Feminism Paper

Spencer Carden 10872296 March 7, 2009

Feminism

A widespread definition of feminism is the “advocacy of social equality for the sexes in opposition to patriarchy and sexism.” Basic feminist ideas include the importance of change, the expansion of human choice (not only women), elimination of gender stratification, sexual autonomy, and an end to sexual violence. Many shows that I have seen on television and many people I have talked to associate feminism with women who think they are better and more capable than men, which is not the case. In High school I took a women studies course in which I learned that not just women are feminist, but men can be too. Feminism is sometimes looked at by men as being negative, however it is simply the belief that both men and women are equal in this world. As the lesson on Gender and Stereotypes states, “equality can be better understood if we frame it in terms of equal worth which moves us away from the values associated with the hierarchy of gender stratification and allows us to assess people as individuals” After taking that class and reading that lesson, I have become enlightened on what feminism actually means and have concluded that I am myself a feminist who is an advocate of social equality for the sexes. The History of Feminism is divided into movements called “waves”. There were three main waves, each with different objectives. The first wave refers mostly to women’s suffrage movements of the twentieth century’s, mainly concerning women’s right to vote. The second wave was aimed more towards the women’s liberation movement starting in the 1960’s in which women fought for legal and social equality. The third and final wave mostly concerns the failures of the second-wave. The first wave began in the United States in 1919 with the

nineteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. What the amendment did was grant women the right to vote, which was a huge step for women. Some main activists of the first movement were Voltairine de Cleyre and Margaret Sanger whooriginally focused on promoting equal contract and property rights for women along with opposing ownership of married women and their children, towards the end of the nineteenth century the focus shifted towards gaining political power. There were many key actoviststhroughout the many waves of fighting for equality. Without women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Olympia Brown, and Helen Pitts women may have never gained the status that they have now.As I have not heard of or read many writing concerning feminism, I would have to say that the Bible is one of the seminal works within feminism. Even though not everything in the Old Testament about women is positive, there are a number of strong women in the New Testament for instance Ruth and Esther. This book is important for women because the book itself is so widespread and many different races and religions read it. Women’s contribution in scholarly areas of feminism were underrepresented until the discovery of Dale Spender’s Mothers of the novel and Jane Spencer’s The Rise of the Woman Novelist, both were ground-breaking, and proved that women have always been writing important literature. Feminism has such a negative image mostly due to the extreme feminists. Many people feel that the feminist movement has achieved its aims and now seeks a higher status for women than men. The image that comes to mind for many people when they think of the word feminist is a radical lesbian women who dresses trashy and hates men. It all started with the church and its being predominantly male, and the thought of women being equal and taking over. This leaves many people with a negative image of feminists. There are many objections that are voiced against feminism. In this article by Paul Gottfried he describes his antifeminist position, “the change of women’s role, from being primarily mothers to self-defined professionals, has

been a social disaster that continues to take its toll on the family. Rather than being the culminating point of Western Christian gentility, the movement of women into commerce and politics may be seen as exactly the opposite, the descent by increasingly disconnected individuals into social chaos.” Other arguments include an increase in family breakdown; crime, teenage pregnancy, and drug abuse are higher in fatherless homes. Feminism is simply a movement intending to enlighten people with a goal of improving the quality of life for women and their society. However, many people possess images of feminism that fit into the previously mentioned destructive patterns. The confusion about feminism is a result of many factors. Women have been oppressed for as long as history. This oppression is a very similar tragedy to the oppression that occurs daily towards all kinds of minority groups, but women are not a minority group. There are actually more women on Earth than there are men. Women are not defined by skin color, by spoken language, or by class. Since women are not a minority group, their unequal treatment has gone unnoticed by many. Once talk of feminism is uttered people easily may interpret it as just another reason to complain, due to their blindness to the inequality. It is difficult to publicize an issue and expect change when that issue does not appear to exist. Another factor that interferes with the appropriate publicity for a controversial cause is the press. In the mid-twentieth century, when mass communication boomed with the invention of the television, the media designed the public’s image of feminism. The way that people learned about this movement was through the filter of journalism. Unfortunately the media’s motives are not solely based on clear, unbiased reports of news. The influences of ratings, public interest, and the government’s economical goals caused the portrayal of feminism on television to focus on scenes that were not the feminist norm. Images of mean, angry and violent women flashed before television viewers and they attracted attention. The general public witnessed feminism as a negative force while watching the evening news.

A concluding point, which is very powerful, is that women are not always actively oppressed, and for the most part women are part of a lot of the actual oppression. The unequal treatment of women in society originates not in men, but from underneath the obvious surface, where social structure dwells. It is difficult to determine exactly where female oppression began; so many people interpret feminism as a movement that blames men. This interpretation of feminism is incorrect, yet popular. It is important to know that feminism is about equality, not anger. To involve oneself in the feminist movement is to search for a higher quality of life for all people. The misconceptions that commonly arise out of the lack of understanding of feminism can be and must be easily cleared away in order for the truth about feminism to surface.

Bibliography

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Standford encyclopedia of philosophy. 7, Feb 2003. Topics in Feminism.< http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-topics/> Youth Central. 2008. The F word-Feminism today. http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action?&repositoryName=&siteNodeId=5 15&CurrentFolderID=1966&ItemID=11982&BackToFolderID=1966 Smith, Dayle. Women at Work. New Jersey:2000 Feminist.com. 2000. What Is Feminism? http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm

History of Feminism Spencer Carden 10872296