To admit or to label oneself as a feminist is to accept a whirlwind of judgment from those around you. It is without a doubt that the word “Feminism” or “Feminist” turns heads, and not necessarily for the right reasons. Many have resorted to mocking, disagreeing, and/or hating Feminism without even having a good grasp of what it is. The stigmas that feminists face are that they are radical, extremist, liberal, lesbians who hate men, refuse to shave and enjoy burning bras (Lee).Conversely, feminists are principally advocates for social justice and equality as well as aim for the establishment of equally divided power between the sexes. It is obvious that many are unaware of and uneducated on the misogynistic injustices plaguing our world and the toxic environment we all live in- both women and men. Feminism is a positive concept that works to eliminate injustices between both sexes and to establish the value of women, thus should be treated as such a concept instead of being a forbidden idea.
Modern feminism means equality for men and women whereas, a century ago, feminism meant that women should have the same rights as men. People are all given the same human rights, yet men and women battle for equality. Genders struggle against each other and also with each other for equality. Women strive for equality in the workplace, and to be heard without being labeled as bossy or aggressive. Women fight in our country to be equal in a position in politics. Some men hide behind society’s norms of what a man should be. Society norms say men should not show their feelings, or in any way have feminine traits or roles. Men feel they need to be aggressive instead of submissive. Some feel if they are not portrayed the "manly type" they are looked at as weak and/or not in control. Feminism is found to be viewed as man-hating, when in fact it is the belief that men and women have the same rights.
Feminism is the belief that men and women are equal and it advocates women’s rights for social, political, and economical equality to men. Feminism significantly changed the way society views women because it challenged and demanded the inclusion women in social and political circles in a very patriarchal society. There were
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
Men and women are supposed to be equals. Women are supposed to share equal rights and opportunities with males, but sometimes women experience discrimination and face inequality. (It’s not only women; people of different genders/sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and etc. face discrimination still to this day). Some look at this world as if it is a man’s world, and women were put on this Earth to help their husband, have kids, and raise their children. Well, women can do more than that! Not only men, women can be leaders and hold high positions too. Women can go into male dominated professions, and be successful. When feminism comes to mind the first thing I think of is the women suffrage movement. Then I think of the 19 amendment and how it gave women the right to vote (a right we should have had in the first place). Susan B. Anthony is a well-known feminist who believed that slavery should be and would be ended, and not only that she pushed for women to have the right to vote (the right they had been denied at the time). I also think of the early 20th century in America, and several things that happened. There was Margaret Sanger, who in the early 1900’s pushed for people to be educated about sex (sex education). Also, she pushed on the topic of contraceptives which at the beginning many people didn’t like the idea of at first. I also think of women like Coretta Scott King who not involved in the Civil Rights Movement, she was also a feminist. She also had a part in the
Feminism began way back in the early 1800’s with a realization that gender roles limited the sexes. From the very start, there have been many male feminists, even if they are not spoken of often. In the 1830’s, William Lloyd Garrison emerged as one of the first men to openly believe in women participating in the abolition movement and other political issues. During that time, it took mounds of courage for a male to stand up and say that women could do something just as well as men. Fast forward over many years of history, and even in modern day America, men are still looked at strangely when they say they are feminists. One male feminist shared on CNN.com in 2013, “My feminism is a simple belief in equality. I’m a feminist because I believe that men and women are and should be equal, but we’re not treated equally right now” (Brougher 1). He shared his ideas of all the reasons women need to be given equal rights, but
Throughout history, women have struggled to show their value juxtaposed to men. Women are often downgraded economically, politically and socially just because they are female’s. The struggle between women in the 1800s is similar to the struggle women have now. Equal rights for women are still being campaigned now as much as it was during the 1800s (Richard Chused). The connotation of feminism has been created to be a negative word .Just like people believe women should be equal to men, many others believe otherwise.
Feminism is a word that will either push people away or draw their attention. Centuries have passed in which people have been holding men and women to differing standards and expecting this to go without rebellion. Feminism has become a very prominent thing in American society as feminist celebrities are speaking their opinions on the matter. However, people have different opinions on what it actually means to be a feminist and whether or not feminism is a positive or negative ideology. It is up to every person to decide how they want to think of feminism and what the word means to them. Nevertheless, everyone must first learn the history behind feminism as well as what it was and is like to be a woman in this world.
To begin with I would like to talk about some of the issues relating to feminism. For thousands of years there have always been issues with genders being unequal as it has always been believed that different genders have always had gender roles, these issues have always been dismissed up until now. Before the 1960’s women were expected to follow traditional roles such as having to do the cleaning, the cooking, taking care of the children and being feminine or ‘lady-like’, they were seen as the caretakers of the home and family. After completing basic education women were expected to stay at home rather than going out to pursue a career. Women were treated like objects by men and the men were sometimes in charge of the family and perhaps even seen to be above women. Men and women were also payed differently, even if they had the exact same job and job responsibilities, women were payed less than men. In 1963 the Equal Pay Act came to action and it was forbidden for women to be payed less
Feminism. Feminism has different definitions and concepts that varies for people. It has molded and shape our society and behavior towards women in present day. The women from our past that won victories for women to able to have an education, has opened a whole new universe of doors. Without feminism, most women would not have had the luxury of voting for any government officials or running for government positions. In this paper, information about two generations and their understanding of feminism, their challenges, advancements, and opinion in today’s progression of women rights. These two women were born in different generations of advancements and setbacks. This paper will show their views and struggles that they had to endure, also
In society Feminism is viewed as a bad thing, but in actuality, it really isn't. Feminism is the equality of the sexes, in all aspects, socially, financially, and economically. Most people think that people who identify themselves as feminist are considered to be misandrist. Men that that classify themselves as feminist are called homosexuals. The international pop star Beyoncé however, breaks the negative stereotypes that were put out by society and gives it a completely different meaning.
Many times in life men do not think that women can do the same things that they can; whether it’s picking up boxes or being president. There will always be that “macho man” thought of the man being stronger than the woman. In many jobs women might do the exact same thing that men do except men are getting paid more than women even if it is an insignificant amount, it happens in many places and even though many people disapprove of it there are still jobs like that out there. And there are still employers who think that a woman should not be in the work force if so home. Many feminist have been working to solve this problem and there are still people who are working to solve and change many more of these problems, and even though in some places it doesn’t seem like it, feminism and feminists
Feminism is a social movement that seeks out social, economical and political equality among the sexes. Feminism was first presented to society around the end of the 19th century. Since then Feminism has been an extremely important and valued movement. What has come out of Feminism tends to be positive, it is because of Feminism that women can own their own land, are seen as people and not their husband’s possessions, and women can now vote. The Feminist movement is very prominent in challenging inequality between men and women and challenging the unrealistic expectations and exploitations of women in the media. Feminists theorize that pornography is one of the sole features in the increased sexual violence against women. This theory as based on a group of assumptions. The first being that “sexism and male dominance are celebrated in pornography.” (Baron & Straus,468) This consequently enhances the view of women as “objects of sexual exploitation” (Baron &Straus, 468) and legitimizes acts of sexual violence towards women. The second assumption is that pornography is ultimately dehumanizing and degrading women and their bodies, by enhancing unrealistic ideals and standards that women are taught to abide by. Even though Feminists are fighting for equality in very specific and realistic ways at times modern Feminism may be doing more harm then they are doing good. Modern Feminism tends to be drastic. Feminists being drastic in their attempts in creating a utopia where everyone
As stated before, America in the Reagan period was not comfortable with homosexuality, which resulted in denial about AIDS and in-turn general unawareness regarding the disease. At that time if a person was diagnosed with AIDS, they were automatically labelled as gay, despite the medical inaccuracy of that generalization. The discrimination was so strong, that AIDS became a part of the homosexual identity. There have been instances where a man, who identified as homosexual, was considered untouchable and automatically was assumed to have had AIDS or cases where patients diagnosed with AIDS were assumed to be gay. This ignorant perspective negatively branded the gay community, which caused homosexual men to feel as if they must repress their true selves in order to successfully function and fit into American society.
The first major misconception about feminism is that the women are the only ones who can be feminist. This is extremely untrue. The people who work to support this movement are not only women. They work in many ways to help promote equality. For example, “endorsing feminist beliefs, identifying oneself as a feminist, and participating in feminist collective action” (Precopio & Ramsey 2017). These are all ways that feminists work to promote a better society. However, the negative stigma and stereotypes surrounding feminism and its supporters discourages men and women from having any part of Feminism. This is in part, the fault of those who spread