Feminism, Gender, And Gender Studies

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.

Early feminism was typically focused only on white women, likely because racism was still extremely prominent at the time feminism began emerging. It was not until Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in 1989 that feminism started to look at oppressed group’s needs (Nash, 2008, 2). Intersectionality is a way of thinking that acknowledges that when a person has identities that belong to more than one oppressed group, it impacts their quality of life more negatively. In this paper, I will argue that intersectionality is important in the discussion of feminist theories and activism because it ensures that feminism is for all women, not just a select group of them. Intersectionality has changed the way the feminist movement handles the overlapping of different identities, which has helped feminist theorists understand the experiences of women of colour much more clearly. While intersectionality has a very important role in the conversation and practice of feminism, there are certainly critiques of the concept that should be brought up. These critiques, however, can offer a way to improve the study of intersectionality.

Masculinity has changed very little over time. By definition, to be masculine is to be tough, having little or no emotion, and having great physical strength and endurance. Men are thought to be natural leaders and should accept the role of dominating the household (both his wife and children. “Inequality between women and men is a worldwide social phenomenon”. (Schaefer, R., 2012. p354)

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.

Masculinity Throughout time, men and women have had specific assigned roles that they play in society. Though these gender roles are very specific they have changed some over the period of time. Masculinity has changed throughout the Renaissance, Restoration and the Eighteenth Century period. The most altering time for Masculinity is from the Restoration period to the Eighteenth Century period, when the Scientific Revolution really became prosperous.

Three main terms will be used in this essay and require a definition as to avoid confusion. Masculinity is defined by Merriam-Webster as,

Women and men around the world join together for equal rights and fair treatment. Van Deven explains the importance and roles that males give feminism:

Many people are often misinformed or given bad first impressions of feminism. However, feminism is equal rights for all people of different race, sex, gender, and sexuality. Many of the people that give feminism a bad name, include a self-proclaimed feminist that is running for presidency, and meninists who are satirical equal rights activists. In reality, feminism is pro-gender equality and opportunities for all types of people.

Everyone who does not fit the idea of masculinity has been placed in the other category. Kids have a hard time to self-identify themselves because of all the masculine role moles that present themselves in the media. Masculinity has created a structured binary that makes their role the ideal role for society to be. That ideal role is traced back to a long history of old traditions, that society cannot look past. This ideal of masculinity has created complications within gender and sexuality that have made people hold onto heteronormative ideals. The heteronormative ideals have created a privilege society where the white males dominate the world and place everyone who does not fit in their binary into the other people category.

     The well-known concepts of masculinity and femininity run rampant in our society. We live in a world where men are told to be masculine, women are told to be feminine and those who do not do as they are told, will suffer the societal consequences.

According to Anthony Clare the heart of the masculinity crisis lies within the understanding of “the private and public sphere, the intimate and the impersonal, the emotional and the irrational” (Clare, 2000:212). Both men and women are both confined to their spaces and the line between the two has somewhat been blurred, thus resulting in a crisis. The way in which this line is blurred is by masculinity becoming more feminized. There have been two major shifts in masculinity over

Feminism has come a long way in helping many different aspects of society. Some even consider feminism good for men, as well as women. While feminism of course erases what it means to be a woman, but it also erases the rigid masculinity that it means to be a man (Noble and Samakow, 2016). By keeping men in a bubble where they are expected to be emotionless and to be making the money in the family, society is limiting what men think they can do and affecting how they see themselves if they don’t adhere

Women’s Studies is the study of women. Women have their own programs and degrees in order to secure and define the importance of equality and how women measure in the world. Man Studies is not heard of; it is not a degree many people rush to major in because it does not exist the way Women’s Studies do. Women have been normatively considered the submissive gender in comparison to men as the dominate gender. Gender Studies seeks to understand both social constructions of femininity and masculinity in order to understand why society created them to be this way. Masculinity is not specifically about the male sex. Its’ main attachment is to the man but not exclusive. Women can be considered masculine as well even if they are normatively

Sitting in my general biology class today, learning about amazing biological discoveries, my male teacher jokingly said “Did you know there are women in science?” then went on to joke about how these women who had just made an amazing biological discovery even had PhD’s. As he went on to talk about the amazing things these women did, he talked about the discovery like he had for the other ones made by men. If women can make biological discoveries like men can why are they looked at differently in their graduate fields of study. In this essay I will explore the gender issue in education through the lens of feminism by evidence shown in past decades and today. Education was primarily for men while women were not even allowed in some classrooms, while over time this has changed.

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