Looking at this from a feminist theoretical lens, liberal feminism plays a major role throughout the novel The Street by Ann Petry. Women are being seen as sexually objectified throughout the novel. In other words, “women are being viewed primarily as an object of male sexual desire.” (Wiki, 2016)
Martha Nussbaum (1995, 257) has provided several ideas pertaining to the act of treating a person as an object, which includes; the idea of giving the person no self-worth, stripping them of their freedom and showing ownership over them. (Lina, 2015) Rae Langton adds to this by saying the treatment of the person by their appearance, removing their freedom of speech and identifying them as a means to use their body/body parts. (Lina, 2015)
I know that there were many events leading to the rise of feminism such as, the first women’s right convention in 1848 which was held in Seneca Falls. Which outlines the grievances and sets the agenda for the women 's rights movement. (WHMN, 1920) In 1917 Arkansas allowed women to vote in the primary elections, and in June, woman picketers were arrested with charges for obstructing sidewalk traffic. They were released in November, because of the public outcry and the inability to stop the National Woman’s Party picketers’ hunger strike. (WHMN, 1920) It is because of these strong, independent and determined woman that we have all the rights that we as woman have today.
John Storey explores the emergence of feminism in ‘Western society
The feminist movement began in the 1960s, as women’s groups searched for equality in the workplace. The movement resulted in the increased participation of women in the paid workforce, and
In her report, Veronica Loveday writes about Women’s Rights Movement, during World War two, and many restrictions women faced. Women’s rights movement in the U.S. begun in the 1960s as a reaction to the decades of unfair social and civil inequities faced by women. Over the next thirty years, feminists campaigned for equality, such as equal pay, equal work , and abortion rights. Women finally gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920.
Women’s rights have evolved over time; beginning with being homemakers and evolving to obtaining professions, acquiring an education, and gaining the right to vote. The movement that created all these revolutionary changes was called the feminist movement. The feminist movement occurred in the twentieth century. Many people are not aware of the purpose of the feminist movement. The movement was political and social and it sought to set up equality for women. Women’s groups in the United States worked together to win women’s suffrage and later to create and support the Equal Rights Amendment. The economic boom between 1917 and the early 1960s brought many American women into the workplace. As women began to join
The American women’s rights movement started in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention when 100 people, 32 male and 68 female signed the Declaration of Sentiments. The inequality was no longer acceptable. During the civil war, women began to fill the work, mainly
The exact beginning of feminism cannot be known as it was a movement sparked in many parts of the United States by women that had finally reached the threshold of their patience with their maltreatment. Many believe feminism did not truly begin until the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, but women had been resisting their lack of control far before then. Since the technical emergence of feminism in 1848, the goals of those women and men who have been and still are fighting have developed and adapted to fit into the societal norms of each respective time period.
With the changing of social conditions for women during the early 1800's, a combination of ideas for equality that led to the birth of the woman suffrage movement. When the men started leaving the farms and ranches in the 1800’s it shaped the break out for them to go into the world of business in shops, offices. With the alternative of constantly being under a man's authority the women now had the days to be in charge of the home, children, hired help and a little personal time. As the century moved on women grew to be lonely at home and realized that they had some impact in church areas and creating new ways for woman to educate
The women’s suffrage movement is thought to have begun with the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792. Wollstonecraft is considered the “mother of feminism” and wrote of the sexual double standards between men and
In the novel, The Street by Ann Petry the main character Lutie Johnson, a black woman is a single mother raising her son Bub in 1944 Harlem. Lutie, separated from her husband Jim faces many challenges including poverty, sexism, and racism. Children, like her son Bub, living in poverty in the 1940’s cared for themselves while single mothers like Lutie were working; the same is still true today. Lutie was trying to earn a living in order to get Bub and herself out of Harlem, and into a neighborhood where Bub would have a better living conditions including school. Bub was afraid to be alone in their apartment so he spent a great deal of time on the street around external influences that were not the ideal. The street educated Bub instead of the school system. In Harlem, in 1944, poor, black children advanced though the school system whether they were able to read and write or not, the same is true for impoverished children today. In Bub’s neighborhood, his schoolteacher was a white woman who was prejudice against Bub and his classmates based on their skin color and their economic situation. Children like Bub, living in impoverished communities, do not have access to good education and miss the opportunity that education brings due to racism and poverty.
The feminist movement that is more recognized was started by Betty Friedan. She was the author of The Feminine Mystique, a book that called for many women to enrich themselves from the unnamed problem that left
The women 's suffrage movement, the time when women fought for their rights, began in the year 1848 and continued on all the way through the 1860s. Although women in the new republic had important roles in the family, the house, and other obligations, they were excluded from most rights. These rights included political and legal rights. Due to their gender, they have been held back because they did not have as much opportunities as the men did. The new republic made alterations in the roles of women by disparaging them in society. During this era, men received a higher status than women. Because women were forced to follow laws without being allowed to state their opinions, they tried to resist laws, fight for their freedom and strive to gain equality with men. This leads to feminism, the belief in political, social, and economic equality between men and women. It is the feminist efforts that have successfully tried to give rights that men had, to women who have been denied those rights. Upon the deprivation of those rights, the Seneca Falls convention and the Declaration of Sentiments helped women gain the privileges and opportunities to accomplish the task of equality that they have been striving for.
After the Civil War, women in Southern society started their own Feminist movement. They demanded equal political, economic, and social rights for women. As female roles in society began to evolve, so did
Liberal feminism conceives of politics in individualistic terms and looks to reform present "liberal" practices in society, rather than advocating for a wholesale revolutionary change. Feminist writers associated with this tradition are amongst others Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill and second wave feminist Betty
The 19th century was an important phase for feminism in Britain. The suffrage movement began as a struggle to achieve equal rights for women in 1872. Women then became active in their quest for political recognition, which they finally obtained in 1928.
In the aftermath of World War II, the lives of the women have changed dramatically. Women spoke their minds out and wanted to be heard. World War II brought them a new outlook on how they should live their lives. It encouraged women organize social movements such as boycotts and public marches pushing for their human rights and protect them against discrimination. Alongside, they formed their own organization representing them against the federal government like the NOW or National Organization for Women. Through the years, women have been struggling to fight for equal rights and unfortunately still exist even at the present in some areas. Yes, women’s status was not like what they used to back then, where their
"People who are liberal thinkers have been enslaved by these poseurs, these racketeers, people who are pretending to be liberal but who are in fact just naïve politically. I have been congratulated by women...who are so sick of being bullied by these sanctimonious puritans who call themselves feminists." --Camille Paglia