Feminism
Feminism originally was an expression used by suffragettes -who were predominantly pro-life[1][2][3]- to obtain the right for women to vote in the early 1900s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The definition of feminism still stands to be that men and women are to be considered equal. In today's society, not just in the USA but across the globe, women are still treated unequally. A women will earn less than a man who is in the exact same job as her, women are constantly blamed for being raped although it was the fault of the man, and in parts of the world women are still not allowed to vote or even drive. Modern feminists take all different forms, they can be women, men, children, but whoever they are they share one common aim: equality. If a woman strives to have power over men and to be superior, it is important to realize that she is not a feminist.
Feminists do not condemn women who choose to have children, nor do they all want to have sexual intercourse with other women. As mentioned, equality is paramount.
History
Roots of the movement in the United States and the United Kingdom include the Women's Suffrage movement of the early 1900s. This involved tireless campaigning from the likes of Emmeline Pankhurst in order that women may receive the vote. The Women's Liberation (or "Second Wave Feminist") movement is attributed to the 1960s and 1970s. Second Wave Feminism had its roots from Betty Friedan and Simone de Beauvoir, who both advocated for advancement for women in terms of career prospects, and changing societies perception of women. Those who wanted to be housewives could remain so, whilst those who felt like their ambitions were being stifled could be afforded the same career opportunities as men.
The Equal Rights Amendment, which proponents claimed would address the inadequacies of the Fourteenth Amendment concerning women and citizenship, was proposed in the US in 1923. The amendment passed Congress in 1972 but was ultimately defeated, falling just three states short of the required three-quarters majority on June 30, 1982. Some conservatives, particularly Phyllis Schlafly, felt that its passage would entail adverse consequences, including making girls subject to the military draft, requiring taxpayer-funded abortion, the end of single-sex schools and classes, requiring the issuance of homosexual marriage licenses, and the revocation of laws that protect women in dangerous jobs, such as factory or mining work. Indeed, in states that passed their own versions of ERA, several of these results were subsequently ordered by courts.[4]
The feminist movement in the West evolved in the 1980s with the rise of so-called Post-Feminism (also called "Third-Wave" feminism), which stresses that women have many rights that go unrecognized, often by women themselves, in everyday life, and in the American legal structure. Most members of the feminist movement support reproductive rights currently guaranteed by American law, including the legal right to abortion. This is due to the fact that women have the right to their own bodies just as much as men do, and that they should therefore have control over whether they wish to have a child or not.
One of the major features of feminism prior to the 1990s was opposition to women being treated as sex objects. Feminists today are still against women being sex objects. If a woman chooses to dress in a particular way that is her personal choice and she should not be condemned or treated as a "se object" for expressing her own free will.
During the administration of Bill Clinton, feminism made a partial resurgence, although feminist leadership was criticized[Who says?] for largely failing to criticize President Clinton's sexist behavior toward female employees as both Arkansas Governor and U.S. President.[5][6]
Whilst famous figures in the past have been against feminism, this was clearly due to cultural influence which perpetuated the idea that women were inferior. In today's society, many prominant figures are willing to stand up and declare that they are feminits. Examples of this include British actor and UN Ambassador Emma Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Malala Yousafzai.
Quotations
See also
References
- â Susan B. Anthony opposed abortion
- â "There is no question that she deplored the practice of abortion, as did every one of her colleagues in the suffrage movement." Desperately Seeking Susan New York Times (13 October 2006)
- â Voices of our Feminist Foremothers Feminists for Life
- â For example, the Hawaii and Massachusetts Supreme Courts ordered the issuance of homosexual marriage licenses based in part on their on their state ERAs, and the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered taxpayer-funded abortion based on its state ERA.
- â Odone, Christina Left-wing misogyny is alive and well: The partyâs feminist agenda allows Labour men to get away with sexist behaviour (2 June 2005) The Times
- â Jackson, Candice E. "Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine" (World Ahead Publishing; 2005) ISBN 0-9746-7013-8
External Links
- The Feminist eZine Archive of articles about Feminist History.
- Gloria Steinem and the CIA, The New York Times, February 21, 1967.
- Inside the CIA with Gloria Steinem, Nancy Borman, The Village Voice.
- Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?, Christina Hoff Sommers, The American March/April 2008.