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. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women. Studying how the philosophies are constructed and what makes them unjust, this field constantly generates new ideas on how these philosophies need to be fundamentally reconstructed. Liberal feminism, for example, was built around promoting economic and political equality for women. By arguing the older concepts of the split between public and private realms as a way to politically protect male domination of women as “natural”, and ideas about a women’s place in the household, came evidence that supported legal cases leading “to the criminalization in the United States of spousal rape” (qtd. in McAfee). Another completely different approach is radical feminism, which advocates a separation from the whole system, perceiving that the sexual relations between male and female as the basis of gender inequality and female subordination (qtd. in McAfee). Democratic femin... ... middle of paper ... ...nd Politics." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Philip Mattar. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 890-895. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. McAfee, Noëlle. "Feminist Political Philosophy." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Winter 2011 Edition ed. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. Roy, Nilanjana S. "Ready or Not, New Dehli Gets a Women's Street Protest." New York Times 14 June 2011. Print. Tavernise, Sabrina. "Muslim women use Koran in quest for equal rights." International Herald Tribune 17 Feb. 2009: 2. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. Warren, Karen J. "Ecological Feminism." Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. Ed. J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009. 228-236. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.
Trofin, Liliana and Madalina Tomescu. “Women’s Rights in the Middle East”. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice Vol. 2(1). 1948-9137 (2010): 152-157.
Feminism can simply be defined as a range of movements and ideologies in which share a common ground in terms of defining, establishing and achieving equal opportunities to that of males, in regards to economic, cultural and social rights. It is a critique of male supremacy with efforts in changing this to end the social oppression of women. (Hooks, 2000)
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.
Tong, R. & Williams, N. (2009) Feminist Ethics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-ethics/.
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.
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...
McCann, C. R. & Kim S. (2013), Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives (3rd ed.) (pp 11-27).
The benefits accomplished through feminism are based on a number of ideas that have been philosophically embraced. The motto of the many different types of feminism stem around the concept of gender equivalency and for feminists this has translated into seeking gender equality. (NORA 260). Some of the modern campaign...
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the Contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
Peterson, Linda H. "What Is Feminist Criticism?" Wuthering Heights. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. Boston: Bedford Books, 1992. 330-337.
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Feminism is a perspective that views gender as one of the most important bases of the structure and organization of the social world. Feminists argue that in most known societies this structure has granted women lower status and value, more limited access to valuable resources, and less autonomy and opportunity to make choices over their lives than it has granted men. (Sapiro 441)
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
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
Throughout history, there have been constant power struggles between men and women, placing the male population at a higher position than the female. Therefore, in this patriarchal system women have always been discriminated against simply due to the fact that they are women. Their rights to vote, to be educated and essentially being treated equally with men was taken away from them and they were viewed as weak members of society whose successes depend on men. However, this has not prevented them from fighting for what they believe in and the rights they are entitled to. On the contrary, it has motivated them to try even harder and gain these basic societal rights through determination and unity.