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Masculinity and feminism
Gender inequality throughout time
The affect on women in World War 2
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Women were to get fired from any jobs they had when they became pregnant because they had to leave work to take care of their newborn due to an unexpected pregnancy. Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of gender inequality and by looking into roles of women and men in society. (Brabeck, M. and Brown, L. (with Christian, L., Espin, O., Hare-Mustin, R., Kaplan, A., Kaschak, E., Miller, D., Phillips, E., Ferns, T., and Van Ormer, A.) 'Feminist theory and psychological practice', in J. Worell and N. Johnson (eds.) Shaping the future of feminist psychology: Education, research, and practice (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997), pp.15-35) Rethinking society with feminist theory, looking at the history and old …show more content…
Even though feminists’ problems were addressed in first and second waves of feminism, many other issues developed as life kept going and globalization. Things like date and spousal rape, sexual harassment in workplaces, and violence against women. It did help to unleash the third wave of feminism. Arguably, the biggest challenge that faced third wave feminism was that the gains of second wave feminism were taken for granted, and the importance of feminism not understood. Spousal and date rape was a huge issue that faced women in the 1990s, and in many cases men got away with it. Women were scared and ashamed from public shame. Date rape was and still is a big issue to the point feminists today and feminist movements and representatives through media, song, presentations try very hard to encourage to educate everybody about it. Sexual harassment in the workplace still takes place and many are afraid to speak about it. Third wave feminism became very aggressive in this goal because of the famous "Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas" sexual harassment hearings. When Anita Hill was not really believed in the Senate hearings, third wave feminists have made it a goal to fight against patriarchal sexual harassment in the workplace to this day. Violence against women was increasing very fast. There are many cases where women were abused from spouse, siblings and parents due to religious beliefs where women were murdered in the …show more content…
Sydie, the feminist theory says that the creation of knowledge is the main concern of feminism. With knowledge, people and specifically women become aware and it creates power. ( Sydie 1994) The three waves of feminisms brought an incredible amount of knowledge and awareness to people, women, young women and they are the reason women have their rights today. From getting the right to vote, discussing sexual related issues, education, equal treatments as citizens, equal work opportunities, and violence against women, people noticed how these things looked like before, how they evolved and how long it took and still takes to battle with a major social issue that affects our everyday life. Fighting to get these rights was and still a must. The three waves helped connecting the dots to build a bridge of freedom for all those who are imprisoned in an injustice lives. The three waves of feminisms spoke in every language to all people to say women deserve to have their rights saved and respected. Nowadays, a fourth wave is still going and will be going until every woman gets what she deserves from rights and get treated equally as part of the community. Until today women across the world are still being abused in many ways. The world awareness about women's rights is still weak. In developed countries this awareness is happening very widely, but in developing countries women might not even be aware that they deserve bylaws way more than they get. Hard work of
In the United States there have been three waves of women’s rights movements. The first movement was called the women’s right movement. This movement was mainly focused on white women and their right to vote as well as hold office. (Wood, p.62) The second movement was the women’s liberation movement, also known as radical feminism. This movement mainly impacted college students because college campuses were a great place for radical feminism to emerge. The radical feminists protested the Vietnam War and fought for civil rights. The women in this movement risked their lives and physical abuse just like the males did. (Wood, p.64) The third wave of feminism in the United States was known as third- wave feminism. In this movement woman with different ethnicities, abilities, disabilities, classes, appearances, sexual orientation and gender identities came together to fight for their rights as women. (Wood, p.74)
Here, as women were gaining more progressive rights, they were actually degrading themselves in trying to bring awareness to rape. Instead of telling women to defend themselves in the moment, feminists were telling women to go to court after the actions. Young spoke against this, pleading that women be strong individuals and refuse to submit to men and social norms. The Third Wave of feminism pushed for these rights, and degraded women in the process. Feminists oppressed themselves, as they had many of the rights they had desired before. Feminists got the rights they had been seeking, and then sought to protect themselves from rape, and caused a kind of hysteria. Women oppressed themselves by trying to defend themselves against men. Instead of saying to defend themselves in the moment, third wave feminists said to allow whatever was happening to take place and then to bring the man to court. This sent the wrong message, as women fell back into their way of being obedient to
The goal of the first wave was to open up more opportunities women including being able to vote. The second wave of feminism occurred from the 1960s to the 1980s. This wave predominantly revolved around the wage gap, sexuality, and reproductive rights. The passing of the Equal Rights Amendment which was an amendment proposed to the United States Constitution guaranteeing social equality for both genders was a priority of the movement. The third wave of feminism began in the 90s and is still ongoing. This waves main focus is on patriarchy. Unlike the previous two waves, politics is not the main focus although it is a huge factor, third wave feminism is about breaking gender boundaries and old conceptions of what men and women should be. This wave is also all inclusive as I have mentioned before which is the biggest difference between the second and third wave. The third wave of feminism has redefined what the movement is, it used to be about politics and women only, feminism is now much
During 1830’s - early 1900’s, became the first wave of feminism. All women were taken for granted and realized they must fight to gain political power (which included the right to vote). Their agenda expanded to issues concerning sexual, reproductive, and economic matters.That was then when the women brought to light that they can contribute as much as men. The second wave was in the 1960’s - 1980’s, just coming out as soon as World War II ended. They focused on the workplace, sexuality, family and reproductive rights. During this the protest had often dismissed as offensive, outdated and obsessed with middle
...ithout discrimination. Often using the media as a way to quickly generate and spread new theories and ideas, Third Wave feminism is morphing into what is known as ‘Pop feminism.’(Page 82) Increasingly more people are getting involved with the feminist movement, and realizing that people of all ethnicities, social backgrounds, and sexualities should be treated with respect.
White women had been oppressed, and eventually when America began to diversify, those coming into the country were becoming oppressed and alienated. Even those who had been in the country were being discriminated against, but it’s because white Americans were prejudice towards those who identified as other than white. Sexism was and is definitely prevalent within the feminist movement, as feminism is fighting for the equality between men and women in general. Sexism creates and justifies systems of domination based on sex and gender (FYS Class Notes). The feminist movement began on the acts of sexism, as women did not have the same rights as men. Today, I think that women still aren’t treated as equal to men because people, especially men, think that women aren’t capable of doing the things a man can. I also think that part of the reason that men think women aren’t equal is because women can have children, and they just assume that the woman is supposed to take care of that child for the rest of her life. Yes, it’s her child, but it’s also the man who helped her create the child’s responsibility to take care of the child as
The biggest flaw in the third wave is the cis hetro and white-normative mold of a feminist’s, but this flaw is fixed through intersectional feminism by including and fighting against all aspects of oppression without erasing our identities. Intersectional feminism will help our society progress by contributing to the treating of all people with justice. Some say that intersectionality causes too many issues to focus on, therefore nothing can be accomplished. This is a flawed way of thinking. You can't leave other marginalized people out of your social work. There are a number of things that contribute to our identity that reflect on our lives and experiences and many of these cause oppressions and marginalizations. You cannot ignore certain oppressions when they are experienced
In the United States, the feminist movement was a civil rights issue that sought to establish equality for women. The movement aimed to transform the lives of women in American society and exerted a profound global effect throughout the twentieth century. Today, individuals who support this movement are identified as feminist: an ideology that all individuals should identify with. Feminism is the doctrine that advocates women 's rights which advocates political, economic, and social equality in comparison to men (“feminism”). This movement for equality is a rational and logical idea that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution should be expanded to accommodate the other half of the human population, promoting inclusion, individual identity,
Feminist theory looks beyond the common male based perspectives and focuses on women’s perspectives and their roles within society. The feminist theory is still relevant in today’s society. In fact, feminism and the feminist theory will be relevant for as long as there is inequality in this world. For example, according to the United States Department of Labor, women still make 78 cents for every dollar men make, on average, in every career field. Additionally, violence against women is still a prevalent problem today. For instance, one in three women are victims of physical and sexual violence often committed by intimate partners. These statistics are higher in countries where women are treated and seen as property of their husbands. Lastly, reproductive rights are an important step to creating equality. Laws need to protect the rights of women to have freedom over their bodies in the way that men have control over
The first wave of feminism is more commonly known as the women’s liberation or women’s suffrage movement. First wave feminist’s main concern was in political power especially in terms of the right to vote, having a voice. They believed that changes within society could be made gradually within society to achieve equality rather than having to demolish the way things were and reconstruct them.
Feminism is the movement towards women’s equality. It fights for equal rights in the social, political, cultural and economical aspects for women. Feminism also fights for equal opportunity for women in employment and education. A feminist is someone who advocates their support for women’s rights but is not restricted to only women; anyone who supports women’s rights and equality are feminists, including men. Feminism is not only about the females, it fights for gender equality for all. Feminist movements, or Women’s movements, campaign for reforms in household issues with domestic violence, political issues with equal pay, employment and maternity leave, and reproduction rights. All feminism movements fight for equal rights, but it cannot be conquered or be made known all at once. First wave feminism was mostly about women’s suffrage and political equality in general. Second wave feminism went more in depth about the social and cultural inequalities.
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.
Feminism can be described as the combination of thought or theory, as well as activism that is aimed at creating gender equitable world. There are numerous approaches that can be used to achieve gender equality and thus can be utilized as the reference to feminism in plural form. Essentially, the history of activism related to feminism within the arena of the United States is usually organize in waves. Throughout the better part of 20th century, the United States was widely characterized with numerous women movements, which clearly demonstrates aspects of feminism through the country. During the time, women movement were used to sensitize other women of their rights, as well as advocate for the realization of gender equality across America
In the last years, this issue has become so profound that men are starting to identify themselves as feminists, such as Obama. Rape culture is an important aspect for feminists. Feminist movements have been campaigning for the protection of women from sexual harassment, rape and violence that occurs within the home. Sexual objectification and sexual double standards can become indoctrinated by the media and can create the sexualization of women, such as Playboy, and it can lead to many pressing problems like catcalling and rape. There is an innumerous amount of rape jokes on the internet and songs like Blurred Lines encourage sexual acts without consent.
The feminist movement helped earn women the right to vote, but even then, it wasn’t enough to get accepted into the workforce. They were given the strength to fight the journey for equality and social justice. There has been known to be three waves of feminism, each wave fighting for a different issue concerning women’s rights. Laws protecting sexual assault and alimony would be enacted, and women were now allowed custody of their children in divorce cases.