Political Feminism and its Misrepresentation

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The word “feminist” has caused turmoil wherever it is uttered. It has gained a negative connotation, and is often mistaken with misandry. While these claims may be true for a minimal number of feminists, the truth is that in order to get an accurate representation on what feminists actually believe one would have to go to the source. The two main problems with that, are that first of all, it is “not rigidly structured or led by a single figure or group”, and most importantly there is not just one kind of feminism, there are hundreds in each aspect of our life (Tavaana, 2014). The most under represented group within feminism is the kind that is in the government. Not all have the same theories, and therefore, do not have the same beliefs. However what we do know is that, whatever theory they have, or agenda they follow, they are all fierce promoters of gender equality.
One theory of feminism that exists is the world is “Second Wave feminism” (Mandle, 2014). This is the most known form of it. These were the successors to the First-Wave feminists who primarily focused on suffrage and legal rights in the 19th and 20th century (Burkett, 2013). The fundamental goals of Second Wave feminism are different from the first, since they primarily center themselves on abolishing workplace inequality, such as the proverbial glass ceiling and salary difference, through anti-discrimination laws.” (Tavaana, 2014). The ideals proposed by this kind, were adopted by the government in the form of bills and laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2014). This again, is what one would consider the mainstream feminism.
Another feminist theory is Marxist Feminism. This type of fe...

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...org/
Gimenez, M. E. (1998). Marxist / Materialist Feminism. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/mar.html
Mandle, J. D. (n.d.). Identity Politics, Feminism, and Social Change. Retrieved from https://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/identity_pol.html
Oxford Dictionaries (2014). feminism: definition of feminism in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US). Retrieved March 13, 14, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/feminism?q=feminism
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113Stanford University (2007, October 18).
Liberal Feminism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-liberal/
Wolbrecht, C. (2000). Of Presidents and Platforms. In The politics of women's rights: Parties, positions, and change (pp. 23-72). Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

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