Feminism: A necessary Supplement to Liberalism
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.
As a response to Liberalism, Feminism highlights that though the fundamental principles of Liberalism are central to the feminist ideology, Liberalism as an all mankind-encompassing ideology falls short and that Locke, the father of Liberalism, formulated his ideology against a backdrop of a patriarchal view of society.
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Based on this assumption, the right to freedom, equality, liberty, prosperity, and self-determination are inherent to all of mankind including women. Feminism and Liberalism, therefore, seek to push the exact same agenda.
Locke’s distinctive limitation of the rights of women in some of his arguments, however, raises questions on the all mankind encompassing nature of his ideology. In this paper, we expound on Locke’s views pertaining to women on freedom and equality within the structure of family in comparison to thinkers like Jean Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx, in relation to the feminist view, to highlight that Feminism is a necessary supplement that clarifies, and adds to the fundamental principles of the Liberalism.
John Locke believes that in the state of nature, though man has authority over lesser creatures, he has no right to sovereignty over follow man. He believes that all men have the right to property in their own person, (Locke p116, §26). Assuming that he employs the universal use of the word “man” to encompass all of mankind, Locke thus grants women the inherent right to property over their own person, subsequently dispelling the notion that women are inferior, and that they must, therefore, submit to subjugation and exist under
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Beauvoir believes that given the same treatment and afforded the same opportunities, male and female children would grow up with an androgynous view of the world where sex would not be a determining factor in ascertaining one’s capability to be an equal productive member of society. Beauvoir believes that the socialization of children to fit into pre-defined, traditionally-ascribed gender roles promotes a superiority complex in males and an inferiority complex in females which perpetuates the cycle of the oppression of women by men. Beauvoir writes: “The abyss that separates adolescent boys and girls has been deliberately widened between them since childhood; later on, woman could not be other than what she was made, and that past was bound to shadow her for life. If we appreciate its influence, we see clearly that her destiny is not pre-determined for eternity, (Beauvoir ,
Throughout history, women have been portrayed as the passive, subdued creatures whose opinions, thoughts, and goals were never as equal as those of her male counterparts. Although women have ascended the ladder of equality to some degree, today it is evident that total equalization has not been achieved. Simone De Beauvoir, feminist and existential theorist, recognized and discussed the role of women in society today. To Beauvoir, women react and behave through the scrutiny of male opinion, not able to differentiate between their true character and that which is imposed upon them. In this dangerous cycle women continue to live up to the hackneyed images society has created, and in doing so women feel it is necessary to reshape their ideas to meet the expectations of men. Women are still compelled to please men in order to acquire a higher place in society - however, in doing this they fall further behind in the pursuit of equality.
By linking sociological theory and political reform, feminists aim to end inequalities between men and women in both public and private environments. Feminist theory is where things such as gender, class, and race meet. Emphasis is placed on masculine versus feminine
The ideology of feminism is that women should be treated as potential intellectual equals and social equals to men. Feminism also, by its nature, embraces the belief that all people are entitled to freedom and liberty within reason-including equal civil rights-and that discrimination should not be made based on gender, sexual orientation, skin color, ethnicity, religion, culture, or life style. Feminists -and all persons interested in civil equality and intellectuality are dedicated to fighting the ignorance that says people are controlled by and limited to their biology, Elizabeth Blackwell is considered an important
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...
Locke believes that humans inherently possess complete and inalienable equality in the state of nature. “A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another. ”2 Locke suggests that a civil government has an obligation to treat its citizens equally because humans are equal in the state of nature, and it would be both morally wrong and difficult to find willing subjects if they are denied equality under the government’s rules. authority.
At this point, the difference perspective in ideology and political action has divided the women movement into some feminism types; socialist, Marxist, radical, liberal and many others. While liberal feminist focus their struggle for equality on civil, economic, and political rights, and education, the feminist socialist and Marxist believe women 's oppression is “the product of the political, social and economic structure within which individuals live.” (Tong, 1998: pp.94). Although some other people suppose that the feminist Marxist and socialist is quiet different, but both of them believe the source of women oppression are capitalism and patriarchy. The Marxist feminism is rooted in 19th century thinker such as Marx and Engels, whether
So, mostly liberal feminismsketched out into their priority to make women and men in the same level without any differenceswithout questioning the underlying basis of women's subordination.
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 ...
Since then, feminism has branched out into other categories. There is liberal feminism who sees everyone as equal and believes in equality for everyone, radical feminism who believe all forms of oppression stem from male dominance, socialist feminism who focuses on working class women, etc. (n/a, N.. N.p.. Web. 27 Mar 2014. http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/amazonsociety/feminism.html).
Feminism, in its simplest definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. (Webster) Feminists fight for equality for women to men socially, politically, and economically. At the peak of feminist discourse is equality for men and women in education and in employment. However, feminism also focuses on more than issues regarding the rights of women in relation to men. Issues of gender equality and women’s right to control their sexuality are also at the core of feminist theory. A key argument made by many feminists is how women have very little control over their sexuality, mainly being defined and controlled by men. T...
Feminism is the public support for or recommendation of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. In a more simple way of stating it, women rights equivalent to those of men. Before suffrage begun, women were strictly to act as women should, or what they were expected to act like. They were expected to take care of the children, cook, and clean. Not only were they supposed to do house work, but they also couldn’t vote or own any property. On August 26th, 1920, after 72 long-lasting years of fighting, and prolonged anticipation, women finally won their rights to be treated equally. There have been, and still are, many feminists in this world. One very prominent feminist is Crystal Eastman.
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)
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 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.
The major differences between liberal and radical feminists stem from their separate ideas about the differences between the genders that the framework that these ideologies are built upon. For liberal feminism, they hold that
Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It began as an organized activity on behalf of women?s rights and interests. This concept was developed to help women earn a place in a predominantly male society. Unfortunately over the years, the intentions of feminism have become distorted, not only by anti-feminists, but also by the feminists themselves. The principle of equality for women and men has turned into a fight in which feminists wish to be better than men. Feminism has been twisted and misunderstood so much that it has become a harmful idea.