Feminism: Oppression Of Women In The United States

For centuries women had had to bow to men they were taught never to speak unless called upon or spoken to. That their sole purpose in life was to be a homemaker; a servant to the men in their lives fathers, brothers, sons. As time progressed women began to fight for their right to receive equal rights, education and vote. But that wasn’t enough in the year 2013 women still made eighty cents to every man’s dollar but that all changed one day. Women who were sick of being oppressed had risen up against the male chauvinism within society of the united states.The first measure was to take all men out of all positions of decision-making power immediately, and of any kind of social, professional position whatsoever. The men of society were

Feminism is an ideology dealing with women 's struggles for the same rights as men.   It proposed that all women should be politically, economically, and socially equal to men.   The idea arose in the 19th century and is synonymous with the Women 's Rights Movement of the 1900s.

According to dictionary.com, feminism is the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. Throughout history and even in present time, women have been subject to unequal treatment by their male counterparts. For example, in the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve is born from Adam’s rib, showing that Adam is the dominant figure in the narrative. Even today, there exists in certain professions a gender pay gap. Similarly, the way in which women are depicted in Beloved by Toni Morrison and the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson indicates that women are able to thrive independently and take on masculine roles, while men are able to experience feminine attributes.

Women have always been oppressed for many different reasons for many years. In American society today women of color may also feel the same way as to being oppressed by others. However, I have never seen women of colored be oppressed, but I do believe that women do get oppressed because they are women.

Patriarchy is a term that can be described as male dominance, making women inferior to men. Men and women always played in different roles in society, which causes controversy if we still live in a patriarchal system today. Men were always seen to be the alpha males and breadwinners of the family to ensure there was a steady income while women were known to be housewives taking care of the family. Being a woman in America has brought so much awareness to oppression and how women have been oppressed by men for years. Black women have been oppressed by white supremacy and they are constantly being stereotyped. “Women are animals, less than human, unable to think like men, born merely to breed and serve men.” Oppression can cause radical conflicts

For the record, feminism by definition is: ‘the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.’ It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. (Watson 1)

Feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. There are many movements that are trying to express this belief to others. Feminism is an empowering movement to women and men. Women are willing to stand up and fight for their rights. Not only does feminism express the belief of equality for both genders, it also is showing the new generations that is okay to stand up for what you believe in. Feminism shows courage and acceptance of yourself. It demonstrates boldness and bravery to people around the world.

Throughout American history, white men have always been the ones with all the power in society while women have always been seen as less to them. During the 1800’s, a women’s only duty was home life. Then, as time moved forward, women slowly began to gain more rights and came closer to equality with men, but not without a fight against the government and the people of the U.S. These people are known as feminists, and their fight continues even today. Before we continue, shouldn’t we understand what feminism is?

Prior to taking this class, my feminist knowledge was not lacking, but I do feel like I know more about the different perspectives after completing this course. I also feel like I have more knowledge about the issues and oppression women face in today’s society. My expectations of this course were a little different from the reality of it. After the introduction post, I thought that the focus would be very much on stereotypes, but in fact there was a broad range of study. In the rest of this paper, I will be talking about how my awareness of the history and experiences of women has grown, feminist concepts and feminist explanations (theory), how family, culture, and society shape us, and finally understanding the gendered dynamic

Based on your statement, it is evident that you are unaware about many important realities of the study of gender from a feminist perspective today. First, I think it is necessary to point out that it is a fallacy that the term “feminism,” the historical basis of the discipline of Women’s and Gender studies (WGS), is rooted in biases towards women and hate for men. In reality, as my Threshold Concepts text reveals, Bell Hooks defines feminism as “the struggle to end oppression,” noting that this definition then “directs our attention to systems of domination and inter-relatedness of sex [sic.], race, and class oppression” (Launius and Hassel, 4). Truly, feminism, and by extension WGS, delves into the oppression of minority groups by dominant groups. This means that it affects and involves all people, not just plainly men and women, revealing its relevance and importance to you, me, and everyone else.

Feminism is defined as “the advocacy of women’s right on the grounds of political, social, or economic equality to men.” Inspired by other, similar movements, women began their own push for equal rights and helped to improve the lives of many other Americans around them. However, feminism is more than the basic dictionary definition. Feminism is a movement that has greatly changed and has a different meaning to people of every race, age, background, and even gender.

Feminism was once a movement understood to focus on the rights of women. Feminism today involves a countless range of other human right affairs aiming to defend a state of equality and legal protection for men, women, and everyone in between. Throughout American history feminism has been associated with negative, false images that devour the efforts of activist who strive to bring justice to widely ignored issues. The theory of feminism has existed since the nineteenth century and has since evolved over generations to fit modern society, yet the label “feminist” continues to bring up controversy and criticism. Feminism has a stigma attached to it brought on by opposition and misconceptions which make it difficult to be taken seriously.

Feminism has become such a forbidden, misunderstood word nowadays. "I’m not a feminist but I believe in equal rights," is a phrase that has become all too common, often times said by those who think feminism just works towards superiority of women. Feminism itself sparks debate regarding whether or not the movement is even necessary or appropriate. Most people who don't believe in feminism, otherwise known as 'anti-feminists,' justify this because they think that working for overall equality is more important than working for women's rights. However, among the many 'isms' and movements that exist today, it is extremely relevant to have a separate movement for women. It's time for everybody to realize that feminism cannot and will not be replaced or covered up by equalism or humanism in an attempt to justify the rejection of feminism. Every movement is different.

Now, Feminism is one of the most discussed and debated upon topics in the world today and before I begin we must first know what the meaning of Feminism is. Feminism is not the belief that one gender should be raised in power above another but is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Basically, Feminist activism is the struggle for that equality. With Feminism, there are some core beliefs and some of them are the existence of sexism and it being against women, Men and Women should have equal rights and opportunities, Women are intellectual equals and social equals to men, and finally Women should be recognized and treated as equal to men.

Feminism - the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.