The Variety of Feminisms and their Contributions to Gender Equality by Judith Lorber

There are many different types of feminists, there are Radical Feminists who are the most extreme in voicing their opinion about gender and the rights of women. There are Conservative Feminists, who adopt and appreciate the male need for a career and public achievement as female goals, thereby denying women 's need for intimacy, family, and children. There are Liberal Feminists, they see everyone as equal. They believe sexism as a dysfunction in society. There are also Social Feminists, who link gender differences to class as well. They see it as sexism rewards the working class male and allows them control

Early feminism was typically focused only on white women, likely because racism was still extremely prominent at the time feminism began emerging. It was not until Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in 1989 that feminism started to look at oppressed group’s needs (Nash, 2008, 2). Intersectionality is a way of thinking that acknowledges that when a person has identities that belong to more than one oppressed group, it impacts their quality of life more negatively. In this paper, I will argue that intersectionality is important in the discussion of feminist theories and activism because it ensures that feminism is for all women, not just a select group of them. Intersectionality has changed the way the feminist movement handles the overlapping of different identities, which has helped feminist theorists understand the experiences of women of colour much more clearly. While intersectionality has a very important role in the conversation and practice of feminism, there are certainly critiques of the concept that should be brought up. These critiques, however, can offer a way to improve the study of intersectionality.

Feminism, according to Merriam-Webster (2016) is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." Though this is the definition of the term,

The Merriam-Webster definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” In the past century, gender roles have been challenged because of feminism. The very idea has completely flipped households, workplaces, and the general community and changed it for the better. A plethora of women’s movements were initiated in the 1960’s, and it gave people a look at how powerful women are when we stand united. Feminism has gained many followers in the past thirty to forty years as more people are becoming aware of conflicts pertaining to discrimination. However, there are many that were hesitant both in the 1960’s and in the present day, but for very different reasons. Nevertheless, persistence seems to be a beacon in women’s rights movements, thanks to very strong and level-headed role models.

In a quote by Christine de Pizan, she stated, “Not all men share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated, but it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it displeased them that women knew more than they did.” Christine uses this quote to examine marriage inequality. Women are subjugated in a marriage because of the views and expectations society has pushed upon them. Perkins Gilman wonderfully examines the inequality of marriage in her story The Yellow Wallpaper. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Perkins Gilman reflects upon the inequality of women within the relationship of marriage during the 1800s. This is seen in Gilman’s use of literary devices, characterization, and plot.

The way woman were treated in the late 1800’s is totally different than today. At that time woman and men were not equal to each other. Women were confined to particular roles. The men usually played the dominant role which led women to just listen and follow their spouse. During that time woman were at the bottom of the social class. The regular household consisted of a male who handles all the important decision making things while the women were housewives. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” the author Charlotte Perkins Gilman who is a feminist who purposely shows examples of the roles women played in society in the late 1800’s. Gilman wanted to prove a major point that confining women to only womanly roles of the time, will drive woman crazy. The woman in the short story was forced to follow her husband instuctions. She was not able to make her own decisions and this infantilized her which drove her insane.

There are many women who consider men can be feminist too. Shira Tarrant a feminist writer has argued that men also have contributed and engaged in feminist movements throughout the history. Many feminist writers believe that the strongest stand that can be taken by men against sexism against women is to identify themselves as Feminist. Some also see involvement of men in the feminist movement as the process of universalisation of feminist movements which is very much needed for these movement’s continuous relevance. Many men have also came up and recognized themselves as feminist. The responsibility of ending oppression of women indeed should be borne by men since patriarchal men are the main cause of that oppression. There is nothing less manly about being a feminist. If some men accept the feminist theory and challenges other men to see it like legitimate and a necessary practice then patriarchy can be

Feminism in the 1960’s-1980’s is a very different concept than Feminism in the 21st century. Back in the 60’s, feminism meant to fight for equal rights. Now, modern feminism means women-dominance. While the dictionary definition of feminism is “a range of political movements, ideologies and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women”, many modern feminists take this to the point of fighting for the “right” for women to dominate men. Many modern feminists support female superiority, rudeness, and demonizing men.

There are many different definitions of feminism. Some people regard feminism as the idea that women deserve the same amount of respect that men deserve. There are the other schools of feminist thought that hold women superior to men. Yet another believes that the gender roles controlling women are artificially created and not innate knowledge, and thus men and women are equals with only history the determining factor and how gender equality is established. There are clear feminist overtones in Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Esquivel pointes to a more radical definition of feminism in Like Water for Chocolate. The story focuses on mostly female characters that assume

Firstly, Feminism is a conflict theory that believes that all religions are instruments set up by men to oppress women with the set of beliefs and practices. There are many different branches of feminism; the ones being evaluated are called Liberal, Radical and Marxist feminists. Feminists believe that society is malestream and not mainstream as people believe. The first main flaw in feminist theory is the fact that feminists only examine society from the viewpoint of women, they do this because they believe they are in fact helping fight against the oppression of women but the problem is that they do not examine the views of many male counterparts and therefore cannot help us completely understand our society. The main differentiation between the different feminist theories is the way that the oppression against women is caused.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feminism consists of “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”. The feminist movement emerged during the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries, when philosophers began to question the perception of women in society and the moral differences between the sexes (Tong and Williams). A demand for equality was explored, vindicated and raised to the authorities by early feminists, like Mary Wollstonecraft (Tong and Williams). Equality represents a fundamental issue that is still debated. By exploring the roots of the western culture regarding equality between the sexes, one may acknowledge the whole progress in pursuing justice, resulting from the fight of many generations.

Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.

Among all these different kind of feminism, a single political agenda binds them together, a common purpose; gender equality. Like most things, there are misconceptions about certain subjects. For example the media tends to focus on feminist extremist, and (knowingly or unknowingly) perpetuates the stereotype that feminists hate men, and that their agenda includes the eventual societal elevation above men. Nothing could be further from the truth since the actual definition of feminism is, “The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). Here we see that it is not a competition to the top of the pyramid, rather it is an effort to join the sexes in equality. The problem that arises from the definition is the lack of explanation of the methods, and ideologies, and that is breeding ground for speculation and therefore misconceptions. The solution to this problem is simple; we must acknowledge that there are different methods employed by different women to reach equality.

this term is the one found on EverydayFeminism.com. An article on the website says feminism’s

In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system,