This essay will explore how the Ted Talk by Michael Kimmel titled “why gender equality for women is good for everyone men-included”, raises concepts comparable to Radical feminist ideas on the rule of law in society’s recent history and present day. I Will begin by briefly summarizing the content of the ted talk, i will then go on to give an outline of Feminism and how from this Radical Feminism was born. Finally i will consider how the content of the talk links into ideas put forward by radical feminists, on how our politics, society and laws affect women.
In his talk Michael Kimmel aims to recruit men into the idea of gender equality for women. Claiming that “it’s good for men too”. He talks about the Feminist movement that was in operation
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We can clearly state that Michael Kimmel express’s sentiments in his talk that can be defined as Feminist. Does he go further and take a radical view or are his thoughts more liberal. Well Kimmel suggest that “he is recruiting men to support gender equality” this comment demonstrates how elements of feminism are touched upon, and this could be considered in line with Radical Feminist views if the support given by these men was to help in the dismantling and subsequent rebuilding of the system they live under. Some Radical Feminist do not even agree with the inclusion of men at all in the movement stating that the movement is “by women and for women”. This could be because of the belief that men and women see the world differently. Men and Women act differently when “responding to problems” or “responding to people”. This would appear to suggest that Kimmel’s call to arms for men is a contradiction to the Radical Feminist movement.These men will not respond to the issues like women. For a movement that is “by and for women” men taking part would not be a help but a hindrance. Not all writers agree that Radical Feminist are opposed to men. Jone Johnson Lewis states “Radical feminism opposes patriarchy, not men. To equate radical feminism to man-hating is to assume that patriarchy and men are inseparable, philosophically and …show more content…
It is good for the kind of lives we want to live”. He asserts that this is possible if we live more equally together, particularly when it comes to sharing work commonly seen as women’s work “when men share housework and childcare, their children do better in school”...”When men share housework and childcare, their wives are happier”. It is this focus on a traditional family dynamic that contradicts Radical Feminist ideology. For some radical feminist’s what we consider the nucleated family is yet another example of patriarchal dominance of women. This can be seen in writing by Radical Feminist throughout their movement. “Male and female writers attacked “the common assumption that every household should be hetrosexual”Many Radical Feminist promote the idea of lesbian and gay relationships as opposed to the traditional view. Most Radical Feminist are strong advocates of a women's rights over her own body stating that the “person is political” a slogan first used in the 1960’s to demonstrate how women's personal experiences of domestic slavery, oppression and violence were just as much political issues as any other
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 the Ted Talk, “My stroke of insight”, the speaker Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist had undergone a stroke affecting her left hemisphere. During this process she was able to experience her brain deteriorating slowly and she was able to study it. She explains how she wanted to become a brain researcher because of her brother’s brain condition, schizophrenia. During the TedTalk she also explained her whole experience, including what it felt like, her emotions, and the world around her while having a stroke as well as the difficulties that she had encountered. Jill explains this experience as a tremendous gift.
‘Women and men are different. Equal treatment of men and women does not result in equal outcomes.’ (Corsten Report, 16: 2007) According to Covington and Bloom (2003) numerous feminist writers have demonstrated and documented the patriarchal nature of our society and the variety of ways in which the patriarchal values serve masculine needs. ‘Despite claims to the contrary, masculinist epistemologies are built upon values that promote masculine needs and desires, making all others invisible’ (Kaschak, 11: 1992).
Feminism can simply be defined as a range of movements and ideologies in which share a common ground in terms of defining, establishing and achieving equal opportunities to that of males, in regards to economic, cultural and social rights. It is a critique of male supremacy with efforts in changing this to end the social oppression of women. (Hooks, 2000)
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.
Feminism has tackled gender inequality in the workforce, within politics, education and various institutes. Within the 20th century some of these issues faced in western culture have been completely reformed due to certain feminist movements that have encouraged women to fight for equal rights. (Crofton: 2011: 272-273) The first and second waves of feminism have proven to be successful by increasing equal rights between men and women. (Kaplan: 1992: 7) Despite these successes which include allowing there is still the fact of the matter remains that women are still objectified by their gender. ()The generalization of gender roles, have proven to be challenging within the feminist movement, this is often due to the objectification of women in the media. Also as feminism, is an ideology it has various schools of which have conflicting ideas of the ‘empowerment of women’ making it difficult to clarify on what is not acceptable in establishing women’s rights. (Fraser: 2014)
Patriarchy creates a social division. It is often used to describe the power between a male and a woman. This idea is important in Radical Feminism. Seen as the root of female oppression, Radical Feminists recognize that patriarchy is everywhere. Radical feminist came about because they were not happy with the course of action taken by the first wave of feminists. Radical feminists wanted a revolution, not just reform; they wanted to do things their way as opposed to following “the system”. So they came up with their own theories that fit their way of thinking and often were at odds with the reformer feminists...
In 1915, the piece “Feminism for Men” argued that, if men were to be free, women had to be equal. A century later, society has not fully embraced this concept. Scholar, Michael Kimmel, argues that there is sufficient data to support the idea that gender equality is good for everyone. His essential arguments are that gender equality is necessary for men to get the lives they really want and that women cannot achieve full empowerment if men are not engaged in the process. Kimmel provides data which demonstrate that gender equality benefits not only individuals in society but its institutions as well. Countries with gender equality report being happier. Companies with gender equality also achieve greater success, and gender inequality is actually
In just a few decades The Women’s Liberation Movement has changed typical gender roles that once were never challenged or questioned. As women, those of us who identified as feminist have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at...
Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism introduces ideas by Becky Thompson that contradict the “traditional” teachings of the Second Wave of feminism. She points out that the version of Second Wave feminism that gets told centers around white, middle class, US based women and the central problem being focused on and rallied against is sexism. This history of the Second Wave does not take into consideration feminist movements happening in other countries. Nor does it take into consideration the feminist activism that women of color were behind, that centered not only on sexism, but also racism, and classism as central problems as well. This is where the rise of multiracial feminism is put to the foreground and a different perspective of the Second Wave is shown.
Another critique is that it goes against the basic teachings of feminism, in which men and women are equal. Radical feminist sought to believe that patriarchy is the only reason why women are oppressed in society and all men do not want to see women succeeding in business nor social sector. Due to their misandry towards men, radical feminism theory has often been frowned upon, as it gave the term feminism a bad reputation.
Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women. Studying how the philosophies are constructed and what makes them unjust, this field constantly generates new ideas on how these philosophies need to be fundamentally reconstructed. Liberal feminism, for example, was built around promoting economic and political equality for women. By arguing the older concepts of the split between public and private realms as a way to politically protect male domination of women as “natural”, and ideas about a women’s place in the household, came evidence that supported legal cases leading “to the criminalization in the United States of spousal rape” (qtd. in McAfee). Another completely different approach is radical feminism, which advocates a separation from the whole system, perceiving that the sexual relations between male and female as the basis of gender inequality and female subordination (qtd. in McAfee). Democratic femin...
In 2013 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie delivered a speech for a Ted Talk based on a very controversial issue, gender inequality. A year later, in 2014, Ngozi was inspired to transform her speech into the book, “We Should All Be Feminist”. The book was all transcripted by her Ted Talk in 2013. In this novel, Ngozi ultimately argues about gender inequality, and how individuals are compressed to live by social expectations or stereotypes, and fights against the negative interpretation that individuals have of feminism.
The preceding was what feminists and historians want us believe, however, this is not always the case and quite possibly, it has never been the case. For some reason feminism became an international phenomenon. The feminist theory is fairly comparable to this explanation and determinedly claims that the basic structure of society is patriarchal, or male-dominated. The purpose of this paper is to prove that society has changed for women, but women have not changed for society. Women of today have not fought for anything, but they have simply protested their demands and expected society to cater them. This will continue to be true for as long as society takes sympathy upon women and their "needs."
Michael Levin, a professor of philosophy and author of the book Feminism and Freedom, faults feminism for trying to impose an inappropriate equality on men and women that conflicts basic biological differences between the sexes (Levin, Taking Sides, 42). Women are not the same as men, neither physically nor psychologically. In the past, men tended to be the stronger more powerful gender, while women have traditionally been viewed as the weaker, more feeble one. The untrue assumption that men and women are the same in their ways of thinking and physical capabilities leads to the failure of the feminist message. Their agenda of eliminating all observable differences between men and women is doomed to fail and will inflict more pain than gain in the process. Recognizing the differences between the sexes and allowing each to do what they are strongest at will in the long run make society stronger, more efficient, and more effective.