The Feminist Theory Paper

Being large isn’t just a women’s issue furthermore, most ladies don’t ask to be heavy, yet it turns into an unconscious struggle that conflicts with society’s expectations of perfection in a woman’s body. In recent talks of fat being a feminist problem, a sketchy subject has been whether eating impulsively is a lady’s problem signifying it relates to her experience of being a female in society. From one perspective, some argue that a female’s body is the most important thing about her, that it’s an indication to the world about who she is. From this point of view, women are taught to occupy themselves apparently with a self-image that others will find satisfying and attractive rather than being classified as an overweight woman; shunned by what society considers a perfect body. On the other hand, however, others argue that it is thoroughly up to women to make themselves healthy and to avoid becoming overweight for which they ae shunned. In the words of Susie Orbach (2015), one of this view’s main advocates, “You are your body, you have to take care of it! You’re the individual, you’re responsible. It has nothing to do with what’s going on in the wider society.”

Women made up 50.8% of the United States population in 2013 (United States Census Bureau), yet made only 78 cents to a white man’s dollar (Hill). Women also hold only 17% of the seats in Congress, about 90 seats total, and less than 3% of Fortune 500 businesses are run by women (25 Surprising Stats to Share on Women's Equality Day). And this is just for white women. For many women of color, the statistics are even more grim, Latina women making only 53% of what white men make (Hill). This inequality of the sexes spreads out of the workplace and into women’s everyday lives. Feminism works to even the playing field between males and females by promoting female empowerment and supporting women in their endeavors. The feminist movement

“The story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin is an influential story about Mrs. Mallard who is given the terrible news that her husband has died in a train accident. She is overwhelmed by her spouse’s death and excuses herself, instantly hurries to her bedroom where a different side of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions are shown. Mrs. Mallard has taken on an altered viewpoint of life now. She is saddened about her spouse dying but she has something to be pleased about which is being herself. The central character, Mrs. Mallard shows opinions and feelings that can support and go against the feminist theory.

This image provides not only the dignity of mother’s love and sacrifice to her kid, but also gender ideology. Common ideas about gender are articulated in the way that women are weaker and more passive than men. Specifically, while her child is staring at the camera, her sight is to the ground with a tired face. Loss of focus in her eyes and her exhausted face show her weakness. The gender ideology is also expressed through the contrast to a shadowy man. The man with black jacket in the image keeps standing and handles tasks, while the mother is sitting on the stonewall with her kid. This contrast behavior between male and female also shows the opposed primary task according to gender. The opposite behavior according to gender involves the

Feminism is a fight against oppression, but white supremacy exists within feminist movements, which is an obvious contradiction of the theory. “The feminist movement has centered on the experiences of White women and dismissed the experiences of Women of Color” (Feenstra, 2017, p. 67). In an article titled, From White Feminism to Intersectional Advocacy: The Development of a White Antiracist Identity, Abby Elizabeth Feenstra, a feminist illuminates her journey to becoming conscious of her white privilege.

Second Wave Feminism’s began around the early 1960s and continued on in the 70s. This movement was defined by the radical new approaches and ideologies that womyn were taking at the time. With a more critical lense being used to look at the broader picture of womyn’s oppression and the complexities that came with different identities tied to being a womyn, second wave feminism can be defined by the fight against “women’s oppression in a society based on binary gender divisions and race and class hierarchies” (Enke, 2003). Although each wave of feminism had various different agendas, there was usually one that become the mainstream ideology in the historical context in which it was taking place, with that being said, “mainstream” feminist

Chapter 9 by Heather McIntosh and Lisa Cuklanz details the ins and outs of Feminist Media Research. Media, in its various forms, such as film, television, advertisements, the Internet, printed publications, and material culture can uncover "The patterns of what can cannot be said, or what is and is not said, for evidence of where power is located how it is deployed. These patterns can be understood as derived from ideologies" (pg 266). Through representation, repetition and omission of various ideas and social locations, media can determine what is acceptable, normal and favorable in society in a given era.

Research paradigms are belief models that create a set of practices, it is a set of shared beliefs and used to assess persons claims. It’s essentially a way of viewing the world in order to understand people’s experiences. As discussed in class there are four types of research paradigms; positivist, interpretative, critical and postfeminist. A paradigm is characterized by specific ontology, epistemology and methodology (Clennett-Sirois, 2015B). Research epistemologies address the concept of knowledge what is the nature of knowledge, etc. There are three main epistemologies in feminist research; feminist empiricism, which is the data collection of real life experiences, feminist standpoint is viewing any given issue from a feminist perspective

In the United States and abroad, the feminist movement has been a cultural, social and political movement that wants to form equality for all women. There is no country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality successfully. This is because men are still getting a higher pay compared to women and still been respected more highly than women are. An example is my family; my mother has four companies both one in Ghana, West Africa and the rest here in the United States she makes a higher income compared to my father but according to our culture my father is seen as the bread winner in our home. Which is unfair because she doesn’t get the credit for her hard work.

During the 19th century, Feminism had a massive effect on the females’ role in society and in everyday life. After a while women got sick of living the “strict” lifestyle.[1] The females were getting bored with staying in the house and not being able to do what they wanted. They decide that they had enough and needed to make a change. They wanted equality between men and women and wanted the same opportunities that men received. Feminism had a huge effect on the everyday role of women. It is a well-known fact that men were granted with rights; which in essence mean that women had little to none. The women, fighting for what they believed in or sought to happen in the future was in essence the beginning of the Feminist movement also known as the Women’s movement. Motivated by the quest for social justice, feminist inquiry provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural, economic, and political phenomena. There are typically thought to be three waves of feminism, each of which concerned themselves with particular issues related to women.[2] In what ways did the Feminist Movement help mode and shape the lives of women of present times? Due to the uprising of the Feminist Movement, women today have more rights, privileges and are given equal rights to that of a man.

Making a change in the world requires courage from individuals who want to make a difference in society. The start of American history, regarding feminism rights, began during the women’s movement from 1848 to 1920. Many women activists worked with endeavor to bring hope to women who did not have same rights as men did, such as not having a voice in the political election. Even though feminist groups did not have sufficient power, they believed that one-day women were going to have a prosperous future. It was a remarkable movement that showed how women activists gained victory for their rights by surpassing barriers, and at the same time being able to revolutionize with little power. Major feminist groups went through many changes as they fought for their rights of citizenship, and through political and social events, the nineteenth amendment was signed; however, the feminist movement weakened after women were granted the right to vote.

In an ideal world, people would know what they stood for, created works that were completely original, and treated everyone with respect, dignity, and authenticity. Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist: Take One” ruminates on the authenticity of feminist identity constructed on principles of “essential feminism.” Ultimately, Gay arrives at the conclusion that narrowly constructed and rigidly defined fundamentals or “essentials” of feminism conflict with the complexities of womanhood and lead to an inauthentic (and unacceptable) identity. Gay advocates that gender must be considered and embraced in context of other narratives (race, ability, sexuality).

“I need feminism because we need more sexy blond female CEOs but not more female miners and other jobs in those kinds of fields. They are not glamorous enough. Women should not have to get on their knees and work hard unless they want to get backstage at a weekend concert.” Man-hating femi-nazis are plaguing the world with their rants about “misogyny” and flashing their naked bodies to men and expecting not to get objectified. This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a breast. Modern-day feminism is often regarded as something that is no longer needed, because women of the 21st century have the same rights as every other person. But sadly, that is not true. Women and men in America in the 21st century are not treated as equals in social, economic, or political aspects of society, ergo feminism—the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, is still a necessity in the modern society of America. The true intention of feminism is NOT to degrade men and preach that women are high and mighty and deserved to be treated better, but rather that all sexes be treated the same way in all aspects of life.

bell hooks’ second book, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, was published in 1984. It is one of her more widely known works, pushing her into the forefront as a leading voice between second and third-wave feminism. Third-wave feminism theory is inclusive of elements of anti-racism, lesbian theory, and women-of-color consciousness, brought upon as a criticism of the second-wave; which highlighted upper-middle class white women’s issues and projected them onto the whole mass without consideration of minority experiences. hooks’ novel is reflective of this and incorporates these subjects paying specific attention to the ethnic minority experience of feminism. She does this in order to raise awareness of groups marginalized within feminism, arguing that they should in fact be at the center of the movement.

Females are still scene as miss treated and under appreciated by large portions of the United States and even more so in other parts of the world. But why is this still an issue, and why hasn’t it been fixed? No matter what gender you are, whether you choose to identify as a male, female, or one of the many newly established genders within the last couple of years, mass media has expectations on how individuals are supposed to dress, act, and function as a person based of their gender. It is not only females that are categorizing with certain notions, such as clothing, jobs, physical attributes, and hobbies, impacting how an individual thinks they are supposed to grow and meet the expectations of their role in society. Although usually favoring males, the media has done this, and continues to do this by carefully placing images, actions, and commentaries into various media tools such as advertisements, commercials, or anything else that will project the affect they want on society whether we realize it or not. In a test done by Melinda Jones a Professor at the