Feminism In Guyland By Michael Kimmel

Addressing the essence of feminism in Guyland, Michael Kimmel vehemently discusses the notions of male thoughts in misjudgment of a woman’s identity because the limitations and expectations bestowed upon women by men infiltrates feminine attributions. The book itself focuses on inequality between genders, mainly between men and women criticizing the infrastructure of thoughts and expectations built by the men evaluating women. For the sake of this paper, selective pages are analyzed and discussed through the author’s propositions. Kimmel echoes the fact that like men, women want to be successful, have leadership positions, and make a difference in the world. However, according to men, women are not to aspire to such things unless they will

‘Stealth feminism’ is when women agree with all that feminism stands for but reject the label (Kimmel 263). The media tends to portray feminism in a negative way; and as a result of this, the status is rejected by young women. “They believe that if they were to call themselves feminists other people would think that they must be strident, domineering, aggressive and intolerant and-worst of all- that they must hate men”(Moi,1736). Some women will not want to be associated with such descriptions or agree with what the feminists stand for but would rather be identified with egalitarianism. Zucker defines egalitarianism as the phenomenon “In which women espouse feminist beliefs regarding the equality of women and men, while simultaneously rejecting feminist identity” (Zucker paragraph 9).In this case, women are either for feminism or against it. Dividing women themselves into different categories does not solve anything; rather, it worsens the situation. “It might be surmised that women who adopt feminist as an accurate self-descriptor are more likely than those who reject this designation to pursue activism on behalf of women 's rights” (Zucker paragraph 14). Young women should stand up and embrace feminism because the feminist battle is not over. The males still dominate the females in many areas of life, especially in the

This was backed up with the Princeton study that shows that women in the science field made 14% of the total faculty in their workplaces and one out of four reported their male colleagues occasionally engaged in unprofessional conduct focusing on gender issues (Quindlen paragraph 11). Similar things occur to women in politics. In Men Rule, it is stated that “When women run for office – regardless of the position they seek – they are just as likely as their male counterparts to win their races”(Lawless and Fox 2). This proves that women have the potential to succeed in politics, but raises the question of why it is that women are still underrepresented in politics. Studies in Men Rule shows that “gender gaps in political recruitment and perceptions of qualifications continue to hinder women’s interest in running for office just as much now as a decade ago”; and although women’s interest in politics have increased over time, men still run the show when it should be controlled equally (Lawless and Fox 16). This is why feminism is needed, through feminism women can be sufficiently represented in all areas of the