Last semester I took the class “Women and Theory” taught by
Dr. Maloney, and because of that course Feminism is a topic I find very
interesting. While many people view
Feminism as a movement to change the patriarchy into a matriarchy, this is a
gross misunderstanding. Modern feminism can be divided into three different phases,
or “waves”, to characterize the progression of feminism. Many people attribute the
second wave of feminism to encompass feminism as a whole, and it is through
this that feminism got its unpleasant reputation. The second wave of feminism began
around the 1960s and continued into the 1990s. It is this wave that had the
loudest voice and most visible protesting, such as bra-burnings and picketing
male dominated businesses. While these women were important to the movement, Feminism
for the last 20 years has progressed to the third wave. This wave focuses on
gender equality within a currently patriarchal society. This ddoesn'tmean get
rid of gender all together, but instead to not define someone by their gender.
If a woman wants to wear a low-cut dress, she should be allowed to without
being called a slut. If a woman has the same job as you and does the same work,
they should get the same pay. All major social institutions have been characterized
by male dominance including:
economy, politics, family, and religion. This needs to
change, but I guess the real question is how?
Also if you have a couple minutes, here are some videos that rock:
Warning: These videos have some NSFW language
I totally agree with you that things should be equal.I also agree that changes should be made but I don;t know how because there has always been a gender equality in some aspect. So, I feel it would be difficult to change it in today's world because society has become so accustomed to men been superior.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point in this passage. Equality is something that we should all strive towards. We look over the years at the three different waves that you mentioned and we've moved forward tremendously in developing equal rights. We may not be where we need to be but with a little more time I believe that we can achieve this gender equality someday.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point at the end of the post saying, "we shouldn't get rid of gender, but we should stop defining people by his or her gender". Sometimes I believe men are put in charge of the economy, politics, family, etc. only because its "tradition" or it simply "looks good". Society defines women as emotional, the caregiver, and submissive so they don't get to be in charge or get equal opportunities as men. In reality some women perform at the same level if not better than some of the male figures in charge, so why not give women an equal opportunity?
ReplyDeleteI watched the video at the bottom with the princesses, and was a little stunned at first. From their point of view, I understand why they felt that way. I believe men are put in charge because of the time that women are required to take time off for growing the family. I don't believe they should be paid less for this though, in fact I believe they should be compensated for the time off so they do not have to stress financially.
ReplyDelete