Why Do You Think About The Feminist Movement

Growing up children are surrounded with a fairy tale life, the ‘happily ever after.’ As girls we are supposed to wait for our prince charming and he will love us forever; and for boys it is finding and rescuing a beautiful princess who can cook, clean, and is loved by all creatures. That is what marriage is based off of as a child, but that perspective changes once we get a small grasp of the concept of love and we really see what marriage is. Marriage is not something anyone goes into lightly and maybe our expectations of the fairy tale life are why divorce is so commonly sought.

In “For better, for worse: Marriage means something different now,” Stephanie Coontz reveals the worldwide changes in people’s attitudes and behaviors towards marriage. According to Coontz, education and the social norms are the reasons why marriage has become nonessential. Being single and going through a divorce are more acceptable now. The motivations of marriage have turned from economic dependence into personal willingness. In fact, Coontz’s words make me wonder the true meaning of marriage. Even though the meaning has changed over times, I believed that I still hope to get married.

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.

Lingering inequalities and other social trends from previous decades brought forth the modern feminist movement in the 1960s. These feminists campaigned for gender equality with causes such as equal pay for equal work, abortion rights, and social parity. In 1963, author Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, which contained reports from a study conducted on female college graduates during the 1950s and early 1960s, which uncovered that most women labelled themselves exclusively as mothers and housewives, and were unsatisfied with the roles forced upon them. Friedan argued fervently that women needed to discover their own identities outside the roles of a wife and mother. Many believe that the arguments made in The Feminine Mystique marked the start of the modern feminist movement (Loveday, 1)

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

For our activism project, my sister, Maggie, and I went to the Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. We live in the near-by village of Shepherd, so we decided to visit the Center while we were home for Easter break. I had been interested in visiting the Center for a number of years and saw this project as the necessary push to finally act on the desire. Mt. Pleasant is located right next to the reservation of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. At times is hard to tell where the reservation ends and the city begins. The Ziibiwing Center was opened in 2004 to help preserve the Anishinabe culture, honor their ancestors, and to educate people on the culture as well. The Anishinabe are the Ojibwe (Chippewa), the Odawa (Ottawa), and the Potawatomi.

The Feminism Revolution developed during the previous decades and played an important role, in many places including Canada. However, as Katha Pollitt (2007) stated, “The feminist movement has done much for some women, but it has hardly turned America into a playground free of sex roles” (p. 543). Studies conducted by Statistics Canada show that 1976 to 2005, women have increased their labor force participation greatly, and men have increased their time spent doing housework over the same span (Marshall, 2006, p.7). I believe that the Feminist Revolution, in Canada, is unfinished because women continue to make advances in politics field.

The feminist movement of the 1960’s was generally revolved around the idea that women should not be treated with inequality in the workplace and also should be allowed to work in better jobs with higher paying salary. Howard Smith a representative of Virginia instated a proposal that will dismantle any gender discrimination, however; the congressmen did not appeal but by the help of Martha Griffiths the enactment of this proposal was passed. Soon feminists, who involved Betty Friedan, made a decision to establish a movement which its intentions were to strive and demolish gender discrimination. They did not want to overthrow the existing bureaucracy but instead proclaimed that women should be involved. They utilized ways in which helped them

The author is a writer and digital media editor based in Winston-Salem, N.C., with more than 20 years' experience covering higher education, local government and cultural issues for print, online and broadcast media. In this research paper, the author addresses the pro and cons of a feminist movement from its start from 1920 to 2013. The author describes the process over the past fifty years and the affect on present woman in a work place. By addressing an equal opportunity of woman and man at workplace and in the family, the author raises an important question if women are better off today, than they were fifty years ago. Understanding feminist movement is an important historical fact to a research for a project that involves mothers,

For the most part, it is the movement for social, political, and economic equality for all people, both for men and women (Feminist.com)

People marry and decide not to marry for many different reasons. My aunt is in a committed relationship with a man, now he is a good man, however, they are not married. I decided to talk to my aunt about her decision not to marry this man. My aunt refuses to get married because she would lose her social security disability check, and her health benefits would be greatly altered. Marriage has always been a decision people should make very carefully. I believe marriage to be forever, and should be honored and respected before God. After some research, it is very common people to live in a committed relationship, but never marry, for fear of income loss, and health benefits being cut.

“The history of feminism is the sequential records of the movements and principles aimed at equal rights for women. While feminists around the world have differed in causes, goals, and intentions depending on time, culture, and country, most Western feminist historians assert that all movements that work to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist movements, even when they did not (or do not) apply the term to themselves.” As a result, Feminist movement was successfully moving forward, If religion, culture norms, men or gender equality did not take control over the feminist dream, the feminist movement's ambition for the right of women worldwide would succeed. (Wikipedia)

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 the aftermath of World War II, the lives of the women have changed dramatically. Women spoke their minds out and wanted to be heard. World War II brought them a new outlook on how they should live their lives. It encouraged women organize social movements such as boycotts and public marches pushing for their human rights and protect them against discrimination. Alongside, they formed their own organization representing them against the federal government like the NOW or National Organization for Women. Through the years, women have been struggling to fight for equal rights and unfortunately still exist even at the present in some areas. Yes, women’s status was not like what they used to back then, where their

Another possibility for many people not getting married for the right reasons include social pressures enacted on them by either their parents or society. Unbeknownst to many, arranged marriages exist in some American families. Granted, they are mostly from recently immigrated Indian populations, but they are Americans just the same. With the culture shock that these people receive on the notion of marriage, it is no wonder that divorce taken so lightly.