Religion Vs Freethink Feminism

Feminists see religion as an instrument of patriarchy which means that society is based around male domination; they believe that this is a set of beliefs and practices responsible for women’s subordination. However functionalists believe otherwise and argue that its function is not to oppress women but to keep society stable whilst Marxists believe that religion oppresses the working class not females.

In Reflections on Gender and Science by Evelyn Fox Keller, Keller writes about the presence of masculinity, rather than femininity, in science. Keller begins makes it clear that, although there are significantly more men than women in the field, the issue at hand is not the lack of women working in science, but the “attribution of masculinity to science as an intellectual domain” (76). This means the language, tone, and overall dominance. Keller states that this stems from the myth that masculinity is associated with objectivity and neutrality, whereas femininity is associated with subjectivity and emotions. Therefore, because of these two associations, it is believed that men are better suited to be scientists than women, which is why the

Scientists realized that they could collaborate to learn more about science. They met in salons and libraries to discuss science and philosophy. Henry Oldenbury, the Secretary of the English Royal Society, when writing a letter to Johannes Hevelius, another scientist, says that Friendship among learned men is a great aid to the investigation and elucidation of the truth.....Philosophy would then be raised to its greatest heights” (Document 6). Henry was part of the Royal Society which was supposed to expand the natural knowledge of England. So, he was very interested in these scientific communities because he knew that it would increase his knowledge exponentially. Even though many liked these scientific communities, many women didn’t like how they weren’t included, not only communities, but also academies. Margaret Cavendish, an English natural philosopher said in her book, Observations on Experimental Philosphy, “I might sset up my own school of natural philosophy. But I, being a woman, do fear they would soon cast me out of their schools.... Nay, could it be done so handsomely, they would turn all from females into males, so great is grown the self-conceit of the masculine and the disgregard of the female sex” (Document 9). Cavendish thinks that she has a lot to say about philosophy, but, when she realizes that no one will listen to her and she can’t collaborate to many others because she is

According to Garbacik (2013), in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Japan, American Indians and Ancient Sumerian women were held in high regard, taking up “leadership posts” and were not considered “inferior” by their male counterparts. In fact, the terms “misogyny” and “Patriarchy” became more prominent in Victorian Britain, where the concept of “gender roles” were closely linked, which advocated female subordination and male dominance. In particular, through his ground-breaking theory of natural selection, Darwin (1859) depicted women as being inferior to men. Darwin theorised about “natural selection” and he suggested that men were “more courageous, pugnacious and energetic” (Darwin, 1859) than women. Darwin also never included species such as “hyenas, anglerfish, ring-tailed lemurs, black widow spiders, meerkat and praying mantis” (Garbacik, 2013) in his research that never shared dominant male and passive female characteristics, proving that his evidence was flawed, advocating a confirmation bias . What’s more, Darwin’s views of the female and male species, were bolstered in the 19th century, by the Victorian viewpoints that men were more “competitive” and “aggressive” compared to women who were more “altruistic” and “nurturing”. Not only was inequality amongst the sexes

In nineteenth century America, women were not given the same rights and freedoms as their spouses/ men. Women were expected to be submissive to their husbands though they did have some authority within the private sphere. The private sphere is comprised of the home and family. During this time, women were responsible for being a mother and wife; however, with the Second Great Awakening, women were being to have more freedoms and responsibilities. New roles allowed for mothers to teach their children religion in their homes and women took up an interest in attending religious revival meetings (Hewitt, Lawson 357). A fair number of women were enticed with the religious revival movement because it allowed women to leave their private sphere and participate in the public sphere. Women were given an opportunity to conjugate with each other and practice their beliefs that allowed them to slowly partake in the reform (Hewitt, Lawson 352). The religious revival meetings attracted thousands to attend, most of who were women, and “pray” in a group (Frances Trollope – Description of a Revival Meeting, 1832). In Document 11.7, Frances Trollope, English author,

Science supposed to be unbiased in disregard of gender. Scientist supposed to back the truth through fair and honest experiments without bias or sexual preference but history had taught us that even in science, women are perpetuated and “used” for their own patriarchal gain. In the paper “The Evolutionary Origins of Patriarchy” by Barbara Smuts, Smuts talks about evolutionary basis of male motivation to control female sexuality. Evolutionary psychology has its roots in Charles Darwin theory of Natural Selection-“Through natural selection, [Darwin] explained, men had become superior to woman in courage, energy, intellect and inventive genius and thus would inevitably excel in art, science and philosophy” (The Female Malady, p.122). Such publications not only gave burst to the male society (patriarchal) but gave them more reasons to perpetuate inequality. This is also corroborated by another journal, in the paper “The Origins of Sex Differences in Human Behavior” by Alice H. Eagly and Wendy Wood, which they conclude by saying that evolutionary

Women were blocked from nearly any form of scientific experiment or inquiry. Margaret Cavendish, an English natural philosopher and the first woman to visit a meeting of the Royal Society, illustrates the “disregard of the female sex” in sciences (Doc. 9). Unsurprisingly, men continued to oppress women and block any and all paths to gaining social standing. Science, like almost all other domains, continued to be controlled by

The struggle for women’s suffrage started in the early 1800’s. Elizabeth Cody Stanton and Susan B Anthony decided to renew their fight in the 1860’s. Later in 1890 they decided to create an organization called NAWSA ,which stands for National Woman's Suffrage Association, that helped achieve women’s rights. Within these arguments they all align with the idea that women should only be involved in House work and family care. While others state that the color women can not be involved within establishing rights it has been said that colored women are rather the trendsetters. Nevertheless the consistent idea that of females are not in the same sphere as males nor do they obtain the ability to be.

In Wittig's “One is Not Born a Woman,” biology is a classifier that naturalizes gender distinction between women and men based on the physical discrepancies. Biology, as a field of science associated with historical evidence, constructs social conventions of gender difference and instills the idea as a permanent fact. The differing role of women and men throughout history is justified by the term “biological predisposition” and “holds onto the idea that the capacity to give birth (gender role based on biological function) is what defines a woman” (Wittig 10). The notion of biology in this term defers authority to the image of science -reasoning that concludes to a fixed and proven answer. The deference

Between the time of 1890 and 1920, the Women's Era was booming. More states started to have greater economic and political opportunities,gained more educational opportunities, and had the right to own property, control wages, make contracts, and wills. Women in America were always vital contributors in the economy as producers and consumers and always worked whether in a factory or in the home as a mother. One of the greatest contributions came through with their membership and leadership in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874, with over 150,000 making it the largest female organization in the United States. They soon embraced a broad reform agenda by pushing for the right of Women's vote in their country.

Notably, women made changes during the Gilded Age to demand a voice in politics and suffrage rights or the right to vote. In 1873, politics was technically off limits to women, however, Frances Willard who created the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) became the largest women’s political organization to be endorsed for women to vote, allied with the nation’s leading labor unions, and campaigned against child labor and in favor of the 8-hour workday. Eventually, the organization forced politicians to hear their demands that advocated prison reform, public morality, literacy and improving the conditions of workers spreading internationally (Tyrell, 1991). Also, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr founded the nation’s

Woman activists emphasized the contribution that other women could make in tackling issues such as public health and safety, schools, women’s rights, child labor, and dangerous work conditions. Focusing on issues that appealed to women as wives and mothers, and promoting the notion that women were particularly good at addressing such concerns, the female activists practiced what women’s historians call maternalist politics. Female social reformers between 1890 and World War I created new spaces for themselves in local and then national government even before they had the right to vote. They carved out new opportunities for paid labor in professions such as social work and public health. Maternalists also stressed the special needs of poor women and children in order to build support for America’s early welfare state. Women working in national organizations such as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Young Women’s Christian Association helped single women in American cities. A moral-reform motivated many women and organizations in their involvement of a national ban of alcohol and against prostitution. However, social welfare took on the greatest urgency. Networks of middle-class and wealthy women addressed how these social programs affected women and children. Local women’s clubs turned to addressing the crises of the urbanized society. African American women’s clubs affiliated with the National

for women's suffrage got a huge boost with the help of the Woman's Christian Temperance

Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior to women; because of this idea, women have spent generations suffering under their counterparts. Also, a common expectation is that men tend to be more assertive and absolute because of their biological hormones or instinctive intellect. Another huge origin is sexual discrimination; even in the world today, many women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than a real human being with

The feminist philosophy of science studies and analyses discourse and knowledge that is harmful and not conducive to attaining an impartial interpretation of science, with a view to critically examining science and the scientific method. It identifies how gender bias can (and does) affect the scientific community and the consequences of this bias (Anderson, 2000). The three main variants are feminist empiricism, feminist standpoint theory and feminist postmodernism. Feminist empiricism holds that there is a real, objective, knowable world. Furthermore,