I Don 't Think Kantha Pollitt, And Ann Ducille

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), women played a big part in not only keeping the crusade alive, but also played a big part in energizing the masses to continue the long and arduous struggle against the seemingly impenetrable institutions of power which disenfranchised African-Americans and regarded their humanity as nothing more than mere pieces of property owned by others. Women like Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Septima Clark and countless mothers, sisters, and daughters proved to be important

The Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Suffrage Movement are historically influential events that are still perpetuating different convictions in today’s society. The Civil Rights Movement established a foundation of equality and civil liberties for African Americans while the Women’s Suffrage Movement granted women the right to vote and contributed a sense of equality among genders. Both movements were in need of empathy and aid in order to bring about equality and change, in which were difficult to find with the majority of the appropriate public being white males who disagreed with the movements. The activists of both the Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Suffrage Movement were on the wrong side of public empathy, yet the discrimination of the public view, the protesting of the victims, and the equal rights being fought for demanded a change in the conduct and the way in which the public empathized with these people.

Females across the nation started speaking out against gender inequality. Discrimination in areas such as the workplace, marriage, and government had become overwhelmingly obvious and women started fighting back (Banks 207). This uprising coincided with the Civil Rights Movement. During the same time, African-Americans were standing up against segregation and for racial equality. These two movements went hand-in-hand, as they both had similar motives. Both women and blacks were fighting against oppression in their own country, and they benefitted from each other’s successes. But it wasn’t strictly these two minority groups standing up for themselves during this time, as Mexicans and Native Americans joined the cause too. They also spoke out against inequality by hosting similar protests and demonstrations as the black and women’s rallies. This showed how the 1960’s were a popular time for minority groups to take a stand and make their voices heard, and women were only one of the many groups of people who rallied for change during that time.

The 150th anniversary of the founding of the Women’s Rights movement was celebrated in 1998, today women benefit from the tremendous positive changes brought about by this movement. These women empowered one another in promoting social change. The National Women’s History Project (NWHP) (1999) stated

Since my topic does not specifically pertain to the Civil Rights Movement and my subtopic, abortion rights, did not exist at this time, it proved challenging trying to tie in questions about my topic, gender equality. As our trip continued, I realized that finding questions about my topic was only difficult on the surface. Once I pushed myself to think deeply and about the specifics of the movement, many milestones for women arose. For example, I learned at the Civil Rights Institute that many African American women were leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, and although they were not necessarily fighting for women’s rights at the time, being a leader and a women was radical on its own. I had to connect my topic to racism and the Civil Rights Movement to create a more complex and well-developed

During the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans developed. Following, various civil rights movements for minorities began to emerge. These movements mainly focused on their own ethnic struggles, however, the feminist movement had no relation towards a culture. Generally, the feminist movement targeted women’s issues from reliable birth control, safe and legal abortion, and equal pay. At the same time, the movement failed to acknowledge the issues minories encountered besides sexism.

In her essay “The Smurfette Principle”, Katha Pollitt writes that commercial television and the views of preschoolers TV programs neatly divided between the genders. Pollitt describes boys are always more important, and take starring role in contemporary television shows, movies, cartoons then girls are in the supporting role. This theory split their consciousness, change both boys and girls.

Black women have a long feminist tradition dating back to 19th-century activists such as Maria W. Stewart and Sojourner Truth, but their struggles are a tale of two fights. To be a black woman seeking liberation, one had to fight racial inequality and sexual inequality at the same time. Black women who were involved in the Black Liberation Movement were discriminated against sexually by black men who were oppressed by whites and felt they had to adopt patriarchal roles. Black women in the Women 's Movement faced racial inequality when white women discriminated against them. Also within the Movement, little attention was devoted to class issues that seriously affected black women. Not all the black men nor all the white women with both movements were sexist and racist but enough of those with the highest influences were able to make the lives of the black women in these groups almost intolerable.

In history, women have always struggled to gain equality, respect, and the same rights as men. Women had had to endure years of sexism and struggle to get to where we are today. The struggle was even more difficult for women of color because not only were they dealing with issues of sexism, but also racism. Many movements have helped black women during the past centuries to overcome sexism, racism, and adversities that were set against them. History tells us that movements such as the Feminist Movement helped empower all women, but this fact is not totally true. In this paper, I will discuss feminism, the movements, and its "minimal" affects on black women.

When I was younger and learning about life is when I probably watched the most television. I fell in love with watching animated television shows and movies; in fact the first movie I had ever seen in theatres was Aladdin in 1992, a well-known Disney classic. Disney movies became my all-time favorite. Now watching them I have come to the realization of how they could affect how any child’s views on different gender roles. As Michael Kimmel explains “We now know that gender is one of the central organizing principle around which social life revolves. (Kimmel, 2)”

Katha Pollitt, a poet and essayist, published an essay entitled “Hers; The Smurfette Principle,” which is written from a mother's perspective. Katha's daughter grew up watching Disney princesses needing to be saved by men, and doing nothing for themselves. She then goes on to draw attention to the fact that the majority of children's television programs feature males as the lead characters. Also, when a female character is present, outnumbered as she may be, the character almost always plays an unimportant role. Katha named this the Smurfette Principle: a group of male characters accented by one female, who is always stereotypically defined (Pollitt 1). This principle was based on the show, “The Smurfs,” where every single Smurf in town is a boy, except Smurfette, a pretty blonde in a dress. However, it doesn't stop at television programs. Children's books also center around male characters and stereotype female characters. Part of the blame also falls on parents for not monitoring what their children are viewing as much as they sometimes should. Television programs and books that exemplify the “Smurfette Principle” teach young girls that they are inferior and exist only in relation to

I believe that most important civil rights issue of my generation are women civil rights. Although rights for women have evolved since they first arose as an issue during the mid 1800’s, I feel there is still more to accomplish in order to achieve equal rights for women. The first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York; where for the first time, equality for women became a real issue. Today, women make only 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. This statistic is even worse for minority women. According to ActionAid.org, “Women around the world are more likely to live in poverty - just because they are women”. Seeing these statistics after 168 years of fighting for women’s rights is disheartening and fuels the drive to

Gender stereotypes are often prevalent in children’s literature. Children’s exposure to what is considered typical gender roles at such a young age can often have detrimental effects on children’s perception of gender roles as they grow up. Recent studies have shown that sexism in children’s literature “contributes negatively to children’s development, limits career aspirations, frames their attitudes about their future roles as parents, and influences their personality characteristics” (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, & Young, 2006, 757). We can see examples of sexism throughout history if we take a look at some children’s picture books – Winnie the Pooh, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Cat in the Hat, and Fantastic Mr. Fox all feature a predominately male cast of characters. While the prevalence of female characters has increased throughout history, it doesn’t seem like female characters are anywhere close to catching up with the amount of male characters portrayed in the typical children’s book.

From an early age children are shown how different boy and girls ‘naturally are’ through media and advertising. For instance this Walmart advertisement to the right portrays boys as strong and adventurous while it portrays as girls as sensitive and caring. For instance one of the boys is shown with a toy gun while one of the girls is shown cooking with a childrens baking set. They also limit the boys clothing to very basic and bland colors while the girls wear lots of pink and bright colors. In the article “Gender Stereotypes: Kids Believe Them By Age 10”, Belinda Luscombe quotes Robert Blum, “We found children at a very early age—from the most conservative to the most liberal societies—quickly internalize this myth that girls are vulnerable and boys are strong and independent”(time.com). This article reflects a worldwide study that gathered information from many children in fifteen different countries. Gender roles are so harmful because they force men and women to be insecure about their identity if they do not fit into the guidelines of what is deemed proper.

444). In their literary pursuits, books have the capabilities to teach children what other children do in their culture and what is expected of them. In a study undertaken in America analysing preschool books, boys played a 'more significant role' in the stories by a 'ratio of 11 to 1' (cited in Newman, 2000, p. 135). Together, boys were portrayed in adventurous roles or undertook activities that required independence and strength, whereas girls were likely to be confined to indoor activities and portrayed as 'passive and dependent' (Newman, 2000, p.135).