Define Feminism Essay

In the world today, women have a say in what they want to do and things that they desire to do. Back in the day, before the 1800’s, women had to be submissive to their male counterparts and do according to what was required of them. In the end, this led to the demeaning of the woman and the concept that women were inferior to men. Even though this concept and perception changed, there have been some countries and regions of the world that have not yet recognized the equality that women deserve. Such areas do not allow women to vote, attend school, have a say in the community, and the women are at the mercy of their husbands, fathers or male superiors (Hartmann, Susan M).

Until the 1960s, feminism was widely regarded as a sub-set of liberalism and socialism, rather than as an ideology in its own right. Today, however, feminism can be considered a single doctrine in that all feminists subscribe to a range of ‘common ground’ beliefs, such as the existence of a patriarchal society, and the desire to change gender inequalities. Then again, it can be argued that feminism is characterised more by disagreement than consensus, as three broad traditions: liberal feminism, Marxist or socialist feminism, and radical feminism, which often contain rival tendencies, are encompassed within each core feminist theme. This essay will argue that, despite tensions between its

On September 5, 1995 in Beijing, China, first lady Hillary Clinton delivered a speech on women’s rights at the United Nations Fourth World Conference of Women. As Clinton stood in front of an audience of thousands she proudly stated “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.” The target of the conference was to inform the audience of government officials, leaders of organizations and the public on the problems women throughout the world face. Clinton’s speech argued how women were not treated equally and that women’s rights should be equal to human rights. Throughout her speech, Clinton provided harsh examples of the abuse, rape, death and discrimination women face, to evoke sympathy from the audience. Her overarching goal was to get action among government officials and motivate women across the world to take control of their lives and not suffer from these circumstances. Clinton uses a mix of pathos, ethos, logos, and anaphora to deliver a definition argument on why women’s rights are human rights.

Throughout history, women’s rights have had less rights then men. In the short story “Trifles,” written by Susan Glaspell, there is a search for the victim of a murder case and the women are discriminated. In the “Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a woman is in a limited lifestyle were her husband, and has to deal with having less of a say in conversation. Constant communication of feminism throughout the world will allow everyone in the world to realize that equal rights between genders are normal. Feminism is a necessary aspect of the human race until society gives equal rights to women so they can feel important when they give their opinion, can have a relationship that is not controlling, and get an occupation that men are controlling.

Some men as well as women think that part of the feminism’s definition is that women want to be men. That is so far from the truth. Having the same rights and equalities of men is not the same as wanting a penis. Feminism has a misconception of being a movement that is anti-male. An example of this thinking is a quote from Reverend Jerry Farwell “Feminists hate man. They’re sexist. They hate men - that’s the problem” (David, 1998). Some people object to the language change in feminism that is the change of a “police officer” from a “policeman”. These thoughts are from the same people who don’t believe that women should even be allowed to vote. Unfortunately some people cannot see the big picture on how the feminist movement has

IV: Feminist scholarship extensively details how the very tools that allow us to interpret the world can also constitute and reinforce inequalities of power. We are given over form the beginning to structures such as language, identity, law, nation and privilege (among many others) that implicate us in processes of exclusion, devaluation, and commodification. Drawing upon at least one reading from classes 15-21, one from classes 22-27 and another from before the midterm, discuss methods of undermining or subverting this inevitable complicity to forge room for resistance.

The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).

Feminism is the reason why girls can go to school, own property, be a human being. It helped me understand the basic right we should have as human beings, equality. Although in many parts of the world these things are not true, but it is

Feminism Meaning: the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. For equal rights of all people you need: egalitarian: believing in or based on the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Not about equality

In Feminist Theory: from margin to center, bell hook states on the first page what she believes to be the problem with feminism. In her opinion the biggest problem with feminism is that there is no real definition of what feminism is. The definition many people have formulated for feminism is having the goal of making woman socially equal to men. hook’s problem with this is the fact that all men are not socially equal. If women are to be the social equals to men then another question would be which men women will be socially equal to. While many white middle and upper class women accept this definition, the lower socioeconomic classes can not because it does not take race and its disadvantages

     In the aftermath of World War II, the lives of the women have changed dramatically. Women spoke their minds out and wanted to be heard. World War II brought them a new outlook on how they should live their lives. It encouraged women organize social movements such as boycotts and public marches pushing for their human rights and protect them against discrimination. Alongside, they formed their own organization representing them against the federal government like the NOW or National Organization for Women. Through the years, women have been struggling to fight for equal rights and unfortunately still exist even at the present in some areas. Yes, women’s status was not like what they used to back then, where their

A year ago, few folks were talking about Sheryl Sandberg. Her thoughts on feminism were of little interest. More significantly, there was next-to-no public discussion of feminist thinking and practice. Rarely, if ever, was there any feminist book mentioned as a bestseller and certainly not included on the New York Times Best Seller list. Those of us who have devoted lifetimes to teaching and writing theory, explaining to the world the ins and outs of feminist thinking and practice, have experienced that the primary audience for our work is an academic sub-culture. In recent years, discussions of feminism have not evoked animated passion in audiences. We were far more likely to hear that we are living in a post-feminist society than to hear voices clamoring to learn more about feminism. This seems to have changed with Sandberg’s book Lean In, holding steady on the Times bestseller list for more than sixteen weeks.

With the interactions of the UN discourse and modern day feminist theories, women’s rights are advanced in theory and rhetoric, but they have little hope for change in practice for most women. Feminist approaches have gotten more diverse and sophisticated into

this term is the one found on EverydayFeminism.com. An article on the website says feminism’s

Throughout the last century, women have had to fight to have the same opportunities as men. Women have had to earn the right to vote, the right to have a career, and the right to autonomy. However, these are all rights that men have simply been given, which is why today’s feminists work to promote equality. Despite these efforts, feminism is often misunderstood and is interpreted with a negative connotation. According to a study conducted by Precopio and Ramsey (2017), “feminism is commonly recognized as a movement driven to grant social, political, and economic equality to both women and men.” The participation of others besides women is crucial to the spread of equality among the genders. Furthermore, the stigma and negative feelings surrounding feminism must be reduced in order for the ideals of feminism to have a greater impact.