Feminism : The New Woman

Over the past 200 years sexual liberation and freedom have become topics of discussions prevalent within western culture and society. With the recent exploration of sexuality a new concept of sexual and gender identity has emerged and is being analyzed in various fields of study. The ideology behind what defines gender and how society explains sex beyond biology has changed at a rapid pace. In response various attempts to create specific and catch all definitions of growing gender and sexual minorities has been on going. This has resulted in the concept of gender becoming a multi- layered shifting hypothesis to which society is adapting. Since the 19th-century, philosophers and theorists have continued to scrutinize gender beyond biological and social interpretation. Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale captures the limitations and social implications forced upon a set gender based on societal expectations. Gender is a social construct that limits the individual to the restrictions and traditions of a society, or if it’s an individually formed self-identification of sex and sexuality that is formed autonomously. Evidence of gender establishment can be seen within literary works and supported by various schools of gender and sexuality theory.

Women have historically had a rocky relationship with governmental, cultural, religious, and social rights. The Women’s Rights movement has been in effect since approximately 1792, with the publication of the first feminist work, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by British writer Mary Wollstonecraft” (“Women’s Rights Movement”). While social changes have occurred and more progressive laws have been put into place throughout the years, there is still not equality between the sexes. Additionally, gender roles in different countries differ greatly. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the major causes and concerns of the Women’s Rights movements throughout the decades, as well as denote the differences between more progressive societies and their less accepting counterparts.

During the early 1800s into the nineteenth century it was believed that men and women came from two separate spheres. These spheres influenced the way gender roles were shaped and perceived. Suggesting that women belonged in the household, apart of the private sphere and men belonged in the economic world, apart of the public sphere. Men and women were understood to be polar opposites and because of this, women were oppressed. Female sexuality was defined as “passionlessness,” and only for the purpose of reproduction. We learn that women were considered “voracious” for expressing their sexuality however, men were encouraged to express their sexuality as part of maintaining power, prestige, and masculinity. (Cott, 1978, 222). Men

On August 18, 1920, women gained a new freedom that would change their role in society forever. This new freedom was the right to vote. Suffrage along with the first World War opened the door for women who were previously considered to only be in the homes, to now begin occupying new jobs that were vacant due to men being at war (bbc bitesize). Their major role during the war further aided their efforts to gain suffrage and political recognition. After gaining suffrage, women

Betty Friedan, feminist author of The Feminine Mystique, wrote, "The problem lay buried, unspoken for many years in the minds of…women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century… Each suburban housewife struggled with it alone… she was afraid to even ask of herself the silent question – ‘Is this all?’” Authors such as Betty Friedan wrote about their struggles in novels and articles in the early 1960s which were popularized in the late 1960s which led to the start of a new revolution – the second wave of feminism. The Canadian second wave of feminism started in 1967, with many feminists rising up and forming groups and organizations to bring awareness to their issues. This caused a huge uproar within society, women all over the nation found a voice and spoke up about their issues, leading to wide-media coverage and to changes in society, politics, the economy, and much more. The suffragist movement led to huge changes within society in the 1980s, thus changed life for women and changed life for the rest of Canada by reshaping the social structure.

The women’s movement has been going on for at least the last two centuries. The first wave of feminism focused on voting rights, property rights, equal education, and recognition under the law for women. It started in the United States with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was an American social activist and abolitionist. In 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention a declaration of Sentiments was composed that focused on important issues for women at the time. The declaration demanded women’s voting rights, the right divorce, property rights, the right to birth control, and many others important issues of the time. Stanton believed that women were equal to men and deserved equal political rights. The convention at Seneca Falls was one of the first steps towards women’s rights.

“You cannot be a humanist unless you are a feminist. You either advocate equality for all or you are a misanthrope” (Michael A. Sherlock). From women’s suffrage to abortion laws feminism has evolved with contemporary battles and a variety of approaches. The

What is feminism? What makes someone a feminist? In today’s society, a common answer might be “an angry lesbian that hates men.” However, feminism as defined by the OED, is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Simply put, a feminist is someone who believes that women and men should be treated equally, regardless of gender. The rise in feminism is due in part to the multiple waves of feminist movements that have raised awareness concerning gender inequalities and women’s experiences. In this essay, we will aim to explore second-wave feminism, how second-wave feminist poets used poetry to bring gender equality to the forefront of the discussion, and its ever-lasting impact on our society.

On January 21, 2017, the biggest U.S. protest in history occurred with marches from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between resulting in an estimated 4.2 million marchers (Frostenson 1,2). Why are they even marching? Bystanders have made their opinions on the marches known by slander and crude remarks of disapproval. They believe the marches are pointless and a waste of time with no possible outcome. The mind set for the marchers is much different filled with broad goals and aspirations. Marching and protesting shows they want to be heard by the people who are close minded and by those who don’t support the ideology of feminism. Feminism is for all; a fight for the equality of all genders, races, religions, and sexualities with the

In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed women to half his federal cabinet positions. When asked to explain the gender parity, he gave a simple but sufficient answer: “Because it’s 2015” (Chartland, 2015). This response caused a media stir, a response that was both enlightening and frustrating. While Trudeau’s response pointed to the fact that gender parity should be an obvious goal, the question and the need for a response indicated that society still does not accept it as obvious. How can such deep sexism continue to exist in a supposedly enlightened and progressive country like Canada? How far has society actually progressed when it comes

Feminism has been a prominent part in American literature since the late Nineteenth century. In almost every form of media today, there are female characters who are leaders, independent, and do not conform to the submissive image some individuals have of women. The first authors to introduce heroines of independent nature were Gilman, Chopin, and Wharton. They wrote stories about heroines who had their own ideas and wanted their own voice, expressed their own sexuality, and established their independence through re-marrying.

Feminism by definition means the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. But many a time’s people restrict the boundary of these forgetting the very important element of diversity of women living in different places and in varied situations.

The idea of women being equal to men has been debated for a very long time. Even when civilizations were just starting, most women were treated very differently from men. When women started fighting against this oppression they were called feminists. Feminism can be separated into three waves. The first wave of feminism was from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s. The second wave was from the 1960s to the 1980s. The third wave of feminism started in the 1990s, but its end is unclear. Some people believe it has ended and the fourth wave of feminism has started, but others believe it continues today. The different waves have been very different in some aspects, but very similar in others. The main differences between the first and third wave of feminism are what they fought for, how they protested, and society’s reaction to their cause.

Epistemology is a study that seeks to elaborate what knowledge is in the real sense. Riley explains how feminism has been a hindrance to access of standard amenities and knowledge in the society. Females have been oppressed in the various fields terming these career paths as gender-sensitive. Feminism is the ideology and general concept that seeks to deal with equality of those rights given to men and women. Women have been deemed to be of the weaker sex and feminism has gone a long way to negating this notion so that even women will have the courage to face their everyday challenges. This paper will look into Riley’s opinion on feminism seeking to agree with her perspective of argument.

In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system,