Voices From The Heartland By Julie Carson Essay

Roxane Gay, author of the article entitled “Bad Feminist”, is a very accomplished American feminist writer. Her publication of “Bad Feminist” in 2012 gained national public attention (1). Feminism, as defined in the dictionary, is “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes” (2), but Gay explains throughout her article that being a feminist is not just as simple as agreeing with this need for gender equality. The feminist label is too narrow and because of this the feminist movement is breaking apart. In this piece, Gay addresses how our society currently defines feminism and explains why this definition does not encompass everybody that it should.

“Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line: Workers and Change in the Rural Midwest” book, by Deborah Fink, focuses mainly on showing what was happening in the meatpacking’s industry in the rural Midwest of Iowa. It shows that the key factors in the creation the history of the rural working class depended on the different experiences that gender, ethnic and racial minorities faced during the working years in the meatpacking. It shows the painful process of struggling for recognition of the employees ' rights that women, ethnic and racial minorities faced when they were entering into the meatpacking workforce. Fink wrote her book to inform the reader about what was happening in the meatpacking industry of Iowa the old days, and how women, ethnic and racial minorities faced a lot of segregation, discrimination, harassment, and unequal wages.

Women have long been fighting for their right to be seen as equal to men. Even to this day, women continue to fight for their rights, things such as the right to non-gender discriminatory wages. While there may be some arguments over the state of gender equality in the modern world, it is undeniable that there have been great strides made toward recognizing the female 's worth in the workforce and as a human being. Despite these strides, however, things are still not yet ideal for women and many of the issues females face today are the very same issues that have been plaguing them for decades. While it is unfortunate the oppression of women has been so long-lived, the length of that exposure has thankfully enabled many talented writers to both lament over the fact and emphasize the need for gender equality.

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.

The challenging and discordant opinions regarding gender equality have origins in various schools of thought, across time and place. Modern feminism heavily borrow from these old ideas and expounds upon them. Feminist worldwide are renowned for the action they must continually take that challenges the negative societal and stereotypical norms

Though the media has maligned feminism as a drive for selfish fulfillment by female professionals, those who stand to gain the most are actually those who have the least. The demand for full equality for all women is profoundly radicalizing when it addresses the additional layers of discrimination women experience because of class, race, sexuality, disability, and

Feminism is more than a word, more than an individual, and more than an identity. In the words of Tavi Gevinson, editor-in-chief of Rookie Mag, an online feminist magazine for teen girls, feminism is a discussion, a conversation, and a process. It’s not a set of rules and restrictions, and it’s certainly not an attack targeted on men, but it is a fight, and it’s a long one. Over time, various connotations surrounding the word “feminist” have developed to form an image of angry, misandrist, bra-burning women who shouldn’t be taken seriously as thinkers and agents of social change. A dismissal of feminism that I hear often seems to be that feminists are just looking for things to be angry about, seeking out reasons to complain so we feel

San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWork. San Jose State University, 1 Jan. 2008. Web. <http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4501&context=etd_theses>. "Feminism."

Women are not helpless creatures in a world full of challenges. They are considered role models of families, businesses, and social movements. They are the pillars of feminism. Women are now holders and decision makers of recognized networks, strong figures in the senate and political institutions. However, women are not decision makers in all nations. In specific societies where women empowerment is overruled, there is no major feminist movement prevalent. The theory of an existing hope of unity between women is minimal, but as the idea of “empowerment” unfolds, it inspires women to support their gender. Females have started to fight as one against social misconceptions, labor inequality, and political limitations. It is the concept of women

Feminism can be defined as the belief that women and men should have equal rights. This is an incredibly simple premise in theory; however, as soon as one starts to unpack exactly what it would take for equality of the sexes many other inter-related issues arise. One of the main issues is that there are many different types of oppression including, but not limited to, gender, race, sexuality, sexual orientation, ethnicity and socio-economic background. All of these factors and more must be taken into consideration when discussing systemic privilege and oppression. This essay will mainly be focused on American feminism and there will be particular care paid to how first wave feminism treated and seemingly forgot about women of color in its quest for recognition.

In a world that has been dominated by men since the dawn of time, women have come a long way from resisting patriarchal interest by beginning to realize they are able to do and say as they please. Feminism focuses on gender social roles in which women have been rejected social power and various forms of self-expression. Women weren’t able to choose or say what they wanted because of patriarchal dominance and interest. While feminist analysis acknowledges the separate levels of social power given to women and men. It has altered over the years, women have had an increase in social powers although even today in the twenty-first century women still encounter patriarchal dominance. Today women are still thought of not being capable of achieving as high as a man. Women have a sense of feeling like they’re not good enough although they are capable

“I am so sick of being placed into a little box based upon people’s inability to think beyond stereotypes” (All Diva Media, 2009, p.9). Throughout the various waves of feminism, feminists everywhere have unintentionally accumulated a negative connotation for themselves. When a feminist is mentioned in conversation, some people tend to picture a man-hating, angry, lesbian with hairy legs who employs a sadistic attitude towards the rest of the world. While this might be true for a small percentage of the feminist population, feminism can benefit and support both genders, as it has for quite some time now. Activists have made great achievements starting in the 19th century, allowing women to become better integrated into society emotionally

American Women before the 1960’s were subjected to a life where they would be expected to get married early, have children as soon as possible, and then become a homemaker for the rest of their lives. Feminist women in America faced an underlying conflict to find their purpose and true meaning in life. “Is this it?” was a question frequently sought out by women reaching deeper into their minds and souls to find what was missing from their life (Rampton). The ideal woman was defined as a women who puts all of her time into making sure her house was clean, her husband felt loved, and her children were taken care of but this traditional belief triggered these women to not only lose their identity within their families but society as well. The turbulent emotions felt by feminist women based on this oppression created the internal conflict that caused for social steps to be taken in hopes of bringing purpose and meaning back into their lives. While the first wave of feminists demanded their right to vote, these second-wave feminists took a stand for equality, not just in law, but in daily life. As the second wave of feminism grew due to the maltreatment of women, the influence of the newly published Ms. Magazine aided the feminist movement, treading great change for women’s rights. By being able to add onto what the 1st wave accomplished-granting women the right to vote-women developed the level of empowerment needed to demand more.

Many people believe that all feminist are the same. They all believe in the same thing and are all white, millennials that want all men to die and suffer. While I’m sure by now you understand that not all feminist are like this. Many people actually don’t want to be called feminist because of this negative stigma that is associated with it. While, for the most part, all feminist do have the same dogma of equality among men and women, they do have different ideas on how this equality looks like. In this essay I will address three kinds of feminism, talk of their goals, inclusiveness, and relationships between women and men.

Throughout the last century, women have had to fight to have the same opportunities as men. Women have had to earn the right to vote, the right to have a career, and the right to autonomy. However, these are all rights that men have simply been given, which is why today’s feminists work to promote equality. Despite these efforts, feminism is often misunderstood and is interpreted with a negative connotation. According to a study conducted by Precopio and Ramsey (2017), “feminism is commonly recognized as a movement driven to grant social, political, and economic equality to both women and men.” The participation of others besides women is crucial to the spread of equality among the genders. Furthermore, the stigma and negative feelings surrounding feminism must be reduced in order for the ideals of feminism to have a greater impact.