Gender Oppression

In the chapter titled “History” within the book called The Second Sex, Beauvoir talks about various of events and changes along with encounters that provided opportunities to seize greater freedom for women as a collectivity. For instance, when women were able to leave their homes and actually take an outside job, it allowed women a bit confused as to what roles she needed to partake in. Given that men were always gender-policing women to fit the ideal role, the women found it difficult to transitions and thus loose a sense of self along the way. De Beauvoir also states that gainful employment can stop the cycle of dependency on man and thus allow the two genders men and women to see each other’s as equals. It is within the book The Second Sex that De Beauvoir tries to understand the imbalance of gender roles to help her understand this she turns to the biology, psychoanalyst and the historical materialism. In her findings, she reveals that although there are some physical differences between women and men there is no proven facts that women cant do the same task as men in a workforce.

(18) Both of these quotes demonstrate a lack of necessary resources to penetrate through the patriarchy. Prisoners of patriarchy’s right have been taken away with no liberty left, like a real prisoner. The women mentioned by De Beauvoir lack a separate identity from their male counterparts, with virtually nothing to call their own. Both of which are problematic, and prove to be a negative situation. However, do not attest to be the only reason women stay within these molds.

The historical evolution of feminism is reflected in the content of Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Glaspell's Trifles. The connection of these text shows in greater detail the impacts on overlooked harassment, oppressing women by discriminating aganist them, oppressing them fundamentally and physically, causing a lack of identity among women. The diverse and complex theme of feminism and oppression throughout history is shown in all three text yet takes place in different geographic locations and time periods. A worldwide issue such as oppressing of women has been over looked for many centuries, which is why we still continue to see this problem arise. Imagine not beginning able to be the woman you were born to be, instead your defined as an “other” or property of your husband.

Women face two key forms of oppression in this world, powerlessness and exploitation. These two forms fall into Iris M. Young’s ideas of oppression in her article “Five Faces of Oppression”. The definition of cultural imperialism and exploitation used in this essay are taken from Young’s essay. Cultural imperialism is where the dominant customs and morals of a society are rendered as the norm and those who are not in the norm are considered others. Exploitation is a form of oppression where a class structure is present and this class structure includes a dominant group of people who are in power of a subordinate group. Two authors, John Stuart Mill and Simone de Beauvoir, talk about how the oppression of women is not due to nature. It is rather, in Mill’s view, due to a premodern law of force which divides men and women between the strong and the weak. Beauvoir sees this oppression of women as a result from socialization, which conformed women to become immanent. Both these authors have reasonable arguments and have a similar understanding that the inferiority of women is not from the simple nature of being women. Other factors come into play when understanding why women are oppressed, and both authors recognize the fact that society and old habits must change for the equality of women and men to become a reality.

I found the article “Feminism-A Movement to End Sexist Oppression” by Bell Hooks to be very interesting. The article discussed how there is not a concrete definition of feminism, so many women feel uncomfortable associating with the term. I believe that there should be a concrete definition for feminism, so that more people will support the movement because they have a clear understanding of what they are actually supporting. I have always thought of myself to be a feminist, however, I believe strongly in equal pay and equal opportunities. Many other feminists may disagree with my view and definition of feminism. Hooks states that “defining feminism as a movement to end sexist oppression is crucial for the development of theory because it is

Beauvoir uses this information to explain why a man may see females as inferior (due to their weaker physical form). However, she does not justify a female’s subordinate role to that of a man in society. In fact, Beauvoir brings up the point that female oppression is not caused by biological differences, but rather by teachings. Nurture overrides nature.

It is characters like these that possesses a realistic view and are abhorred by society because of it. These characters are in a way revolting against societal norms and attempting to create better positions for themselves within the “masculine universe” (Beauvoir 638). It is impossible for a woman to create a better position for herself within society when she is viewed as a “parasite” (Beauvoir 636). Furthermore, women cannot better their place in society when society continues to encourage women adopting mythical fantasies of love and the ideal body. Beauvoir suggests that in order for women to better their place in society men must take action yet male oppression is also a result of women possessing and conforming to a fantasy view of love and their looks (Beauvoir 766).

In this response, I will focus on how gender oppression is exemplified in the lens of race and racism. This paper will demonstrate how Fausto- Sterling, Preves, Messerschmidt, Crittenden and the film Senorita Extraviada have helped us understand the gender oppression itself. While still keeping Intersectionality, the system in which multiple categories intersect to contribute to who you are, in mind. These categories may consist of gender, race, socioeconomic class and sexuality. Intersectionality aids our understanding of oppression, not just by focusing on one variable, but several that lead to social inequality. We will come across the women of Juarez, Intersex, gender regulation of children, gender labor, heterosexuality, homosexuality

When it comes to gender oppression, it is important to view it through other systems of oppression because it allows us to understand the many different ways in which individuals or groups experience it and how these other oppressions contribute to gender oppression as well. There are people who suffer because of many systems of oppression, such as racism, poverty, or cissexism. These systems start to intersect, become dependent on each other, and they can only be understood all together as one sum. This is known as intersectionality. Moreover, when it comes to viewing gender oppression through the lens of racism, it could be either beneficial or harmful when we are dealing with

The roles and definitions of femininity were created and reinforced by man. (Beauvoir, 3) Women were considered inessential, and that they cannot live without men. This dualistic nature of self and other was the driving

Simone de Beauvoir, in her 1949 text The Second Sex, examines the problems faced by women in Western society. She argues that women are subjugated, oppressed, and made to be inferior to males – simply by virtue of the fact that they are women. She notes that men define their own world, and women are merely meant to live in it. She sees women as unable to change the world like men can, unable to live their lives freely as men can, and, tragically, mostly unaware of their own oppression. In The Second Sex, de Beauvoir describes the subjugation of woman, defines a method for her liberation, and recommends strategies for this liberation that still have not been implemented today.

Lastly, “femininity” refers to behavioural activities or interests that are assigned to the female sex, such as cleaning and cooking (Beauvoir, 617). Although many critics have read her text and become confused due to her stylistic choice to fuse her voice with the voices of famous men, it can be said that the text ultimately leads the reader to begin to question what society sees as a woman (Zerilli, 1-2). Despite Beauvoir’s The Second Sex appearing to recognize the oppression of women throughout the world without giving an actual solution, I will argue that Beauvoir’s evaluation of each “natural” aspect of female oppression allows readers to recognize that the only thing holding themselves back as a woman is society’s unnatural definition of their body, relation to men, and personal freedoms. Of course, when it comes to one's freedom, it is difficult to obtain when your body feels like a

Gender bias, also known as sexism, is a full of attitudes, laws, taboos, preferences, and behaviors that differentiates and discriminates against either sex. These may be a position of which male dominance and female subjugation in the modern society. It could also be a form of sexual stereotypes between men and women, these are commonly experienced in employment versus other positions. A final place that discrimination is faced is the academic environment, the female to male ratios are not in sync in certain programs and courses because of this and it is pressuring men and women to not go into certain fields and do what they love and please. Most advertisements on Television, magazines, newspapers, online ad’s, use a charged sexually image with a female as the star. Women are to be a pleasure for men, and nothing else. Many people have different opinions on genders and sexuality and that is okay, but sometimes you just need to keep them to yourselves.

Our social justice issue is gender discrimination. Gender Discrimination is a major thing going on in our world today. Therefore, gender discrimination happens in things such as sports, education, health, employment, laws, and in different countries. Gender discrimination was a major thing in the past, and is still a major thing today. Men continually think women are weak, and so women are targeted more in crimes. They also think that women won't stand up for themselves, and women continually let men bring them down because they aren't brave enough. In jobs they believe women won't work, and that women aren't capable enough to do the job, so women end up getting paid less or have to work ridiculously short hours. Today in our century, women are targeted more than men because they are considered weak. Being labeled weak makes women are more vulnerable to at least one form of abuse. 1 in 3 women are abused in some form at a time of their life by a man. Women are targeted for crimes, such as home break-ins, because if they live on their own, they are thought to not be able to defend themselves that well. Women are also being killed all the time. In India, women are burned to death if they can't meet financial requirements, while men aren't. In Egypt, women are killed if they do something considered unclean in their family or outside their family. In South Asia more than 2 million baby girls are killed or abandoned to die because they are considered a financial burden to the

This semester I engaged in many different community service and civic engagement activities. The activity that I did the most frequently would be volunteering in a special needs class room at Vandever Elementary in Broken Arrow. I went to Broken Arrow Public School and actually know that teacher that I volunteering with from when I used to peer tutor when I was younger. I peer tutored from 3rd grade through 10th grade, switching between three main classrooms. It was so nice to see one of the teachers that I looked up so much to when I was younger and who instilled in me the joys of teaching. Volunteering in her classroom was very fun and nostalgic, but I do think that she could have been more proactive with her time management skills.