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One of the most prominent issues I would like to have a large impact on is the gender inequality of today’s society. Personally, I identify as a feminist, and in society today this term has a negative connotation because many people do not know what exactly it means, people believe feminists are people who adamantly believe women are superior to men, when in reality feminism is simply the belief that both sexes are created equal and they should be treated the same in all aspects. Feminism has traced its roots all the way back to the 1910’s through the 1920’s when the movement for women’s suffrage began and was finally ratified on August 18, 1920; the modern feminist movement began in the 1960’s and has slowly gained more recognition throughout time. …show more content…
In recent years feminism has gained more popularity and has become a normal thing for people to talk about; new age feminism has many of the same goals that feminism from the 1960’s and 70’s, but with a few more goals they would like to achieve, today’s feminist movement focuses on the wage gap between males and females, ending rape culture, encouraging more representation for people of color and people of all genders and sexualities, and ending the over-sexualization of women in advertisements and movies. The only way to fix the inequality of genders is change the mindset of people who do not believe that feminism is a topic of importance; people do not realize exactly what feminism is about. Many are misinformed and automatically assume that because it is called “feminism” it only focuses around female advancements, but there are also many aspects of feminism that focus on the advancements of
While women continue to be ranked as the weaker sex by popular opinion, feminists have bright hopes in a change towards their liberation. As Rebecca Solnit stated, “feminism has just started and it’s not stopping now. We are witnessing a full-fledged war, not of the sexes but of gender roles”(Solnit). Feminism and the right to equality has been a long and arduous struggle for women before the Civil Rights Act. The Feminine Mystique sparked a change, questioning society, which continues today as women fight for equal treatment regardless of laws that claim for their protection. Feminists will continue to fight for the day where women will be treated as equals, where there will be no gender bias, and for the day when a woman can state her mind, just as her male counterpart, without being called an uptight
In conclusion, the negative stigma of feminism should be changed and looked at from a different point of view. In addition to the other movements, feminism could potentially give women the equal rights they deserve and finally all of humanity would be equal. As Cavanaugh stated, “It’s not a gender issue – it’s a humanity issue” (Cavanaugh, 2014, p.
The world was a very different place sixty years ago. The men came home from the war to take back the work force from the women and sent the women back into the home to follow traditional domestic roles. All aspects of life had to be cookie cutter perfect, to include the gender roles. The roles of both genders have been portrayed by the BBC Television show, Call the Midwife, as they use to be in the 1950’s. The men were the breadwinners of their family by working arduous hours, protect their family and home, and have zero contact with feminine things and activities; the women were expected to get married early, always look their best, and never indulge in their aspirations for a career outside of the home unless they were single.
Instead people are allowing other people’s thoughts to brainwash their mind into believing that feminism is a bunch of negatives. This is a very serious matter because instead of people seeing the good in this particular movement, people have grown accustomed to believing what ignorant people have categorized feminism and feminist to be. Shallow minds are stating that feminists are “anti-men,” “a group of angry women,” and to even take it as far as labeling all feminist as lesbians. Unfortunately, they are missing the whole objective of the movement. “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” As soon as people understand the meaning behind feminism, we will see a more positive shift in the way people conceptualize
“Gender” refers to the cultural construction of whether one is female, male, or something else (Kottak 2013: 209). Typically, based on your gender, you are culturally required to follow a particular gender norm, or gender role. Gender roles are the tasks and activities a culture assigns to the sexes (Kottak 213: 209). The tasks and activities assigned are based upon strongly, seized concepts about male and female characteristics, or gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes…are oversimplified but strongly upheld ideas about bout the characteristics of males and females (Kottak 2013: 209).
The image that is usually placed with feminism is that of a rabid, bra-burning, lesbian running around disclaiming the patriarchy. It could be that of a mid-century housewife complaining about how her only career choices are between teacher and secretary, or even of a woman with a sash and banner walking in front of the White House; preaching about her right to vote. However, this isn't necessarily the case. Ever since the rise of the internet, in the late 20th Century, feminism has had a revival causing it to grow in popularity and spread across forums everywhere. Women are joining this “third wave” movement to bring an end to the societal injustices that still plague the gender today (qtd. in Haslanger et al.). Feminism currently represents much more than it did in its infantile stage, having evolved to include relevant issues that affect every woman in today’s subordinating world. Issues such as rape culture, slut shaming, abortion and the wage gap have all been adapted into the feminist agenda with the hope that, as a united force, women could bring change to a misogynist society. The bra burning days are over, and feminism is on a rise, bringing light to issues that need to be addressed.
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. Both authors battle the reason for gender inequality equally demonstrating how this social problem existed; only differentiating on the reasons. In this essay I will argue that Shirky’s position on gender inequality is stronger based on the anecdotes he provides of women asserting themselves to become more successful; additionally providing a solution for women to become more aggressive.
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.
There has always been inequality in society. Whether it is between genders or races it has always been a major problem and played important roles in everyday lives. As time has gone on, groups have been created in hope of ending these inequalities and creating a more peaceful society. In some ways feminism has done amazing things in creating more equal rights for women. Though there are still major problems that need to be worked on and feminism seems to not be working as well anymore. Due to the extreme gender inequality that exists we must create a feminist mindset where in society ignores labels, embrace more than just the “essential feminist”, and relieves people of societal pressures.
Due to the idealization of domesticity in media, there was a significantly stagnant period of time for women’s rights between 1945 and 1959. Women took over the roles for men in the workplace who were fighting abroad during the early 1940s, and a strong, feminist movement rose in the 1960s. However, in between these time periods, there was a time in which women returned to the home, focusing their attention to taking care of the children and waiting on their husband’s every need. This was perpetuated due to the increasing popularity of media’s involvement in the lives of housewives, such as the increasing sales of televisions and the increase in the number of sexist toys.
also managed to prove that they could do the jobs just as well as men
It’s no secret that men still dominate society. We cannot escape the patriarchy unless the men are working on equalities behalf. When a man speaks of gender equality, it is taking more seriously than when a female talks about it. Some people see females striving for equality as selfish. They think women only care about getting ahead of the men. Male spokesmen for feminism reaches a wider audience and show that feminism is for the benefit of everyone. Men can also help but refraiming from sexist and judgmental comments about women. Each negative comment by a man is one step backwards in feminism’s journey. In order to move forward, men need to listen to what women have to say about their oppression and educate themselves. Research can give a newfound appreciation for the cause and can even point out things that are offensive that someone did not know was. Sharing this information with male friends will spread awareness and propel the movement
“In 2017, we should not be seeing progress towards gender parity shift into reverse. Gender equality is both a moral and economic imperative.” ( It’s getting even harder to be a woman by Alanna Petroff). Gender discrimination does not let women have equal rights in the workplace. People still think that men should be paid better than women. But women sometimes are working really harder and more than men do. Some women are single and they work only for themselves. “Thank you, sir!” (We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie heard that when she gave her OWN money to a man at the parking lot. Society has too many stereotypes they need to break. But everything starts with a little. “Than, to my surprise, my teacher said that the monitor had to be a boy” ( We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). People need to break “a wall” between sexes. Women can do men’s job and men can do women’s too. “You should be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you would threaten the man” ( We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). No woman should hear that. This is not true. Little steps and “advice” like that begin gender
Feminism is still relevant today because the gender inequality between men and women persists. The focus of this paper is to bring an awareness to problems that women are still facing and the equal rights that they deserve. Feminisms goal does not only focus on equality for women but equality in humanity. To argue about this statement, I will use three points, including: women’s underrepresentation in politics, continues violence against women and the mainstream medias representation of women. However, feminism has been the reason many women can vote, get education etc. To support my argument, I will use various articles, sources, graphs and photos to show the ongoing gender inequality.
Even though society has distorted the ideals feminism was founded upon, some of the remaining true roots still hold true. While women are gaining equal opportunities in society, they need to not diminish the importance of working together with men to form a functional society. The widespread idea of quotas needs to be analyzed. People should be accepted into college or hired for a job because they are the most qualified, not because of their sex. Society has demented feminism as a harmful dogma because it has been an excuse, almost a cop-out by women who do not want to work for their acceptance. Both men and women need to realize the necessity that exists for each other to make society work.