Essay about French Feminism

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.

Because of the discontinuity of French political history, the strength of the Patriarchal culture, and the inability of the French feminist movement to form a cohesive unit, French women could not obtain the right to vote until 1944.

During the rise of women’s rights movement in the time period of 1940 to 1975 they have been discriminated by inequalities of gender roles. Although women were proving to society that they work just as hard as men, they still were not treated as equal. In World War 1 and 2 a majority of men were gone due to the war so women took over but were still rated as less than a man. Along with this the the nineteenth amendment came to place giving women the right to vote. This was their time to accomplish more things that they wanted which is to be able to decide and do things and not be left out based on their sex.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many European women were still struggling for basic rights such as choosing who they married, obtaining full citizenship and having the right to vote. Because so many women were fighting for the same thing, many formed groups or alliances that were designed to fight against the male-driven political parties that wanted to deny them their rights. As the “woman question” became a bigger deal in politics and society, people began to form stronger opinions about whether or not they thought women should be allowed to vote. The eighteenth century in Europe began a revolution on the topic of women’s suffrage. An overwhelming amount of feminist groups argued for women’s suffrage and fought against

What does it mean to be a Feminist? Does it automatically mean you hate men or does it mean you're an activist for women's rights? Contrary to popular belief, feminism is not about establishing a superior gender. It is about fighting for equality and destroying the social, cultural and historical norms set upon women throughout the world. The Twenty-first century has brought change and growth to female empowerment. Although, in many parts of the world women are given the same rights as men, they are still treated and viewed inferior to men. G.I. Jane perfectly illustrates the struggle women have gone through, even when given “identical” opportunities as men.

Research by Singleton (2005) indicated that the wave of equal right revolutions significantly increased the participatory willingness of women in politics. Compared to the late 1880s, women could now fully vote and participate in the national elections. The number of women who came forward for elective posts in the American system such as senators, Governors and Congress representatives significantly increased in the 1980s onwards. In fact, 1992 experienced the highest number of women participants and aspirants for the various elective posts in the American political systems. Afterwards, women could even vie for the presidency as it was the case for the US 2016 elections for the post of POTUS. This is a wave that developed from the

Instead of arguing that women and men were created equal, the new generation argued that women were different from men. They thought that women were different from men and could bring diverse views and something new to the political body. Women eventually changed the Constitution by accepting to be a part of the Equal Rights movement era. All supporters of this movement marched, rallied, petitioned, picketed, went on hunger strikes, and committed acts of civil disobedience. This movement called for equality of women and even supporting black men and their new found freedoms as well. This movement was even getting attention internationally as the new French government established the Ministry for Women’s Rights to promote equality. Women’s work on behalf of the war effort proved that women are just as patriotic and deserving of the vote as men. Beginning in 1910, some western states began to allow women the right to vote. Idaho and Utah had given women the right to vote at the end of the19th century. Yet the more established southern and eastern states still resisted and wouldn’t allow women to

With help from organizations such as the National Women’s Party, women tried to change their political status, yet did not always succeed. For instance, the National Women’s Party proposed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923 because women “felt the continuing sting of discrimination and sought to eradicate the last vestiges of legal discrimination” (Evans). Although women worked hard to eliminate disparities between both genders, proposals such as the ERA failed to pass. Women founded organizations to fight for equality, but many people at the time were not ready to grant full rights to females. Moreover, women faced many hardships that prevented them from gaining political standing: “female officeholders generally operated within the context of prevailing assumptions that women should keep to women's issues, or ‘municipal housekeeping,’ the same assumption that limited their ability to wield much power within their political parties” (Dumenil).

The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).

The French Revolution brought with it many sweeping changes in the realm of human rights both to France and eventually the rest of the world. Through Enlightenment ideas, groups previously viewed as second-class citizens, and even those viewed as hardly human, gained greatly enhanced rights and even citizenship with all that this entailed. Amazingly with all the rights and privileges that were being recognized as inherent to various social groups, half the population was left with little or no improvement in their station. This, of course, refers to women. While there were those who fought for women's rights, such as Condorcet, Etta Palm D'Aelders, and Olympe De Gouges; these

Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.

Many women were involved in the uncertainty of women's rights during the French Revolution between the years of 1789 and 1804. Exploration of the unfolding struggles of France managed to turn my head in the direction of woman's rights more than once in my discovery. Perhaps because of the persistence of the women during this time period and their straight forwardness in their mission, was I so determined to see a positive progression in the fulfillment of their needs. "Even during a revolutionary time like this, equal rights for women seemed out of reach. Women had to struggle for a position in the revolution" (Ajaibu 2001, 1).

     Throughout the history, women were being discriminated against by ignoring or not paying much attention to them when it comes to dealing with political issues. One in particular, was the controversial issue regarding women’s right to vote. By the end of the 1880’s feminist movements did not meet their expectations due to lack of support from women themselves. “ If by the end of the 1880’s the suffragists had reached something of a stalemate, by the end of 1890’s and early 1900’s the movement had entered a completely new phase. This was largely the result of new factors in the situation: the growth of support for women’s suffrage amongst women themselves, and the increasing importance of the labour movement in British politics” (Banks, p.121). For these women, voting was becoming more like a powerful tool to be recognized in the society and understand the importance of voting and to also participate actively in the campaign. Women suffragists finally reached their goal, in which women at the present are getting more involved in politics by running for office and being leaders of the society. One good example is present senator Hillary Clinton. This former first lady is one of the top senators in the United States today. She fought

The French are all about preserving their culture and being individualized. They often take great pride in the French products and the French style, and believe in keeping the French culture “pure” so they also limit the amount of foreign goods that are being imported. But during the World Wars the French began to allow foreigners to immigrate into France to take jobs due to an increase in job shortages. The immigration from the World Wars added to the diversity of the French culture. Ever since the 1850’s there has been a steady flow of immigration into France, and now nine percent of the French population is made up of immigrants (Gofen 62). The break down of the cultures in France is eighty-five percent of the French population is Roman

The French Revolution led to reconsidering women’s place in society because the idea of the French Revolution was to find new ways to govern a society. Pre-revolutionary, the social norms for women was to stay home, take care of the children, and be dependent on their husband. Although women had some form of political rights, they were insignificant compared to men. During the French Revolution, women hoped that there would be social, political and economic change away from social norms, but it is seen that women were still experiencing inequality. Feminists like de Olympe de Gouges and Marquis de Condorcet had such difficulty persuading men to recognize women as equals. Even with the influence of ideas of the Enlightenment period, women’s rights were still ignored due to the perception of women being unfit in politics and being more fit in the role of a mother and a wife. The Declaration Rights of Women (1791), published by Olympe de Gouges, challenged the social norms and countered the declaration for men. Soon after, women again were backlashed for trying to obtain rights after Napoleon came into power.