In Jane Gilmore’s “Has social media ruined feminism?” published by The Sydney Morning Herald news website, she tackles the ongoing controversial topic of feminism, which has grown to a boiling rage over decades of oppression and silence for many who have been let down by the system that victims so desperately needed. Jane expresses her outrage of the defense of the #NotAllMen tag as well as the dull criticism of the recent #MeToo movement given by Katie Roiphe with the real and genuine explanation of the #MeToo movement that has recently manifested through social media. Gilmore’s opening lines to her article state that “Revolutions have always had slogans.” followed by a number of examples of such slogans as, “It’s Time”, “Power to the People”, …show more content…
“Black Power” and several others throughout history (Gilmore). Jane then brings in Roiphe, who asserts that, “the ‘level of thought policing’ the #MeToo movement has wrought is now so intense on Twitter that nobody ‘in their right mind’ wants to say anything ‘even mildly provocative or original’” (Gilmore). She then goes on to explain the basic idea of the #MeToo movement saying, “The fact that it’s a hashtag does not render it frivolous, it simply reflects the reality of modern communication” in response to Roiphe’s bashing of the tag, saying, “the only work they’ve ever done is send out thoughtless tweets demanding the instant decapitation of any man who’s ever looked at a woman” (Gilmore). When further going into depth of her explanation of the movement, she states that the movement itself consists of women’s expression of rage and their demands to be heard, not one that demands blood and rolling heads like some would believe. Gilmore proceeds to give her own personal insight in response to more of Roiphe’s remarks of the feminist movement. In her interview with Harper’s Magazine, Roiphe had stated that women should be considerate of men’s feelings as well as take out the anger that is expressed through the rejection of sexual harassment that has been experienced by 2 billion women worldwide. “Men’s egos matter more than your pain. Stop being so hysterical.”, Gilmore mockingly states in response to Roiphe’s appalling view of reacting to sexual harassment by men (Gilmore). Instead of placing her thesis in the beginning introduction paragraphs, Gilmore chooses to insert this statement around the middle sections of her article piece, as she begins to explain the conflict between Roiphe and the subject of the #MeToo movement: “Rage is a necessary response to oppression.
Without rage oppression is normalised” (Gilmore). This statement expresses the true ideal and concept of simply wanting to speak out for themselves and for justice to be served like it rightfully should, not one where protesters can destroy property or kill innocents for their cause. Victims of sexual harassment are the most common in the aspect of oppression since men are usually the objects of compassion instead of the woman herself, which in reality, should be the other way around by common sense alone. Men are prioritised over their victims after they resign from their jobs due to the raised questions of doubt such as, “What if she’s lying? What if he didn’t mean it in that way? What if she was afraid and pressured but he didn’t even know? He may have reaped all the benefits of being male but surely it’s unfair that he is now being judged for being a male?” (Gilmore). This type of oppression for victims causes a buildup of rage over decades of being silenced and being told to be considerate and to be considerate of the men’s lives that are supposedly being ruined by allegations of rape and sexual harassment. Gilmore uses her own personal knowledge and observation of women’s
struggles as they take to Twitter on the #MeToo platform as well as gaining knowledge through as a way to get her readers to gain at least a little bit of understanding of the movement in order to be aware of what really occurs with victims of these sex crimes instead of assuming they’re attempting to attract false attention so a widespread audience can share empathy with them. Although Gilmore sets her thesis in the general middle area of the article, she delivers the background for her views in the beginning through Roiphe, who stands for the opposing view which Gilmore and many victims of sexusal assault do not agree with. The structure of her article giver her enough background information to build her points and her thesis and to even go as far as to discuss these points as she ties in her personal opinion. This structure gives her readers a better and clarified understanding of the recent feminist movement that has adapted to modern communications and technologies through social media in order to share their painful experiences on a platform that can actually give them a voice to speak out where nowhere else would.
Although Peril’s method of presenting the history of women through social media and pop culture, it is being overlooked. She neglect the fact that women today are living in a totally different time because of shift in gender roles and identity, labor, and living the American Dream. There is a lack of strong support her argument because the images are wrong in the way she describes them. Ignoring an entire topic about women shows lack of critical think and weakens her argument. By strengthening her argument, Peril can also acknowledge other women and their battle for women’s rights.
Facing sexism and mistreatment at the hands of oppressive men is one of the biggest challenges a woman can face in contemporary and traditional societies. All challenges animate life, and we are given purpose when we deem it necessary to overcome said trials. Post-completion, life’s tests let us emerge with maturity and tenacity that we could not find elsewhere. Janie and Hester were dealt unfair hands in life, yet instead of folding and taking the easy way out, they played the game. They played, lost, and played again, and through this incessant perseverance grew exponentially as human beings.
In “In Living Color: Race and American Culture”, Michael Omi claims that racism still takes place in America’s contemporary society. According to Omi, media and popular culture shape a segregating ideology by giving a stereotypical representation of black people to the public, thus generating discrimination between races (Omi 115:166). In “Bad Feminist: Take One”, Roxane Gay discusses the different roles that feminism plays in our society. She argues that although some feminist authors and groups try to create a specific image of the feminist approach, there is no definition that fully describe feminism and no behaviors that can make someone a good feminist or a bad feminist (Gay 304:306). Both authors argue
It amazes me how a few decades ago can seem like a whole different world. A course of time can impact our lives more than we know it. In the article, A Day Without Feminism by Jennifer Boumgoidnei and Amy Richntds, both of these authors created this piece to inform their audience that although women have gained more rights over time, there was still more progress to be made. These authors gave many examples of how life for women had been, the obstacles they had to overcome, and the laws women had to break for equality.
middle of paper ... ... You don’t have a revolution in which you love your enemy, and you don’t have a revolution in which you are begging the system of exploitation to integrate you into it. Revolutions overturn the systems. Revolutions destroy the systems.”
The article, “Why We Still Need Feminism”, written by Casey Cavanaugh (2014), describes how women are treated and why feminism is looked at in such a negative light. She focuses on how the feminism movement doesn’t only concentrate on women and what concerns them, she also talks about how the movement can positively impact all humans. Cavanaugh explains how the treatment of women can go on for generations and how many women are simply dealing with the ill-treatment (Cavanaugh, 2014). The writer gives a few examples of how women are treated and the different ways that it can be changed for the better.
Kinoshita, Sharon. "Cherchez la Femme: Feminist Criticism and Marie de France's `Lai de Lanval'." Romance Notes 34.3 (1994): 263-73.
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.
Patriarchal silencing can be enforced in three different ways: physical abuse, emotional abuse, and social demands and/or expectations. Although both books have opposite cultural and racial factors that influence the way in which the women in the books are treated, we can still see that these three ways of silencing women are present. In Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, the form of patriarchal silencing that is most prominent is the violent physical and emotional abuse.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Among the many subjects covered in this book are the three classes of oppression: gender, race and class in addition to the ways in which they intersect. As well as the importance of the movement being all-inclusive, advocating the idea that feminism is in fact for everybody. The author also touches upon education, parenting and violence. She begins her book with her key argument, stating that feminist theory and the movement are mainly led by high class white women who disregarded the circumstances of underprivileged non-white women.
“How online sexual harassment towards women has spiraled out of control” was delivered by Ashley Judd, an American actress and political activist who could not stand to see women be harassed online any longer. After experiencing online sexual harassment for some time, she decided that something needed to be done about this issue. She and other activists created WMC Speech Project to make social media a safer place for women. The rhetorical principles can be observed in her lecture through her ethics, reasons, and emotions.
The sexualization of women in the 21st century has led many to wonder whether or not the feminist movement actually resulted in more harm than good. Although the progress and reform that came out of the feminist movement is indisputable, things such as equal rights under the law, equal status and equal pay, the reality is that the subjugation of female roles in society still exist, and the most surprising part about this is that now women are just as much as at fault for this as men are. Ariel Levy defines female chauvinist pigs as “women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves” (Levy 11). This raunch culture is mistakenly assumed to be empowering and even liberating to women when it is in fact degrading and corrupting to the modern feminist movement and makes it more difficult for women to be taken seriously in society. The shift in the nature of the feminist movement is in Levy’s opinion attributed to by the massive industry now profiting off of the sexualization of women, the reverse mindset now adopted by post-feminists and women in power roles in our society, and ultimately the women who further their own objectification as sex objects and thus, so by association, deem themselves lesser than man.
We get to see sexism and harassment in his full dangerous potential behind the eyes of the author. We realize how severe this issue is and how it affects a woman mentally. I certainly made the right choice of picking this book for this semester’s circle. I truly enjoyed every single page as it broadened my understanding towards feminism. I don’t regret this one
Starting with those who doesn’t believe in feminism but believe in equity, to the other category who are only against feminism because it belittles men, or because it shows them as rapist or violent. Cathy Young cited different cases to show how men and women are treated, in other way to show how people respond or accept it, for example the raping case in Ohio University and how the jury considered them drunk without punishing the man for raping the girl just because she was drunk too. The arguments had been done about if feminism is a bad thing for men, if it only cares about showing them as violent, rapist, criminals or if feminism are supported because females are (as described) oppressed. The author stated that the gap between men and women is decreasing in the 21st century, they are both treated nearly the same in some fields. The article is published through the internet, to everyone so everyone knows and respect the different perspectives about feminism but in my opinion, I think the author directed it to those who are slowly giving up their right, the novice women encouraging them to speak up their rights, in other way I felt that I’m one of the intended audience to know how people from the same sex as me are thinking so I decide what’s wrong and what’s right, and never to let go of my own right. The author is being both serious and narrative as she concerned more about what other said, she used it as her way of showing different minds and thoughts when in second paragraph she used the quotations more than once and quoted the women’s words ex: ‘ I don’t need feminism because egalitarianism is better!’ and
Feminism. It is a word that creates empowerment, controversy, caution, and encouragement all at the same time. Feminism is an important aspect of our society but, unfortunately, is always taken in a negative tone. In recent times, feminism has become a hot topic, especially after Emma Watson’s famous speech at the UN headquarters. Feminism is also often referred to as ‘modern feminism.’ A new trend and organization that is being introduced into the media as of recently are an organization called “Women Against Feminism”. This organization says its main purpose is to spread and-feministic and says that women should not be feminists who “blame men for their insecurities” (Women Against Feminism website.) The organization’s goal is to spread anti-feminism so that