Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman ...Monday, May 18, 2009
final essay two
Final Essay Two
What is Feminism?
Feminism is defined in different words by different people. The movement is viewed as good by some and as the most detrimental action against women ever. You both agree with it and love it or you are adamantly against it. The definitions to the word feminism are as varied.
The Encarta Dictionary; belief in women’s rights, belief in the need to secure rights and opportunities for women equal to those of men, or a commitment to securing these rights. A feminist is a woman who peruses these rights. The text book had several other definitions this is a favorite one “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” (Cheris Kramerae, The F Word p. 1) There are others and some of them will be covered in this essay.
The Women’s Movement started in the mid-eighteen hundreds. Women began to push for the right to vote. They were feeling that surely if the black man received the vote, that surely the women would also, this did not happen and it was many years and a long extended fight for the ladies to finally get the vote in 1920. It appears that to change the minds of men is a most difficult and evolved process. It is amazing how very stubborn and set in their ways they can be, even when proven that there is a better way, they hold on to traditions and “it’s the way it has always been done” attitude. During this first wave of feminism the emphases was almost entirely on the right to Vote. Just getting this done took approximately 80years. It is amazing that prohibition, which was more designed to take away man’s pleasures, than women’s voting was took much less time to get done. But, when one considers that prohibition did not last long, perhaps the long struggle for emancipation for women’s vote was for the best in the long run; because we still have the right to vote. It would make a great impact on political policies if the young women of today would exercise that right. During the second wave of feminism the main focus was on equality in the workplace and for the right to get an adequate education in order to be able to fill the better high-level jobs with women. We did not want all the top jobs, just a fair share. The second wave achieved some head way but there is still so much to be accomplished.
This third wave is left with the tremendous job of completing what the second brought to light. Equality for everyone is quit a job assignment. In this world of racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression, the third wave must do the impossible; finish what the second wave started.
Gender must be studied and understood, sexual preferences must be allowed, racism must be eradicated, equal pay must be the norm, paid leaves for pregnancies must be made available on the job, battered families must cease to happen, women and men should have the right to chose if a child is to be born (birth control should be free and abortions should be a free choice), and so many more issues.
It is amazing that the one word feminism and its movement includes the battles to solve the issues listed above, but it does and will more than likely take on more as time passes. How will women manage to solve these issues witch directly affect them in one way or another is left hidden in the future, but solve them they will. Women are not ones to easily stop and lest an issue die, they will keep at the makers of the laws and at the need for education children from pre-school up in how to treat each other in a fair and equal way. It will not be done over night, but some day, perhaps, there will be equality and peace between the races and the sexes.
The best way for women today to battle the issues of feminism is through politics. They must get involved and voting is the start of becoming involved with the community and the government. The power that a united woman’s movement would have is enormous. The politicians do not pay attention small groups, but a very large enough number of people will be heard and headed, especially if their jobs are threatened.
Homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals. If they chose to take on all the problems, as well as the pleasures of marriage, they should be able to have that choice. If children are a part of family, why should the privacy of the bedroom have a part in the right to have kids or not? Children by the hundred come to those who do not want them. So, why deny them to those who do want them?
Sexual freedom is another of the second wave issues and thought had been achieved with the right to abortions passed and the pill in production and available. But it seems that it is still a very large problem. Being with someone we chose is a basic liberty. “The Pursuit of Happiness” this should not be an issue for the government or anyone outside to be involved with. It is personal and should be a private matter. A worse issue is battering.
Battering has always been a part of man’s history. There are men who have the need to beat upon persons who are weaker than they. Whether it’s a man/woman beating children, a husband beating his wife, beating another person is wrong and should not, must not be tolerated.
Laws preventing this are not effective and must be made so that the punishment for battering is greater that the persons need to beat. Usually the beating is to control the other, so if the law punishment is really harsh, perhaps the satisfaction of beating will not be worth the punishment and it will stop. There has to be a way to keep children and women and men safe from loved one hurting them. Education is another way to assist in stopping abuse. Education for all involved in the situation will help and ongoing check-ups for those who have been battered or were batters may keep it from reoccurring.
Feminism needs to be published in all Medias. There should be movies, newspaper ads and articles, T.V. news items, and other means of getting the message out. If necessary, perhaps the protest movements can be reinstituted. Anything to bring attention to the needs and issues women face in today world. Women must take an active and productive role in the future. Quoting Bell Hooks “While visionary feminist thinkers have understood our need for a broad-based feminist movement, one that addressed the needs of girls and boys, women and men, across class, we have not produced a body of visionary feminist theory written in an accessible language or shared through oral communication.” And she continues with “Most people in our society do not have a basic understanding of feminism; they cannot acquire that understanding from a wealth of diverse material, grade school-level primers, and so on, because this material does not exist.” (Feminism is for Everybody p.112) This is very good advice and should be followed up by every woman and man who believes in equality and the fair treatment of our citizens. The white upper class women have always been the leaders of the movement. It is now for other women, women of color, to take the lead and push for equality in their own right.
Not alone, but along with the white woman, whether she is rich or poor, joined together women would be a driving unstoppable force. Personally I would love to see the peace protests resumed and end this endless war and to promote the women’s issues again. Women made a difference in the past; there is no reason except the lack of interest, for them not to make a difference in the future.
“Because feminism is a movement to end sexism and sexist domination and oppression, a struggle that includes efforts to end gender discrimination and create equality, it is fundamentally a radical movement.” (Bell Hooks, FIFE, p.113) This is my favorite definition of feminism and one I can associate myself with. I have always been on the radical side and the fighting for simple equality and freedom is one I have always pursued. There is no doubt that I am a feminist and will die one. I wish I was able to be as active as I once was, because the job is not done and the movement needs to be pushed, enlivened, and the young women of today have so much more to offer and to gain by being involved with the policies that will affect their and their daughters in the future. If I could bring to them some of the feelings and enthusiasm of the seventies I would do so, but how I don’t know. They hold not only the future of feminism, but the history as well in their hands. It is with prayer and hope that I hope they will not let it die a slow death of neglect and loose the hard gained progress Women’s Lib has gained over the last one hundred and fifty or so years.
What is Feminism?
Feminism is defined in different words by different people. The movement is viewed as good by some and as the most detrimental action against women ever. You both agree with it and love it or you are adamantly against it. The definitions to the word feminism are as varied.
The Encarta Dictionary; belief in women’s rights, belief in the need to secure rights and opportunities for women equal to those of men, or a commitment to securing these rights. A feminist is a woman who peruses these rights. The text book had several other definitions this is a favorite one “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” (Cheris Kramerae, The F Word p. 1) There are others and some of them will be covered in this essay.
The Women’s Movement started in the mid-eighteen hundreds. Women began to push for the right to vote. They were feeling that surely if the black man received the vote, that surely the women would also, this did not happen and it was many years and a long extended fight for the ladies to finally get the vote in 1920. It appears that to change the minds of men is a most difficult and evolved process. It is amazing how very stubborn and set in their ways they can be, even when proven that there is a better way, they hold on to traditions and “it’s the way it has always been done” attitude. During this first wave of feminism the emphases was almost entirely on the right to Vote. Just getting this done took approximately 80years. It is amazing that prohibition, which was more designed to take away man’s pleasures, than women’s voting was took much less time to get done. But, when one considers that prohibition did not last long, perhaps the long struggle for emancipation for women’s vote was for the best in the long run; because we still have the right to vote. It would make a great impact on political policies if the young women of today would exercise that right. During the second wave of feminism the main focus was on equality in the workplace and for the right to get an adequate education in order to be able to fill the better high-level jobs with women. We did not want all the top jobs, just a fair share. The second wave achieved some head way but there is still so much to be accomplished.
This third wave is left with the tremendous job of completing what the second brought to light. Equality for everyone is quit a job assignment. In this world of racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression, the third wave must do the impossible; finish what the second wave started.
Gender must be studied and understood, sexual preferences must be allowed, racism must be eradicated, equal pay must be the norm, paid leaves for pregnancies must be made available on the job, battered families must cease to happen, women and men should have the right to chose if a child is to be born (birth control should be free and abortions should be a free choice), and so many more issues.
It is amazing that the one word feminism and its movement includes the battles to solve the issues listed above, but it does and will more than likely take on more as time passes. How will women manage to solve these issues witch directly affect them in one way or another is left hidden in the future, but solve them they will. Women are not ones to easily stop and lest an issue die, they will keep at the makers of the laws and at the need for education children from pre-school up in how to treat each other in a fair and equal way. It will not be done over night, but some day, perhaps, there will be equality and peace between the races and the sexes.
The best way for women today to battle the issues of feminism is through politics. They must get involved and voting is the start of becoming involved with the community and the government. The power that a united woman’s movement would have is enormous. The politicians do not pay attention small groups, but a very large enough number of people will be heard and headed, especially if their jobs are threatened.
Homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals. If they chose to take on all the problems, as well as the pleasures of marriage, they should be able to have that choice. If children are a part of family, why should the privacy of the bedroom have a part in the right to have kids or not? Children by the hundred come to those who do not want them. So, why deny them to those who do want them?
Sexual freedom is another of the second wave issues and thought had been achieved with the right to abortions passed and the pill in production and available. But it seems that it is still a very large problem. Being with someone we chose is a basic liberty. “The Pursuit of Happiness” this should not be an issue for the government or anyone outside to be involved with. It is personal and should be a private matter. A worse issue is battering.
Battering has always been a part of man’s history. There are men who have the need to beat upon persons who are weaker than they. Whether it’s a man/woman beating children, a husband beating his wife, beating another person is wrong and should not, must not be tolerated.
Laws preventing this are not effective and must be made so that the punishment for battering is greater that the persons need to beat. Usually the beating is to control the other, so if the law punishment is really harsh, perhaps the satisfaction of beating will not be worth the punishment and it will stop. There has to be a way to keep children and women and men safe from loved one hurting them. Education is another way to assist in stopping abuse. Education for all involved in the situation will help and ongoing check-ups for those who have been battered or were batters may keep it from reoccurring.
Feminism needs to be published in all Medias. There should be movies, newspaper ads and articles, T.V. news items, and other means of getting the message out. If necessary, perhaps the protest movements can be reinstituted. Anything to bring attention to the needs and issues women face in today world. Women must take an active and productive role in the future. Quoting Bell Hooks “While visionary feminist thinkers have understood our need for a broad-based feminist movement, one that addressed the needs of girls and boys, women and men, across class, we have not produced a body of visionary feminist theory written in an accessible language or shared through oral communication.” And she continues with “Most people in our society do not have a basic understanding of feminism; they cannot acquire that understanding from a wealth of diverse material, grade school-level primers, and so on, because this material does not exist.” (Feminism is for Everybody p.112) This is very good advice and should be followed up by every woman and man who believes in equality and the fair treatment of our citizens. The white upper class women have always been the leaders of the movement. It is now for other women, women of color, to take the lead and push for equality in their own right.
Not alone, but along with the white woman, whether she is rich or poor, joined together women would be a driving unstoppable force. Personally I would love to see the peace protests resumed and end this endless war and to promote the women’s issues again. Women made a difference in the past; there is no reason except the lack of interest, for them not to make a difference in the future.
“Because feminism is a movement to end sexism and sexist domination and oppression, a struggle that includes efforts to end gender discrimination and create equality, it is fundamentally a radical movement.” (Bell Hooks, FIFE, p.113) This is my favorite definition of feminism and one I can associate myself with. I have always been on the radical side and the fighting for simple equality and freedom is one I have always pursued. There is no doubt that I am a feminist and will die one. I wish I was able to be as active as I once was, because the job is not done and the movement needs to be pushed, enlivened, and the young women of today have so much more to offer and to gain by being involved with the policies that will affect their and their daughters in the future. If I could bring to them some of the feelings and enthusiasm of the seventies I would do so, but how I don’t know. They hold not only the future of feminism, but the history as well in their hands. It is with prayer and hope that I hope they will not let it die a slow death of neglect and loose the hard gained progress Women’s Lib has gained over the last one hundred and fifty or so years.
final essay one
Final Essay One
Readings;
The five readings that will be reviewed and this essay are White Privilege and Male Privilege by Peggy McIntosh; Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher; The Will to Change: Man, Masculinity, and Love by Bell Hooks; Fresh Lipstick by Linda M. Scott; and The Opt-Out Revolution by Lisa Belkin. These readings brought to the reader insight into many of the issues which continue to be unresolved and of great importance to the feminist movement. Each of these readings approached one or more of the inequalities and suppressions of women that are continuing unresolved issues of today. It is the intention of this essay to explain the main thesis of each article and how they work together in showing how much of the issues facing the third wave of the women’s movement are still unresolved and requiring the attention of all young women of today.
The fight for equality and the freedom to choose one’s own pathway in life started many years ago by women fighting for the right to vote. In reality they were fighting for the recognition of being human with all the rights that entailed. They achieved the vote, but did not gain the equality of being a reasoning human being. Women remained constrained by social and traditional boundaries which limited their roles to those occupations which were considered proper for the ‘weaker sex’ that being ‘women’s work’ such as stay at home mothers, teachers, waitresses, nurses, and the other womanly work.
In White Privilege and Male Privilege by McIntosh the privileges of being male were demonstrated by revealing some of the rights that are so taken for granted that most are totally unaware that everyone does not have these ordinary rights. The really surprising things she had to explain were the rights of being white. Some of these privileges are so common place that it was difficult to realize that they were actually a privilege. These rights were everyday happenings that when explained in the terms of privileges those of us who are white were quite surprised to realize that we were unconsciously being racist and suppressive of others. To quote McIntosh “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege….I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious.” She lists forty-six ways whites enjoy privileges over other races. They range from being able to find and share ideas with people of the white race anywhere at any time. To being able to find employment, entrance into schools, and to finding housing in any part of the country without difficulty and harassment these are a few of the white privileges mentioned.
As for the male privileges these transcend the race barriers and are found in almost every society. Men have always had the top and women have always been secondary to them. Even today, although not as much, men still are in the positions of control and have the higher incomes, which give them the authority both in public and in private life. McIntosh writes “I have…noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged…, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged. Denials that amount to taboos surround the subject of advantages that men gain from women’s disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being fully recognized, acknowledged, lessened, or ended.” If we are unable to get men to realize that they have unfair advantages, they will never acknowledge that women are kept at a disadvantage yet today. The work started by our ancestral grand-mothers is not finished. There is a very long way to go to reach economic and other types of equality. Some of those are the subjects of the next four articles.
Reviving Ophelia is an essay written about young girls and the way they are stereo-typed into being the little ladies that society expects them to be. By the time a girl reaches early adolescence they are expected to fit the mold of womanhood. Society neatly packages boys and girls in to what they think they should be, but this mold does not always fit the individual and this causes the child to feel bad about his/her self and girls according to Pipher;
Something dramatic happens to girls in early adolescence.
Just as planes and ships disappear mysteriously in the Bermuda
Triangle, so do the selves of girls go down in droves. They
crash and burn in a social and developmental Bermuda Triangle.
In early adolescence, studies show that girls’ IQ scores drop
and their math and science scores plummet. They lose their
resiliency and optimism and become less curious and inclined to
take risks. They lose their assertive, energetic and “tomboyish”
personalities and become more deferential, self-critical and
depressed. They report great unhappiness with their own bodies.
This is not necessarily true for all young girls, but it does occur in more than just a few and it is a product of our society. The media and the expectation that women and girls place on themselves to fit the perfect mold that our culture has placed upon the females in our country are unrealistic and unreasonable. The gender difference here is very pronounced. There is much less pressure on boys to meet a specific body model. There are social pressures on boys to be “men” and this is also unfair. Children should be allowed to be children and to become androgynous to find the gender fit that makes them happy and content to be themselves. This gender theme is carried along with Bell Hooks essay The Will to Change; (Being a Boy).
Hooks writes quoting Christina Sommers; “….feminists thinkers are as critical of sexist notions of femininity as we are of patriarchal notion of masculinity. It is patriarchy, in its denial of the full humanity of boys, that threatens the emotional lives of boys, not the feminist thinking. To change patriarchal “traditions” we must end patriarchy, in part by envisioning alternative ways of thinking about maleness, not only boyhood.” So, not only must we stop the way we think girls should be raised, we must also change the model for our sons. Hooks spends some time on the fact that mother’s, especially single moms, are afraid that if their boys do not have a male role model they will somehow grow up to be weak men and unable to compete in today’s society. “Homophobia underlies the fear that allowing boys to feel will turn them gay; this fear is often most intense in single-parent homes.” (Hooks 45) This article brings to attention the fact that not only to girls suffer from gender inequality, but so do boys. The inequality of gender is a two way street and in order to bring women gender equality; we must bring men the same equality.
Linda M. Scott takes a totally different look at the feminist movement and makes an argument against the reasoning that the movement is for all women. She writes that only the women who have the economic and class advantages to dress the part have benefited from the movement. Scott has made the movement a fashion argument, not a political one.
She writes:
…feminism’s antibeauty ideology serves the interests of the few
at the expense of the many. The social superiority of feminist dress
reformers on dimensions of class, education, and ethnicity is
recurrent: Inver generation, the women with more education, more
leisure, and more connections to institutions of power –from the
church, to the press, to the university—have been the ones who tried
to tell other women what they must wear in order to be liberated.
This was a very different and interesting view, but not one that is necessarily of much importance in the movement of women’s rights. It was never a matter of consideration. You were allowed to dress as you chose. There were and are much more important issues in the women’s liberation movement than dress and apparel. The point of class and economics is of value; these women were able to do more and spend more in advancing the movement. They also, were able to influence more of the government as well as the press in the changes that needed to be made. There is no way the movement would have made as much progress as it did, without those rich and generous women, who talked and talked to the men who changed the laws.
There are many issues witch still are in need of work by the feminist movement, yet without the young women taking an active role both in the home, at work, and in politics; both voting and running for office, there will be little gained.
It is to be hoped that they do not take the easy way out and do as the rich women in The Opt-Out Revolution by Lisa Belkin did. Even when it becomes difficult women should always find ways to stay in the working world and if not to stay active in the political world. Opting out is not a good way to live your life. Quitting is not a satisfactory way to solve any kind of problem. These women were able to just stay at home because of the income their husbands had and were not dependent upon their jobs. Most women do not have the choice to opt out and must work to support their families.
It would be great to see a world or just this country with equality and fair treatment to all its citizens, but humans being human, this will probably not happen with out a great deal of change. Changes in attitudes, changes in outlooks, changes in acceptance of differences, and many others, but there is always hope and that inch by inch, little by little, man and woman are reaching out to each other and trying to find that balance that will set us all equal and free.
Readings;
The five readings that will be reviewed and this essay are White Privilege and Male Privilege by Peggy McIntosh; Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher; The Will to Change: Man, Masculinity, and Love by Bell Hooks; Fresh Lipstick by Linda M. Scott; and The Opt-Out Revolution by Lisa Belkin. These readings brought to the reader insight into many of the issues which continue to be unresolved and of great importance to the feminist movement. Each of these readings approached one or more of the inequalities and suppressions of women that are continuing unresolved issues of today. It is the intention of this essay to explain the main thesis of each article and how they work together in showing how much of the issues facing the third wave of the women’s movement are still unresolved and requiring the attention of all young women of today.
The fight for equality and the freedom to choose one’s own pathway in life started many years ago by women fighting for the right to vote. In reality they were fighting for the recognition of being human with all the rights that entailed. They achieved the vote, but did not gain the equality of being a reasoning human being. Women remained constrained by social and traditional boundaries which limited their roles to those occupations which were considered proper for the ‘weaker sex’ that being ‘women’s work’ such as stay at home mothers, teachers, waitresses, nurses, and the other womanly work.
In White Privilege and Male Privilege by McIntosh the privileges of being male were demonstrated by revealing some of the rights that are so taken for granted that most are totally unaware that everyone does not have these ordinary rights. The really surprising things she had to explain were the rights of being white. Some of these privileges are so common place that it was difficult to realize that they were actually a privilege. These rights were everyday happenings that when explained in the terms of privileges those of us who are white were quite surprised to realize that we were unconsciously being racist and suppressive of others. To quote McIntosh “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege….I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious.” She lists forty-six ways whites enjoy privileges over other races. They range from being able to find and share ideas with people of the white race anywhere at any time. To being able to find employment, entrance into schools, and to finding housing in any part of the country without difficulty and harassment these are a few of the white privileges mentioned.
As for the male privileges these transcend the race barriers and are found in almost every society. Men have always had the top and women have always been secondary to them. Even today, although not as much, men still are in the positions of control and have the higher incomes, which give them the authority both in public and in private life. McIntosh writes “I have…noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged…, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged. Denials that amount to taboos surround the subject of advantages that men gain from women’s disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being fully recognized, acknowledged, lessened, or ended.” If we are unable to get men to realize that they have unfair advantages, they will never acknowledge that women are kept at a disadvantage yet today. The work started by our ancestral grand-mothers is not finished. There is a very long way to go to reach economic and other types of equality. Some of those are the subjects of the next four articles.
Reviving Ophelia is an essay written about young girls and the way they are stereo-typed into being the little ladies that society expects them to be. By the time a girl reaches early adolescence they are expected to fit the mold of womanhood. Society neatly packages boys and girls in to what they think they should be, but this mold does not always fit the individual and this causes the child to feel bad about his/her self and girls according to Pipher;
Something dramatic happens to girls in early adolescence.
Just as planes and ships disappear mysteriously in the Bermuda
Triangle, so do the selves of girls go down in droves. They
crash and burn in a social and developmental Bermuda Triangle.
In early adolescence, studies show that girls’ IQ scores drop
and their math and science scores plummet. They lose their
resiliency and optimism and become less curious and inclined to
take risks. They lose their assertive, energetic and “tomboyish”
personalities and become more deferential, self-critical and
depressed. They report great unhappiness with their own bodies.
This is not necessarily true for all young girls, but it does occur in more than just a few and it is a product of our society. The media and the expectation that women and girls place on themselves to fit the perfect mold that our culture has placed upon the females in our country are unrealistic and unreasonable. The gender difference here is very pronounced. There is much less pressure on boys to meet a specific body model. There are social pressures on boys to be “men” and this is also unfair. Children should be allowed to be children and to become androgynous to find the gender fit that makes them happy and content to be themselves. This gender theme is carried along with Bell Hooks essay The Will to Change; (Being a Boy).
Hooks writes quoting Christina Sommers; “….feminists thinkers are as critical of sexist notions of femininity as we are of patriarchal notion of masculinity. It is patriarchy, in its denial of the full humanity of boys, that threatens the emotional lives of boys, not the feminist thinking. To change patriarchal “traditions” we must end patriarchy, in part by envisioning alternative ways of thinking about maleness, not only boyhood.” So, not only must we stop the way we think girls should be raised, we must also change the model for our sons. Hooks spends some time on the fact that mother’s, especially single moms, are afraid that if their boys do not have a male role model they will somehow grow up to be weak men and unable to compete in today’s society. “Homophobia underlies the fear that allowing boys to feel will turn them gay; this fear is often most intense in single-parent homes.” (Hooks 45) This article brings to attention the fact that not only to girls suffer from gender inequality, but so do boys. The inequality of gender is a two way street and in order to bring women gender equality; we must bring men the same equality.
Linda M. Scott takes a totally different look at the feminist movement and makes an argument against the reasoning that the movement is for all women. She writes that only the women who have the economic and class advantages to dress the part have benefited from the movement. Scott has made the movement a fashion argument, not a political one.
She writes:
…feminism’s antibeauty ideology serves the interests of the few
at the expense of the many. The social superiority of feminist dress
reformers on dimensions of class, education, and ethnicity is
recurrent: Inver generation, the women with more education, more
leisure, and more connections to institutions of power –from the
church, to the press, to the university—have been the ones who tried
to tell other women what they must wear in order to be liberated.
This was a very different and interesting view, but not one that is necessarily of much importance in the movement of women’s rights. It was never a matter of consideration. You were allowed to dress as you chose. There were and are much more important issues in the women’s liberation movement than dress and apparel. The point of class and economics is of value; these women were able to do more and spend more in advancing the movement. They also, were able to influence more of the government as well as the press in the changes that needed to be made. There is no way the movement would have made as much progress as it did, without those rich and generous women, who talked and talked to the men who changed the laws.
There are many issues witch still are in need of work by the feminist movement, yet without the young women taking an active role both in the home, at work, and in politics; both voting and running for office, there will be little gained.
It is to be hoped that they do not take the easy way out and do as the rich women in The Opt-Out Revolution by Lisa Belkin did. Even when it becomes difficult women should always find ways to stay in the working world and if not to stay active in the political world. Opting out is not a good way to live your life. Quitting is not a satisfactory way to solve any kind of problem. These women were able to just stay at home because of the income their husbands had and were not dependent upon their jobs. Most women do not have the choice to opt out and must work to support their families.
It would be great to see a world or just this country with equality and fair treatment to all its citizens, but humans being human, this will probably not happen with out a great deal of change. Changes in attitudes, changes in outlooks, changes in acceptance of differences, and many others, but there is always hope and that inch by inch, little by little, man and woman are reaching out to each other and trying to find that balance that will set us all equal and free.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Readings F-Word 9,10, 11, and FIFE 18 and 19
Reading 9, 10, & 11==Are about politics and feminism and the need to continue the battles in the legislative arena. It is vital the women become even more involed in the battle against laws that allow the continued inequality and abuse toward women and children in this country. It is impossible to envisison a nation where there are no women's issues, but that is the ultamate goal of all feminists. The slow, but best way is through education and the changing of laws. This can only be accomplished if women become more and more involved with not only taking offices in the government, but being active on the homefront; voting and being a part of the communities around them will greatly help the efforst being made.
FIFE 18 & 19 = I did not quite get these chapters. Is feminism a religion? I never thought so.
I agree that is visionary and that a lot of the goals are probably unattainable in the forseeable future, but I don't feel that it is a religion. As far as finding feminism is the present religions, anything is possible in God's Way, so if you want your God to be a Lady that's Ok Too.
FIFE 18 & 19 = I did not quite get these chapters. Is feminism a religion? I never thought so.
I agree that is visionary and that a lot of the goals are probably unattainable in the forseeable future, but I don't feel that it is a religion. As far as finding feminism is the present religions, anything is possible in God's Way, so if you want your God to be a Lady that's Ok Too.
Week 13: Center for Women Policy Studies
The Center for Women Policy Studies was founded in 1972 as the nation's first feminist policy analysis, research and advocacy institution. Their mission today is what it was then--to shape public policy to improve women's lives.
Can be reach at 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Suite 450
Washington, DC 20036 Website: http://www.centerwomenpolicy.org/
From the start the Center has brought the needs of women and girls to major public debates and continues working on such issues as; equality at workplaces, educational equality, violence against women and girls, reproductive rights, and health care cost for women. They address many other issues that affect women and women's issues. This has always been an affective and powerful organization. They consider the combined impact of gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Here's hoping that their tasks get completed and equality and humanity toward our fellows is obtained sometime in the near future.
Can be reach at 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Suite 450
Washington, DC 20036 Website: http://www.centerwomenpolicy.org/
From the start the Center has brought the needs of women and girls to major public debates and continues working on such issues as; equality at workplaces, educational equality, violence against women and girls, reproductive rights, and health care cost for women. They address many other issues that affect women and women's issues. This has always been an affective and powerful organization. They consider the combined impact of gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Here's hoping that their tasks get completed and equality and humanity toward our fellows is obtained sometime in the near future.
The Eternal Feminine NOTE
When opening the site you get a page saying the link is broken. Do the Google search and then under 9results stored on your computes hit The Eternal Feminine.mht link and the site will open for you. Rose
Week 11 The Essays
Essays by Enloe, Darraj, and Kumar/Ryan==
coffee workers in Central America, they work for an American Company.
Enloe wrote about global politics and how more women are needed in controlling positions to keep women issues addressed overseas as well as on the home. She was very informative about American companies (Nike) moving factories into third-world countries and paying very low wages and having little control of safety,etc. conditions exercised by the host countries.
Darraj wrote about women in Arabia and the new developments of feminism taking place in that country. It seems to be a very slow process, but spreading into even the most closed societies.
Arabia
Kumar/Ryan essay was written about Asia and the progress of feminism there. According to Stuart Hall as the essay quotes the civilizations of Asia are Diasporic meaning these people are not going to change, but Kumar and Ryan state there is evidence that they are slowly beginning a feminist movement among many of the Asian countries.India China
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Blog 9
Planned Parenthood 
I support Planned Parenthood this organization supports those who wish to have control over reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases. It is a natural right to be able to determine how one's body is used and having babies is a big project for the female body. The child shoves everything else aside and takes what space and substances it needs. It is much like a parasite. I think that every woman has the right to say how many times her body gets used this way.
Planned Parenthood is a related organization that lobbies the U.S. political system for pro-choice legislation, comprehensive sex education, and access to affordable health care during and after pregnancy.
The organization has it roots in Brooklyn, New York where Margaret Sanger opened the country's first birth control clinic in 1916. Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, which changed it name to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. in 1942.
Sanger went to jail 7-8 times for her stand for birth control which she had reasons for as described on the right side of this blog.
Dealing with sexuality, the organization is often the centre of controversy in the United States. The organization's status as the country's leading provider of surgical abortions has put it in the forefront of national debate over the issue. Planned Parenthood has also been a party in numerous Supreme Court cases.
Cecile Richards is the present president of the organization.
Planned Parenthood have provided access to birth control to those who cannot afford it. Abortion is a personal choice. If birth control was used an abortion most likely would never be necessary. There are and always be those which are necessary; to save a mother's life, to aide a child or adult woman of rape residue, and those which nature has caused the death of a fetus.
But to end the right to choice to just these considerations is wrong. No one has the right to force another to have an unwanted child.
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