Woman's Studies
Woman's studies are at its most basic an examination of the experiences of women. The field place women in the center of inquiry and study. It is important to note that the study is by and for women. Woman are not treated as objects of study but as subjects of study. The field assumes that gender is a central aspect of society and tries to explore and define what it means to be a man or woman in today's society.
In the early sixties it was noticed for the first time the lack or misrepresentation of women in college curriculum. With the increasing Woman's Movement, there came more demand for women on campus, both in the curriculum's and in the departments. Two approaches emerged from these efforts. The first was to add women to the existing curriculum, while keeping the rest of the curriculum basically intact. The second approach was to seriously challenge the curriculum and also created new programs of study. People began questioning the nature of knowledge and how it seemed to enforce male privilege and power. It was from this second approach that woman's studies emerged as a discipline .It offered a perspective that reflects women's lives and concerns.
In many ways the woman's movement have helped and influenced the discipline of woman's studies. Indeed the discipline of woman's studies is sometimes considered the academic wing of the women's movement. Two important aspects were that of the movement's commitment to personal and societal change. The movement allowed women to ask questions about being a woman in today's society. This simple line of thought led to many ideas that have become central to woman's studies.
This source was written by a woman who showed the struggles of feminism throughout the years. She also showed that in these feminism woman movements, men, mostly in higher education, also participate in the movement. This source is appropriate to
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)
Whereas the women’s suffrage movements focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to equality, the feminist movements successfully addressed a broad range of other feminist issues. The first dealt primarily with voting rights and the latter dealt with inequalities such as equal pay and reproductive rights. Both movements made vast gains to the social and legal status of women. One reached its goals while the other continues to fight for women’s rights.
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive
In one section of “Men and Women’s Studies: Premises, Perils, and Promise,” Michael Kimmel discusses how men have helped women to gain equal rights within the educational system (Kimmel, 26). He explains that as pro-feminists, men who made efforts to understand feminism and support women, as well as implement equal rights for women, realized the importance of women’s education (Kimmel, 26). According to his essay, many American men, as well as women, helped to create an educational system for women, which was seen as a “revolt” against inequality and the subordination of women (Kimmel, 26-27). Kimmel argues that pro-feminists tried to provide an opportunity for every woman to study; one such example is Henry Durant, an American pro-feminism activist, who established Wellesley College for
Social movements refer to informal groups of people who focus on either political or social issues. The goal of the social movement is to change things in society, to refuse to go along with the norm, and to undo a social change. For example, the Women’s Rights Movement that began in the 1840s was geared towards getting women more equality in relation to political, social, and economic status in society (Foner). Along with this, women gained a louder voice to speak out about what they wanted to change and implemented the change. Prior to the Women’s Rights Movement, women were often timid, compliant, obedient, and mistreated. After the 1920s, a movement towards more equality was shifted in society views, however not all were convinced or changed by the new ideas of women. Although women began to get increased rights, the typical gender roles, which they were expected to follow did not loosely lesson. Women still found themselves doing the same gender roles, house roles, and family roles even after the 1920s. It was not until the 1960s when the Feminist movement began (Foner). The literary piece is “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady and the goal of the Feminist Movement was to create new meanings and realities for women in terms of education, empowerment, occupation, sexual identity, art, and societal roles. In short, the Feminist Movement was aimed to gain women freedom, equal opportunity and be in control over their own life.
Amelia Bloomer:Amelia Bloomer was born in Cortland County, New York, in 1818. She received an education in schools of the State and became a teacher in public schools, then as a private tutor. She married in 1840 to Dexter C. Bloomer, of Seneca Falls, New York. Dexter C. Bloomer was editor of a county newspaper, and Mrs. Bloomer began to write for the paper. She was one of the editors of the Water Bucket, a temperance paper published during Washingtonian revival. Mr. Bloomer lived in Seneca Falls in 1848, but did not participate in the Women’s Rights Convention. In 1849, Bloomer began work with a monthly temperance paper called The Lily. It was devoted to women’s rights and interests, as it became a place for women advocates to express their opinions. The paper initiated a widespread change in women’s dress. The long, heavy skirts were replaced with shorter skirts and knee-high trousers or undergarments. Bloomer’s name soon became associated with to this new dress, and the trousers became known as Bloomers. She continued to new dress and continued advocating for women’s rights in her paper. In 1854, Mrs. Bloomer began giving numerous speeches and continued to fight for equal justice for women.
The reading "What is Gender Studies?" is an in depth description of what Gender s tudies is and the different aspects of life that it involves. "Gender Studies is a field of study that looks at the world from the perspective of gender" (What is Gender Studies 2). looking at the world this way reveals that the study of gender in the world encompasses nearly every aspect of life. Gender Studies look at the patterns and behaviors that are related to masculinity and femininity.
This course of women and gender studies, as would all courses, have produced awareness by coherently explaining the situations women are facing in the world today. One may not know of theses situations until taught. By learning of these occurrences, one can properly act upon them. Many women and men have taken the opportunity to attend classes on women’s and gender studies and have since then made strides to make a difference in the unjust society that must be faced.
...o become professionals in all business and personal aspects of life. Today, we see women working in all work fields including, lawyers, engineers, doctors, etc. Although, they still faced some type of discrimination especially when it comes to wages, they have achieved what they were trying to achieve many years ago. After the women’s right movement, some privileges such as voting rights, no discrimination of jobs, and equal pay in jobs have been put in the same level as men in today’s society. Actually, we now see men being the “housewives” and the children caretakers while their wives are the ones to work and bring the money to the family. That is how much impact women have in today’s society. People didn’t realize that what a men was capable of doing so could a women. We can now express how women are free and how they were taken for granted in the earlier years.
The first all female schools began in the early 1800’s. These academies favored more traditional gender roles, women being the home makers and the men being the bread winners. The first generation of educated women was the result of single-sex colleges in 1873. Wendy Kaminer, an investigative journalist, states that “single-sex education was not exactly a choice; it was a cultural mandate at a time when sexual segregation was considered only natural” (1). Women of this time were technically not allowed to attend school with males. Feminists of this time worked hard to integrate the school system and by the early 1900’s, single sex classrooms were a thing of the past. In 1910, twenty-seven percent of colleges were for men only, fifteen percent were for women only and the remainders were coed. Today, women outnumber men among college graduates (Kaminer 1). After all the hard work of early feminists, there are thousands of people today who advocate bringing back the single sex classroom.
Beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century women began to vocalize their opinions and desires for the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage movement paved the way to the nineteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution that allowed women that right. The Women’s Suffrage movement started a movement for equal rights for women that has continued to propel equal opportunities for women throughout the country. The Women’s Liberation Movement has sparked better opportunities, demanded respect and pioneered the path for women entering in the workforce that was started by the right to vote and given momentum in the late 1950s.
The right for women to be educated has been long sought after. The history of women education started the beginning of feminism. Education, over the last two hundred years, has changed women lives in America according to Barbara M. Solomon. In the early years of American history women were discouraged from getting a higher education it would be considered unnatural for women to be educated, and women were only taught domestic skills such as sewing, cooking and child-rearing. American women began to seek opportunities for further education, as well as equal rights. The history of women’s education has evolved through events that have shaped the culture of America today. To better understand the women’s education movement, it is important to know the background of its history.
Women's impact is simply due to the fact that they are now educating themselves. They are now concerned with the improvement of their own position. Women are fighting for their...
The truth is that not much has changed, although today there are more women than men in college, inequality in educational opportunities still stagnates the growth of intellectual youth. The biggest problem that we face in a college or university is being a woman. Today there are more women that have acquired degrees in the "hard sciences",