, the feminist movement has made great advances. It has instigated a shift in gender roles and constructs forever altering how society views women and men.
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 ...
...s" and not to discriminate on the basis and premise of sex. Even though few women benefitted from the scheme, Justice Stewart noted that "veteran's status's not uniquely male." Furthermore, the law placed many men who were not veterans at a disadvantage as well.
Feminism is the movement for removing inequalities from society. Women imbued with a spirit of radicalism understand that a liberal feminist attitude, despite the seeming slowness of change that accompanies it, may transform a community more rapidly than a revolutionary approach that alienates those to be convinced and, thus, extinguishes the possibility of improvement. (Weaver 49) Feminists confront the problems of their society in hopes of altering society to be equal.
In a society where equality is constantly fought over, there are bound to be disputes. Feminism, the movement to create empowerment and equal rights for women, has been criticized by those who argue who, what, and how feminism should be fought with. Many conservative feminists believe that succumbing to men’s pleasure is never the answer, whereas “lipstick” feminists believe that they should be able to use all of their essence in order to establish equality. However, society needs both women and men equally. Feminism shouldn’t focus on how women reach that equality, but rather to reach that point of equality in the first place; with anything they got.
Feminism has tackled gender inequality in the workforce, within politics, education and various institutes. Within the 20th century some of these issues faced in western culture have been completely reformed due to certain feminist movements that have encouraged women to fight for equal rights. (Crofton: 2011: 272-273) The first and second waves of feminism have proven to be successful by increasing equal rights between men and women. (Kaplan: 1992: 7) Despite these successes which include allowing there is still the fact of the matter remains that women are still objectified by their gender. ()The generalization of gender roles, have proven to be challenging within the feminist movement, this is often due to the objectification of women in the media. Also as feminism, is an ideology it has various schools of which have conflicting ideas of the ‘empowerment of women’ making it difficult to clarify on what is not acceptable in establishing women’s rights. (Fraser: 2014)
The most related terms when women’s right is brought up are feminism and feminist. A feminist, by definition, is someone the fights for feminism. The definition of feminism, one the other hand, is very complex. Throughout history, the word has continuously had bad images and connotations thrown its wa...
Often regarded as one of the first feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft once said, “it is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.” Women have fought this battle for equality over many centuries. Given the roles of items of sexual pleasure, means of procreation, and lifelong caregivers, women have fought to challenge these stereotypes. Although gender roles evolutionarily provide a sense of belonging and purpose, they ultimately do more harm than good. By manipulating old facts and perpetuating outdated wisdom, society promotes gender roles that lead to false assumptions of female inferiority that create societal untruths and, consequently, stifle opportunities.
The passage of time allows for great change in the world. Given enough time, a desert can become a sea and a plain can become a mountain if the conditions are right. Human society can be compared to these natural phenomenon in the idea that society can have radical changes given the right forces and allowed enough time. This can be seen in the great revolutions of the world such as the Industrial Revolution, an economic boom, the American Revolution, a political movement, and the Civil Rights Movement, a social revolution. The focus of this research is how the feminist movement has been and is viewed but the American public and how it has affected the economic and social standing of women in the past three generations. Through the interviews of Patricia Santangelo, Barbara Santangelo, and Larissa DePamphilis, this investigation hopes to analysis the differing views on feminism, gender roles, and educational and economic opportunities for women in the generations of the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y.
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...
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.
Before the Feminist movement, women were stay at home moms and rarely left the house. They were not independent at all. Times have changed and women are now as strong and independent as men. It brought women out of the household, and into the workforce, changing the economy greatly. On the other hand, there are still anti-feminist, such as Phyllis Schlafly, who believe women don’t need equal pay, that they should be dependent on men. She recently argued, “Another fact is the influence of hypergamy, which means that women typically choose a mate (husband or boyfriend) who earns more than she does. Men don 't have the same preference for a higher-earning mate. ... Suppose the pay gap between men and women were magically eliminated. If that happened, simple arithmetic suggests that half of women would be unable to find what they regard as a suitable mate”,
In the past, many people believed that women’s exclusive responsibilities were to serve their husband, to be great mothers and to be the perfect wives. Those people considered women to be more appropriate for homemaking rather than to be involved in business or politics. This meant that women were not allowed to have a job, to own property or to enjoy the same major rights as men. The world is changing and so is the role of women in society. In today’s society, women have rights that they never had before and higher opportunities to succeed.