Autonomy Kimmel Summary

He claims that men need a movement such as the feminist movement to allow “full expression of their gender” and to change the “outdated model of masculinity.”

Right before reading this article, I read an article on Facebook about how some women are against feminism, because they either want to be treated as ladies, or believe that gender equality already came. I cannot and could not do anything for the former, except criticizing that those women are well socialized into the heteropatriarchy. However, if the second argument comes up, I will be able to use this document as a source for gender inequality; because this is a concise list of male privileges, it is more

The modern definition of feminism: “an ideology that, in its most basic form, directly opposes sexism by supporting gender equality and portraying women and men as equal.” (Finsterbusch 59). This definition was the early direction towards treating women like human beings rather than a housebound body, and this is why feminism should not be viewed as a harmful ideology. By exemplifying the importance of the ideology of feminism, by refuting those who claim that women have used feminism to exploit their personal wants and desires, and by presenting women’s first hand encounters of inequality, case studies, sound arguments and documented research one will be persuaded that the ideology of feminism is not discrimination towards men, but rather an encouragement for a woman’s rights and equality.

Feminism is a very popular and controversial concept in today’s world. Feminism is a range of ideologies as well as social and political movement all aiming for a common goal to define, establish and achieve equal rights and position to women legally as well as socially. The people with these ideologies are commonly known as FEMINIST. Feminism theory is not only about understanding but also to take action. Naturally people expect women to be related to the idea of feminism and be a feminist rather than men. Men have taken part as significant cultural and political responses within each wave of feminism movements.Feminist men have also argued alongside scholars that liberation of men from the socio cultural constraints of gender roles and sexism is a significant part of feminist activism and scholarship.

Before this class, I was aware of feminism but also uncertain on the meaning. I knew gender inequality existed throughout history and currently. Growing up in the rural Midwest, feminism was not perceived as a positive movement. Little was taught or said about feminism in any primary education. We learned about women’s suffrage and that was it. After, taking this class, I understand that feminism is so much more than woman’s suffrage in the early 1900s.

The roles of women in society today have changed drastically since the 1930s as for as their careers, family lives, and the respect they may or may not receive.

In class we were shown a recording of the speech, “A call to men”. The first thing I noticed was the title, which made me immediately assume it was going to be a female speaker that was going to speak about feminism; or something along those lines. To see a man giving the speech grabbed my attention instantly. The man giving the speech was Tony Porter, and his audience was mostly women, who made me think, “Is this guy going to be giving a speech about feminism?” While listening to his speech I felt guilty for being quick to judge, because his speech was actually about growing up as a male, and being masculine is today’s society. While Tony Porter was giving his speech, he brought up stories that without a doubt every guy in our class could relate to that left many of us saying, “Wow”.

Have you ever heard a man say “I am a victim of gender inequality” or have you heard about a campaign to help men get through inequality? Without you even telling me, I already know what your answer will be….no, you haven’t. Why? Well, it is because men face a different type of inequality I like to call silent sexism, a lot of you are probably sitting there and wondering to yourself “What is he talking about”. I am talking about those things that have been synced into our lives that we don’t even register it as being sexist.

At the beginning of the semester when I was asked if I was a feminist, I thought the answer was pretty obvious. I didn’t consider myself a feminist, nor did I ever think I would ever become a feminist, but what I didn’t understand about feminism, was that I didn’t truly understand what it meant to be a feminist. After months of studying gender, I now have a better understanding of what it exactly means to be a feminist. In my opinion, a feminist is someone who wants equal rights for women and men, and what I mean by equal rights, is equality across the board, which includes the political landscape, religious landscape, the free market, the jobs market, ETC. Although that definition is not one that is widely accepted in the academic environment,

In his article, “Why Men Have a Problem with the Word ‘Feminism’”, author Martin Daubney explains how he doesn’t clearly like the word feminism. Though he believes in what the word stands for, equality and freedom of choice, irrespective of gender, sexuality or race, he is repulsed by the word feminists. This is because of how the word is perceived; the word feminism now tends to symbolize an aura of negativity. The reasons behind the negativity are the acts of the radical feminists. “All men are rapists”, that statement was supposedly said once but as is can’t be taken back it is all that the men tends to remember. What was supposed to be a positive message for the benefit of mankind became a word that gives people a personal bad attitude.

Feminism is most often thought of as a method used for educating society on the rights of women. It teaches that men and women are equal in every way both civil and societal. Charlotte Bunch, realizing that this is not always the case, also defined feminism as "a way of looking at the world a questioning of power and domination issues". A great deal of feminists attempt to ignore the ideas of a stereotypical women and move them away from people who don’t. They fight to find, study, and do away with biases in a world filled with ignorant men who see women only as objects and not equals. There are however, women who announce their immense intellect, wealth, and vibrant and free personalities to those who oppress them. A woman

What is it going to take for people to be equal in this world? What is the point of putting men on such a high pedestal when they are no different than women? Why are women perceived as the “weaker” gender? All of these are questions that people have and want answers to. Its’ safe to say that Werhane, Posig, Gundry, Ofstein, and Powell were spot on when they mentioned that we live in a male dominated world. Anything that has to do with power is generally associated with a male figure. These instant thoughts that women are less likely to own a business, or are more likely to live in poverty need to come to an end.

Last year, a group of women showed that they didn’t need feminism. These women were against feminism because they felt that women were supposed to be different. Many people that weren’t a part of this group pointed out that the women that were participated in the anti-feminist movement misunderstood the idea of gender equality. According to Supriya Jain, “Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men.” In other words, promoters of gender equality aspire to create a world where the differences between men and women don’t define them and who they can become.

"For me, it 's not even that I 'm a feminist. I 'm for anybody. I 'm for everybody, for everything. I don 't care what you want to do in your life, or whom you want to be with, which you want to love, who you want to look like. I’m a feminist in the way that I’m really empowering to women.”

It is difficult to imagine living in a world without the patriarchal roles that are present in society and have been throughout history. In the article “Feminist Criticism,” by Lois Tyson, the idea of feminism and how society has affected feminism is the focus. These ideas are seen because men have more of a voice in nearly everything and the oppression of women is very common; a society set up like this can be described with the term patriarchy which is “any culture that privileges men by promoting traditional gender roles,” where men are cast as “rational, strong, protective, and decisive,” and women are cast “as emotional, weak, nurturing, and submissive” (Tyson, 1). This thought that men are strong and women weak is not uncommon in