Rebecca Walker Becoming The Third Wave Summary

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

Solnit’s choice of topic and the context surrounding it stem from her knowledge of the extent of the issue and the overarching repercussions that could result. She acknowledges that there are other topics that she would prefer to devote her time to, “but this affects everything else” (530). Through her topic choice and her selection of details, Solnit seeks to reveal the depth of the inequality throughout society. In order to do this, one of the first strategies that Solnit employs is to use examples from all around the globe. She writes this essay under the assumption that the audience is largely uninformed about the sheer extent of violence against women, and is working to remedy that situation. By pointing out the ways in which other countries routinely and systematically discriminate against women, Solnit places under scrutiny the idea that women’s rights are no longer an issue in the United States. Additionally, by presenting her audience with an abundance of headlines and examples of this discrimination, she further validates her argument and purpose of shedding light onto the issue. One other way in which the context of Solnit’s essay advances her purpose is through her creation of ties between the women’s rights movement and the

This book review is on the book, Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, which was published in 2014. Rebecca Solnit writes a book of essays that interprets the silence that women hold towards men in their everyday life. Young women must know the reality that we do not live a fairy tale life where women are treated as royalty by their husband or boyfriend. Women are treated as objects in where men could play with them as if they are dolls, whom they pay attention to whenever they would like to or need something from them. Despite what a woman says to men, all men are always going to have the reason, even if they are not right. The silences that a woman holds towards men are creating an even broader issue towards women in the present and in the future. The author mainly argues that women should not silence themselves and their issues such as abuse, harassment, rape, violence, stalking or any other crimes that are hurting them emotionally and physically. “Violence doesn’t have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender” (Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me, page 21). If women continue not to speak up and take action, men are going to continue to take abuse and control over their power.

To this day the women’s suffrage movement ignites women in the present to keep those right burning. Alice Paul and her fellow women suffrages demonstrated through speeches, lobbying and petitioning Congressional Committees, with parades, picketing and demonstrations, and with arrest that lead to imprisonment. These women express courage that women still uphold for years after their legacy has passed on, such as the article “Women’s Strike for Equality,” by Linda Napikoski, in the demonstration that was held on August 26, 1970 on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage. As well as an article “Women to Protest For Equality Today,” by United Press that talks about on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the women’s suffrage and “declared war on firms that Damage the Image,” of the fair sex. Alice Paul, set the stage for inspiring women to fight for their rights everywhere across the world.

The women’s liberation movement (or feminism as it is now known) of the 1960s and 1970s touched every home, business, and school (WA, 705). The movement even touched the sports and entertainment industries, in fact, “There are few areas of contemporary life untouched by feminism” (WA, 717). The word feminism in the early 1960’s wasn’t often used and when it was it was used with condescension or hatred. However, in the late sixties that changed thanks to a new group of women. This new diverse group of women included the: young, old, heterosexual, lesbians, working class, and even the privileged. This diverse group came together and collectively created the second wave of feminism.

A bold title from a promising author was what persuaded me to pick “Still Needing the F Word” by Anna Quindlen. I am familiar with her work, her commencement speech at Mount Holyoke College being my latest read. As usual, she didn’t disappoint. Throughout this essay, her use of sardonic language cannot be ignored as she touches on deeper issues within our, contrary to popular belief, “pre-feminist” world. As she mocks the world’s oversensitivity towards the use of the “F-Word,” Feminist (if you were wondering), she analyzes the status of women’s rights in modern times through the lens of a study on female undergraduates at Duke University. Now instead of stressing to be the “perfect homemaker,” women must obsess over “being the perfect professional,”

Most of the American society does not possess a basic knowledge of when the civil battle for women’s rights began. In the year 1848, the first convention of U.S. women’s rights was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a primary speaker and one of the women behind the organization of the convention. Stanton had many beliefs that at the time were unfathomable to many conservative people because it required a widespread change in how the country was run. E. Cady Stanton has put her name in history on all topics of human rights, in particular: being an abolitionist, suffragist, and what we refer to today as a feminist or equal rights activist. During the convention, her speech “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” called particular attention to equal rights for women in a country that inaccurately prides itself on freedom. Stanton’s work on equal rights opens with allusion to the “Declaration of Independence” and appeal to morals and ethos, leading to a section formed around anaphora and appeal to pathos, and then concluding her speech on appeal to logos, pathos, divine morals, and ethos.

This article discusses the documentary’s focuses of the public hearing of Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas and the feelings behind the facts that were stated during the hearing. The article served to be a promotion regarding the Frontline documentary airing on the PBS channel that day. It addresses the issues of gender and race as the program explains the confrontation between Hill and Thomas in the context of the struggles of both a black woman and man in a white society. The struggles between a black woman and man suggest the gender issues of the day raising awareness towards sexual harassment acts in the work place. The debate invokes the representation in the power structures of race and gender creating a topic of intersectionality. The perspective of both Hill and Thomas are portrayed in the true purpose of the allegation and

In the most famous speech in the history of the agitation for woman suffrage, she bashed a court that had “trampled under foot every vital principle of our government”(The Federal Judicial). She said she had not received justice under “forms of law all made by men, failing, even, to get a trial by a jury not of my peers.” (The Federal Judicial). Sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and the costs of the prosecution, she swore to “never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty. ”(The Federal Judicial).

“Equality, the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.” Such a simple concept, yet women throughout the decades have fought for such a basic rights. Venus Williams, Sojourner Truth, and Shirley Chisholm are women ranging from the late 1800s to the early 2000s who fight for women’s rights. These three women had speeches and articles that show their views of women’s rights. These articles and speeches are “Wimbledon Has Sent Me a Message: I’m Only a Second-Class Champion” by Venus Williams, “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth, and “Equal Rights for Women” by Shirley Chisholm. Logos, pathos, and ethos are part of the variety of persuasive appeals shown throughout the arguments. In Truth, Chisholm, and Williams’s arguments each draw more heavily on a different rhetorical strategy: pathos, logos, ethos.

Sojourner Truth asks the audience a rhetorical ethics question that pressures people to questioning themselves why women don’t have rights. It is ethically wrong to not fill up Truth’s figurative cup, and Truth exploits that problem. Sojourner used a simple, widely understandable question to prove her point so that everyone could grasp her argument. Sojourner has been treated ethically wrong her whole life, and this one question changed the thoughts and encouraged others to make a change with women’s rights.

Truth discusses how she wants to be heard through saying, “ I want women to have their rights. In the courts women have no right, no voice; nobody speaks for them. I wish women to have her voice there among the pettifoggers.” Truth discusses instances of where there is no equality for women and where they cannot have their voice heard. By the use of this logical appeal, the audience understands that there are places where equality among genders was not

In Robin Lakoff's Language and Woman's Place the author Robin tells us her side of the inequity that women face. She wants to see what she can conclude from her experiences. In this article she tells us about her first hand accounts of this through introspection (Lakoff 46). Robin tells us about what language use can tell us about the nature of inequality (Lakoff 45). The author also talks about the subservient functions of women and the roles that sexes play in society (Lakoff 45). Robin wants to know if anything can be done for this cause or is this what our society has destined for women (Lakoff 46). Robin talks about how tag questions avoid coming into conflict about the question with the addressee (Lakoff 55). The author feels like

When First Lady Hillary Clinton delivered her speech “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” at the United Nations 4th World Conference in 1995, she focused on giving voice to the inequality of women in countries around the world. Hoping to raise awareness about women’s rights Clinton says, “We are focusing world attention on issues that matter most in our lives -- the lives of women and their families.” She expands on the statement by helping the men identify with the women in their lives such as their mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters. Hillary effectively persuades the audience of delegates, government officials, and people from around the world to identify with the need to empower, strengthen and support women in their lives. In this speech, Hillary uses ethos, logos, pathos, and repetition to successfully deliver a compelling argument for revolution.

All around the world women are crying out, claiming "that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate form human rights," (Hillary Clinton -- Tumulty, 1997). The abuses females endure are found everywhere in places like Senegal, Bangladesh, and Berjing, China. Abortion, denial of political rights, and suppression of speech (Tumulty) are forces upon women daily. But feminism has taken a strong hold of the women around the world, giving them hope for equal rights in the future. "Our community could see we were a society of strong willed women," prides Faustima Nunez, a resident of Chica, "and we are no