When one hears the term “Feminism”, she/he may have the idea that it is the urge and
desire to gain rights for women. While that is true, it does not describe feminism in its entirety.
Many people misinterpret what this term means based on media and people who do not know
better.
Many people who may misinterpret feminism may describe it as a movement to make
women superior to men. They may say that those who claim to be a feminist are ones who hate
men and strive to assert themselves above them. However, that is not the case. An accurate
definition of feminism includes, “...a doctrine or movement that advocates equal rights for
women”. MerriamWebster dictionary defines it as, “The belief that men and women should
have equal rights and opportunities”. However, it seems the most accurate definition to describe
this term is the one found on EverydayFeminism.com. An article on the website says feminism’s
goal is “...to create a society in which individual’s genders don’t restrict them from an equitable
shot at success and happiness”.
The 1970s is a key period in the history of feminism. Many laws were created to protect
women and women’s rights, whether those rights be in the home, workplace, or anywhere in
between. Of course, like all groups facing oppression, feminists forced lawmakers to create new
laws. The possibility for rights sparked interest in many women and men. Since the 1970s,
feminists have pressured lawmakers to enact laws that
Women’s rights and feminism has been an issue in the American culture for many years. The first Woman’s Rights Convention was held in New York in 1948 after women were not able to give their opinions about slavery at Anti-Slavery Conventions (The Woman’s Rights Movement). Now, 168 years later, many people still feel that women do not have equal rights and opportunities that men do. The feminist movement is an important part of our time and people, both men and women, will keep fighting for equality between men and women.
The extension of women’s rights from 1877 to the mid 1970s, has changed over time along with the ideals of the different eras. From the original traditional values to those wild and free spirits that dominated the culture in the seventies, since then women and their rights have changed.
The Government in the 1960’s passed The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The National Organization for Women was created in 1966 there main goal was for women to have the same equal rights as men. The 1970’s was the decade where the civil rights and women’s right were implemented by the government. By outlawing racial and gender discrimination the government created federal agencies to inforce these laws. When in 1975 the Vietnam War ended, the nation’s liberal leaders focused on human rights and individual freedoms. Many new groups were created to be the voice for minorities and women. They would lobby and stage marches to protest failure by the government to enforce the laws of the land. This was the decade when
In society, men and women serve different task. Usually men do the heavier work, while women do smoother work. Women have a difficult time due to the fact that most men think that women are property, rather than a person. Therefore, women came to the conclusion that they do not want to follow the norm anymore because they know what they are capable of. The term feminism can be defined as women who want to be in the same level of equality in political, economic, and social as men are. Although many people misunderstood the definition, different strategies such as exemplification, comparison and contrast, and negotiation will be shown to help those who are not familiar with this word.
The women 's movement of the 1960’s sought significant improvement in legal economic and political rights.
Since the mid-1800's, women in the United States and around the world have organized political movements to obtain the same social, economic, and political rights that men have traditionally enjoyed. These feminist movements have sought to change the laws to prevent discrimination against women and to provide them with equal opportunities in all aspects of life, including education, employment, and government representation.
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.
People have been fighting for rights for many years now, from women to men, from blacks to whites, from animal cruelty, and the list goes on forever. At time the struggle of women’s rights extended way beyond what some may think. Women wanted the right to own property or get the chance to vote. Women had to fight for their individual right and to secure an education and the women had to plan their families and control their lives.
The Women’s Rights Movement was a motion that clearly presented itself by women, starting in 1848. Over many generations, diverse groups of women have continuously been robbed of their civil liberties. Many basic rights, such as political representation, property, divorce, custody, education, and general respect were viewed as idiosyncratic in the eyes of many during the nineteenth century. Beliefs passionately expressed by women have not only changed the face of women’s rights during the past centuries, but have allowed the public to develop an understanding that all, as human beings, are equals. Many well known activists, such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe fought to be included within the fifteenth amendment that only applied to men and for justice to be served in terms of rights and representation. This movement, occurring from 1848 to 1998, was the time period in which women fought assiduously to achieve full civil rights. Women’s suffrage is a very significant idea that was unquestionably evident in history.
A careful study of American history clearly demonstrates that for quite a long period of time, men have generally had more rights than their female counterparts. The denial of equal rights in this case has traditionally revolved around areas like voting, ownership of property, legal identity etc. Today, the various rights women enjoy are as a result of the bitter struggle those who came before them went through so as to secure the same. Thus taking into consideration the numerous rights women enjoy so far in comparison to the situation a century or so ago, one thing remains clear it has been a long journey. With that in mind, a discussion of the evolution of women's rights in the U.S. is not only relevant but also timely.
There is a heavy stigma surrounding the word “feminism”, saying it out loud evokes emotional responses from many people. During my conversations, I received many casual responses to feminism, or rather the traditional, “I believe in equality” response. I also received some negative responses from people that did not approve with modern day feminism, or believed that we had already achieved equality. And finally, I received some very strong — yet positive — responses to feminism, however, these people explained that feminism itself is on a downward spiral.
Among rights commonly considered important are control of property, suffrage, equality to men and having an opportunity in education. The women’s rights movement, also known as feminism and women’s suffrage, arose in Europe in the late 18th century, with the aim of expanding recognition to women’s suffrage. Today, women have made substantial gains along these lines in most parts of the world, but with remarkable exceptions, and they often do not have full political, economic, and social equality with men. The protest and fight for women’s rights influenced literature to become more optimistic and idealistic.
The rights that women didn’t have but deserved only started to become part of law during the mid to late
Feminism helped women gain rights to work as judges, it inspired popular figures to speak about it, it helped women fight against the crimes and abuse etc.
The noun " feminism " is derived from the French in the 19th century . It refers to the campaign at first but now women have been endowed with greater meaning when it is used extensively in many places. Feminism was born because there are those who feel that women have been oppressed by injustice exists between man and woman . Oppression of women is a human act under social institution and it is not biologkal . Thus, the women themselves able to change this situation .