Feminism In The 1800s

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Feminism is a term that has become especially daunting and frightening in the last decade. People tend to regard the feminist movement as an extremely liberal minority of women who hate men and want women to take over the world. Most men want nothing to do with the movement, and when a woman declares herself a feminist, men produce a chorus of gripes, groans, and eye rolls. The dictionary definition of the word feminism is simply the “advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” (Google defintions). In the definition of feminism, there is no mention of wanting to attack men or wanting to eradicate men. Feminism believes in equality, tolerance for other minorities, and in seeking an end to rape …show more content…

In past decades and centuries, women and men have not been considered equal. In the 1700s, it was extremely taboo to curse in a woman’s presence because women were seen as too fragile and delicate to handle such vulgarity. In the 1900s, women typically only entered fields such as teachers, nurses, and secretaries, according to tavaana.org, and were frowned upon and even threatened when they ventured into other fields of employment. When America was first founded, women did not have the right to divorce, own property, or occupy hardly any fields of employment. Wife beating was legal well into the 1800s. Women in America did not gain the right to vote until 1920. However, in many other countries around the world, many of these things are still happening, and women are still lacking many basic rights that men have held since the beginning of time. In I Am Malala, the authors tell of how Muslim women in Pakistan are not allowed to walk down the street without the escort of their husband or a male relative. When a chicken is slaughtered, the men eat the best and most nutritious parts of the bird, such as the breast and wings, while women are only allowed to eat the legs and neck. When a son is born, the Pakistani family celebrates the birth, but when the child is a daughter, most parents are disappointed. This proves that in other countries, men are valued above women, something that …show more content…

According to recent news reports, women earn about 70-80 cents for every dollar a man makes. Even when a man and a woman work in the exact same fields with identical job titles, women are still paid less. Additionally, women are often denied opportunities for advancement simply because of their gender. Some employers are still stuck in the outdated beliefs that women are inferior to men and believe that their pay should mirror that. Others justify paying women less by saying that women will go on maternity leave or quit all together when they get pregnant, making them ‘less reliable’ than men. The feminist movement fights for equality in this area because they believe there is no reason that women should be paid less for good work because of simple ignorant prejudice. They encourage women to stand up to their bosses and demand to be paid the same as their male

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