A Career As A Radical Feminist

Today, the feminist movement has grown and is still growing as women around the globe have joined hands in the fight against inequality. Even though a lot has changed, all feminists, despite

Feminists have been active in their role for decades. The first women who were proponents of women's rights, advocates for self-promotion of women's freedoms and leaders of women into the 20th century, I believe would be appalled at where the current "feminists" have taken their cause. In the late 1960's a movement ensued, a movement of great proportions. This ideological stance of women needing to empower themselves against men and their "inherent violence" began a degradation of men's roles in family and society. Men have been silenced as fathers and husbands. In the early 20th century, boys were taught to protect women, open doors for them, help them carry their groceries and never to hit a woman. The feminists would have us

When thinking about feminism in today’s society we tend to direct our minds and thoughts to a more radical and powerful train of thought. Feminism has been going on for centuries, with two main ideologies at the forefront; liberal and cultural feminism. Someone who identifies as a liberal feminist is someone who believes that women and men are a like and equal in most respects and deserve equal roles and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). And cultural feminism is someone who identifies as someone who believes that men and women are fundamentally differently; you have different rights, role and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). The women’s rights movement can be understood and broken down into three “waves”.

Feminists today are viewed as raging, man-hating bitches, but feminism in its true sense simply advocates women’s rights. While there are extremes on either side of the scale, most feminists fight

The Merriam-Webster definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” In the past century, gender roles have been challenged because of feminism. The very idea has completely flipped households, workplaces, and the general community and changed it for the better. A plethora of women’s movements were initiated in the 1960’s, and it gave people a look at how powerful women are when we stand united. Feminism has gained many followers in the past thirty to forty years as more people are becoming aware of conflicts pertaining to discrimination. However, there are many that were hesitant both in the 1960’s and in the present day, but for very different reasons. Nevertheless, persistence seems to be a beacon in women’s rights movements, thanks to very strong and level-headed role models.

Many radical feminist groups such as the New York Radical Women group (NYRF) gathered together as The Women Liberation Movement to protest against the deep-rooted conception of a “traditional woman” in the United States during the Second Wave Feminism (1960s-1990s). The Women Liberation Movement was a demonstration of challenging society’s common sense, or hegemony, which was nurtured by the dominant ideology which in this case was a gender hierarchy where men were believed to be superior to women. The primary source “No More Miss America” by Robin Morgan describes her experiences as a participant of the NYRF protesting against the Miss American Pageant in Atlantic City on September 7th 1968. The NYRF group discussed ten points of how the Miss American Pageant promoted the “traditional woman” stereotype based on racial beauty standards, submissiveness, and inferiority to men.

I had never really thought about what it meant to be a feminist, it was just a role I had unquestionably assumed as I consider myself to be an advocate of women empowerment. After last week’s readings, I began to question what exactly does being a feminist entails, and why the label carries very different meanings and connotations to different people. There is a common misconception that feminists are radicals, seeking to be superior to men. This is rooted in the fact that women today do not face the same struggles as its predecessors; namely, the inability to vote, work, study, and own property, to name a few. It is true that I have more rights and privileges than women such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth,

On the other hand, radical feminism is a form of resistance feminism, which means their issues primarily lie within patriarchy or men’s dominance towards women. They argue that patriarchy is found wherever men and women are in contact with each other. They believe that patriarchy is almost impossible to abolish because to be superior is an attribute that most men have acquired of is already “built” into them. And whether it’s consciously or subconsciously, these traits are applied into their privileges that Western society has given them (because they are men) and displayed within all the different aspects and occupations in their lives.

Daniel Drezner explains the ideas that many feminist’s share: the world is vastly different for women than it is for men. The gap between the genders is to the detriment of women. Radical feminist would concur with this point. Radical feminism centers on the idea that the suppression of the female gender is the main focus of all oppression within the world (Rowland and

Radical feminists- the aim was to challenge normal values of society and at the end this resulted in the rights been divided between the two genders. According to radicalists they believe that based on whether you are male or female will state how powerful you are in society.

Feminism is considered a political concept. It is an analysis of why and how women are oppressed. It is a vision of a society where women are liberated and sex role stereotypes are no more. It is also a conviction that oppression of women is a contradiction in society. Women feminists fought for their right to not be property, rights to their inheritance, rights to an education and to a religion that was not patriarchal. Even though feminism had been seen for quite some time, the actual term "feminist" was not first used until 1912. "The modern feminist movement began a as result of sweeping social, political and industrial changes in Europe and the United

Radical feminism which focuses on male patriarchy as the main cause of the oppression of women.

Like Liberal Feminism, Radical Feminism seeks to end partriarchy. However; In contrast to Radical Feminism, focuses more on the issue of men’s oppression of women rather other social conditions. The crux of this perspective is sexuality which is seen as the locus of male power Mackinnon (1989a).

They believe and argue that since patriarchy is so pervasive and deeply entrenched in our societies molding our thoughts and attitudes, our assumptions and our basic institutions. Some radical feminists, such as Adrienne Rich or Mary O’Brien have focused on the special roles of females as mothers and caregivers, arguing that women must be relieved from having the sole responsibility or must be in control of them. Others such as Kate Miller highlight the violence that is perpetuated against women by focusing on domestic abuse, sexual harassment, rape, pornography, and the objectification of women. Most radical feminists believe that the construction of gender by a patriarchal society is responsible for the subjugation of women and henceforth should be rejected. Consequently some advocate for androgeny, which is the encompassment of both female and male traits as a treatment for the subjugation of women. Overall radical feminists advocate the rejection of the constructed

Radical Feminism finds that reforms of liberal feminists are inadequate, they also feel that a social revolution would not end patriarchy. Instead, they feel that gender