The Rhetoric Of Gender Equality: An Analysis

Before this class I believed men and women’s gender roles in society were strictly defined. As I gained more knowledge from the Critical Thinking Reader, The Grapes of Wrath, and my research project, I learned that gender roles change based on an individual’s environment, socio-economic standing, and societal norms/expectations. These resources helped clarify that men and women’s roles in society are interchangeable and there are no definite lines or barriers that keep them from fulfilling all roles, that being said men and women can also remain stuck in the roles society has traditionally seen them in.

“If my generation was too naïve, the generations that have followed may be too practical. We knew too little, and now girls know too much.” (Sandberg. Pg. 646) In the past, the call for women’s rights was heated as much as it was alive; many women today believe that they no longer need feminism in their lives. The misconception that feminist ideals are outdated has lead modern women to fall short in their desire to accomplish more. Sheryl Sandberg refuels feminist goals in the article “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid.” She addresses lack of females in the work force, as well as, the way society prompts boys compared to girls. Bell Hook, in contrast, provides a deeper understanding of feminist ideals, along with, an in depth analysis of Sandberg’s work. The articles written by Bell Hook and Sheryl Sandberg express each woman’s perspective on modern feminism; although they both call for action, Sandberg focuses on the inequality between the sexes, while Hook broadens the overall argument to include topics such as race, sexuality and class equality.

The author provides many eye-opening statistics pertaining to the significant gap between women and men. For instance, Sandberg writes “women hold roughly 25 percent of senior executive positions, 19 percent of board seats, and 19 percent of our elected congressional officials.” This statistic is both shocking, yet not too surprising given how she explains how the term feminism. Feminism is not solely about women’s rights but can benefit men as well. The author provided numerous observations which served to motivate and inspire readers, especially women; not to be afraid to speak up in the workplace. She urges readers not to ignore the fact there are distinct biases between both genders which are taking place and considers herself a “feminist”. This book helps to further raise awareness to a seemingly obscure yet ever-present

bell hook is a famous feminist author who wrote the book “Feminism Is For Everybody” hooks attempt to create a quick, simple start on feminist history, theory, and politics to the masses who receive a misinformation, misunderstood, and maligned version of the feminist movement. Hooks says “To understand feminism it implies one has to necessarily understand sexism”.We define feminism as the advocacy of women 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.Where she simply define and shows that being feminism does not mean women have to become mean or they are better than men,she simply saying that men and women need to be equal like the civil right movements. The book begins with a brief statement of feminist political positions, then discusses some history of the movement.She discusses the change in the movement from personal to groups where women have close relationships with one another and began to feel personally empowered by their participation in the establishment of large, and how some women feel like they are working for the high middle-class women.Every single time it doesn’t matter you a women or men, you will always have someone in the higher level than you.hooks feel like it will very exciting for the women who have the power to work with other so they could build each other up..Hooks views the formation of large women’s organizations as the beginning of a stage where the movement took on the role of

“Look at us! We’re just like everyone else. We’ve bought into the same ridiculous delusion; this idea that you have to settle down and resign from life.” (April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road). It has become a society norm that women are meant to serve housewives; to cook, clean, garden, and nurture children, even though they are much more capable of other things. The role of women is greatly overseen, as they are not perceived to be of their full potential, rather than as societies idealistic expectation. This is because men and those who are wealthy are unable to look past gender and accept women as of equal significance.

Traditional gender roles (men performing instrumental tasks and women performing expressive tasks) are viewed as important not only for the individual but also for the economic and social order of society. Failure to maintain the traditional division of labor is believed to lead to destruction of family life as well as higher rates of crime, violence, and drug abuse. Human capital theorists claim that sex differences in promotion rates are due to sex differences in commitment, education, and experience; women are believed to have less to offer employers. Even if these differences exist, this position ignores the fact that women are in a system of inequality, where social expectations prevent them from having qualifications that are similar to men. The conflict perspective emphasizes men’s control over scarce resources. The gendered division of labor within families and in the workplace results from male control of and dominance over women and resources. Differentials between men and women may exist in terms of economic, political, physical, and/or interpersonal power. Men remain the head of household and control the property. Also, men gain power through their predominance in the most highly paid and prestigious occupations and the highest elected offices. Liberal/Equal Rights Feminists – seek equal access for females within the current social system; focus is on equality of opportunity (e.g., civil rights and occupational equality). Radical/Transformative Feminists –

“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.

In our society, there are many opportunities and jobs that are pursued by more men than women, and our society helps perpetuate this conception. “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” by Sheryl Sandberg argues the point that in our society, women are not being encouraged and shown while growing up that they can and should do anything that boys can do. Sheryl Sandberg gives many statistics, firsthand experiences, and the experiences of other to support her argument. Sandberg also uses logos, ethos, and pathos at many points in her essay to prove her point.

Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist” discusses the meaning of feminism, while looking at the different perspectives women have on the matter. In her essay Gay disagrees with the definition that society has given feminism, otherwise known as “essential feminism”. “Essential feminism” is a clear cut definition with no room for discussion. She states that the inaccurate definition is “warped by misconception”(304),claiming that the uttermost problem with “essential feminism” is that it does not allow for individuality in women to exist. Gay supports her main idea with different examples of women such as Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer, and Su. Sandberg a successful business woman, believes that women should “lean in” to their careers while still having

Sandberg’s “Lean In” vs. Hook’s “Dig Deep” are two articles that are similar, but they have differences. Sandberg’s main point is that women are over looked for executive job positions, and there is extreme sexism in play, while most job fields are ran by misogynists. She also feels as though women are looked at as second class citizens, and are only worth to either stay at home and cook and clean. She makes a great point by giving a personal example, when she stated that her grandmother had to drop out of school to take care of her family. Hook’s article is opposes Sandberg’s because Hook feel as though the main issue with female equality is racism, poverty, and cultural patriarchy are the main reasons why women are undermined,

The feminist response to the biological explanation for the stalled revolution negates the theory with the idea that “Biology is not destiny” (Belkin 2003). This idea is pivotal; turning the biological differences between men and women into an overarching belief system is dangerous because as previously stated, it does not account for sociological or cultural explanations of segregation of gender in the workplace. In a sociological or environmental context, there is an implied obligation for women to conform to socialized gender roles. The socialization of these gender roles in young women works to counteract the progress that the feminist movement has made in recent years. Consequently, the impression of Generation Y females is influenced by the notion that personal sacrifices must be made, as a woman, in order to excel in the workplace. Likely in part to socialization, and possibly in part to biology, women are implicitly

In the article "Understanding Patriarchy” by Bell Hooks, the ideology of patriarchy is presented to her audience while she explains some of the basics of feminism and how they relate to current challenges to gender roles. Hook begins the article by establishing her relevance to the topic by giving specific examples of her childhood living in a patriarchal home. She explains in detail some of the occurrences growing up in an isolated area in a home with patriarchal views and how they affected her. Hook then transitions into her professional life as a feminist and shows her views on patriarchy, gender roles, and gives a possible solutions to the societal issues brought about by patriarchy. The relevance of patriarchy is brought to the forefront in this article addressing the cultural denial of patriarchy by society. Hook explains how children growing up even in single parent families or non-patriarchal families still get patriarchal ideologies from the world around them. Approaching the end of the article Hook begins to go into detail on the impacts of patriarchal views on both men and women. Hook references patriarchy’s impact on gender roles. She pleads for the acknowledgment of patriarchy and its harmful effects on society and focuses on its effects on males. Hook concludes by giving a solution to the ill effects of patriarchy, stating it must be taken seriously, and addressed by men and women alike.

Throughout many decades women have been struggling to be equal to men, both at home and in the work place. Women have come a long way and are certainly fighting to gain that equality, but gender roles are very important in our society. They have become important in life from birth, and society continues to push these gender roles. The treatment of the male gender is very different from that of the female, and this issue has become very important to me, as a woman. As children we learn and adapt to specific gender roles, and as we grow they become more evident and more important to our role in a society. There is a lot of discrimination against the female gender. Carol Gilligan argued that

Social and institutional contexts for sex discrimination in American life have included the workplace, occupations, wages, income, housing, banking, health care, toys, school, education, employment, consumer marketplace, military, media, religious organizations, and home. Despite a century of social change stimulated by the feminist movement, gender inequality persists.

There seems to be a general consensus that since equality has been achieved in the west, the fight for women’s rights and equality is not necessary anymore. That because European and North-American women can vote, own property and marry at own will, there is nothing more to fight for. However, simply because women in the west are somewhat treated equally to men, that does not mean that it is the standard in the rest of the world. Think about the millions upon millions of women in third world and war prone countries, who live in constant terror, who are sold as child brides to adult men, because having a daughter is too great of a burden. Women who cannot even leave their own homes without a man by their side, women who cannot walk home alone at night, or walk alone at all because the risk of rape is to large, women who are kidnapped, trafficked and forced into prostitution. Are they equal? We cannot simply renounce the fight for gender equality as unnecessary because we supposedly do not need it in the west anymore, when women across the globe are constantly abused, violated, disrespected, harassed and treated as second-class citizens on a daily basis. Yes, we have come a long way over the past 100 years, in the west, however we have an even longer way to go before we reach the finish line. Gender inequality is still a problem even if it does not happen as much in western countries, and to think that the fight for equal rights for women is over because North American and