Women And The Feminist Movement

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

The Women's Rights Movement was a significant crusade for women that began in the late nineteenth century and flourished throughout Europe and the United States for the rest of the twentieth century. Advocates for women's rights initiated this movement as they yearned for equality and equal participation and representation in society. Throughout all of history, the jobs of women ranged from housewives to factory workers, yet oppression by society, particularly men, accompanied them in their everyday lives. Not until the end of the nineteenth century did women begin to voice their frustrations about the inequalities among men and women, and these new proclamations would be the basis for a society with opportunities starting to open for

The current counterculture and social upheavals of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war caused this new feminism to emerge, signaling the beginning of a transforming era in women’s history (TWE, 607). Women were tired of living in a man’s world where they

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.

Around the years 1848 and 1869, the Feminist and Suffrage movement started to take off, and was named "the emergence of an independent women 's movement in America" (Dubois Title). During these times, societal standards taught that a woman belonged either in the kitchen, or serving her family. This presented few opportunities for education and/or careers for women. In turn, many women realized they didn 't want to only serve their families, or even have a family. They decided to stand up for themselves. This was the beginning of a revolution that is unfortunately still going on today.

Woman were highly involved during the Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century. It all began with a speech gave to the public by Rose Schneiderman after a fire killed 146 workers that were mostly women in a New York City business. During this incident fire exits were blocked it, which indicated that it was not an accidental fire. In her speech, she addressed the fact that woman continuously had to tolerate this type of behavior because whenever they tried to protest the law shut them down immediately. Sadly, this was not the only incident that occurred during this period. Another woman known as Anna Howard Shaw, brought to the public eyes attention how men thought women should not be allowed to vote because they were too emotional,

The women’s rights movement was a huge turning point for women because they had succeeded in the altering of their status as a group and changing their lives of countless men and women. Gender, Ideology, and Historical Change: Explaining the Women’s Movement was a great chapter because it explained and analyzed the change and causes of the women’s movement. Elaine Tyler May’s essay, Cold War Ideology and the Rise of Feminism and Women’s Liberation and Sixties Radicalism by Alice Echols both gave important but different opinions and ideas about the women’s movement. Also, the primary sources reflect a number of economic, cultural, political, and demographic influences on the women’s movement. This chapter

I had never really thought about what it meant to be a feminist, it was just a role I had unquestionably assumed as I consider myself to be an advocate of women empowerment. After last week’s readings, I began to question what exactly does being a feminist entails, and why the label carries very different meanings and connotations to different people. There is a common misconception that feminists are radicals, seeking to be superior to men. This is rooted in the fact that women today do not face the same struggles as its predecessors; namely, the inability to vote, work, study, and own property, to name a few. It is true that I have more rights and privileges than women such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth,

During the late 1800s and early 1900s the feminist movement grew rapidly, beginning the era which would greatly impact the way women were perceived in society. Literature shows to be a direct reflection of the societal belief during the two reform eras in the late 1800s leading up to the 1930s. The most influential to literature of the time period was the second reform era which pushed for progressivism for a utopian society in which women could actively resist the roles of females being essentially required to live as “the common housewife”. Being stripped from their rights, women did not have the option of becoming independent and educated or becoming employed in a job of their choosings. Remaining at home women were not granted the equal rights of those that a white man held. Males seen as superior to females granted for women to marry at a young ages, bare children and obey to their husbands commands keeping them content with their doings. Traditional women roles at the time uniformly restricted them to their duties

Iris Marion Young has a very specific way that she presents her thoughts about the role of gender in society, culture, and politics. On February 6, 2017, the class was assigned to read her article “Gender as Seriality: Thinking about Women as a Social Collective”. Within this article, she talks about the complexities and challenges to a generalized conception of gender and women`s oppression by women of color, and lesbians. Within her paper, she incorporated from Elizabeth Spelman, Claudra Mohanty, Judith Butler, and many other theories ideas about the thoughts surrounding thinking about women as a social collective. Young describes the purpose of saying that women names a serious thus resolves the dilemma that has developed in feminist theory:

The Women’s Movement would have not become a part of our history if the first Women’s Convention had not formed. In July 1848, women activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who were also a part of the Abolition Movement, believed it was time for women to voice their opinions and bring about change. They fought for many issues such as women’s right to vote, education, civil rights and more. One major change that the Women’s Movement fought for years and accomplished was the establishment of the 19th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. The went about this by protesting and gathering together to make the awareness of women’s suffrage. Many states were winning the right to vote for women however, it took 42 years for it to finally become

“After thirty years of feminism, I look at the society in which I live. What has gone wrong? I ask myself. Though I wouldn't want to return to the situation women were placed in before this current feminist movement, it is also clear to me that many conditions of our lives have gotten worse, not better, since the onset of feminism,” (Gross np). From the words of Rita M. Gross in “What Went Wrong? Feminism and Freedom from the Prison of Gender Roles” featured in Cross Currents, the way feminism has evolved is a problem in which a new focus for feminism is needed for our generation to prosper. With the rise in modern feminism views and active protests, we, as a society, should not focus on defining equality among the sexes, but rather embrace

The women’s movement began in the nineteenth century when groups of women began to speak out against the feeling of separation, inequality, and limits that seemed to be placed on women because of their sex (Debois 18). By combining two aspects of the past, ante-bellum reform politics and the anti-slavery movement, women were able to gain knowledge of leadership on how to deal with the Women’s Right Movement and with this knowledge led the way to transform women’s social standing (Dubois 23). Similarly, the movement that made the largest impact on American societies of the 1960’s and 1970’s was the Civil Right Movement, which in turn affected the women’s movement (Freeman 513). According to

Throughout history, Canada’s identity has changed in many ways and there have been many historical events that have greatly shaped and impacted Canada’s history and identity. The Women’s Movement and women’s contribution in the past and throughout history has had the greatest impact on shaping Canada into what it is today. Among many identifying qualities like being multicultural, bilingual, and world leaders, Canada is also country that has changed immensely in the way of becoming a country that has learned to accept women, move towards providing them with equal opportunities and treating them equally. Through economic, social and political movements and actions, the contribution from women and the women’s movement have increased, changed and improved women’s rights and equality greatly. Women worked to create independence and equality economically through their contributions to war on the homefront in WWI resulting in greater workplace equality, socially through the actions of the Flappers in the 1920’s giving women currently, the confidence and strength that they need to speak up, and politically, through the work of the Suffragists including the Famous 5 to allow women to have the same political rights as men.

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary