Feminism has been born through decades of ignorance and misguidance, a perception of a weaker sex, and a belief that equality is not truly meant for all. Because of this deprivation of equality and privileges that exist exclusively for men, decades of work have been put forth from the feminist movement to ensure that no woman will any longer be held back or have opportunities revoked simply for having the status of a “weaker” gender. Before taking this class, I was hesitant to ever label myself in such a manner and questioned those who had, but after reading Penny Weiss’ revealing piece “I am not a feminist, but …” I no longer have that same reluctance.…
Feminist issues are not and never will be “one size fits all.” What is important to the masses cannot be defined by the few of a common identity; the current hegemony of white feminists leading the movement has resulted in a cause solely concentrated on the challenges they find pressing. Minority feminist groups have felt marginalized from the progression of feminism, and often go undocumented for building a premise of racially tolerant political action groups. The phrase “multiracial feminism” is defined as feminism based on the examination of dominance through understanding social constructs of race, ethnicity, tradition, and culture (Thompson, 33). Moreover, each…
Further than just excluding the trans-gender community from access to LGBT support and funds, Ross argues the predominate wealthy, gay male agenda directly oppresses such communities. She draws upon the forced…
In the 18th to 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution, gender equality rights were harsh making it difficult to work in the textile mills. Factories required Women and young children to take on the roles as mill workers to help the families to survive. While men were out in the fields working, women worked harder in the factories making much less than the men. Women worked longer days, starting from before sunrise to past sundown then most men. In addition, women worked in factories with dangerous machines, rats, and overall filthy working conditions. As a result, the female mill workers in America and England shared experiences of inequality due to the amount of money they made, the horrible conditions they had to work in, and their family life.…
The Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA, was a suggested amendment to the United States constitution constructed to guarantee equal rights for women. The amendment, originally written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman in 1923 and sponsored by the National Women’s Party, was introduced in every assembly of Congress until it passed in 1972. It stated that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Both Republican and Democrat Parties supported the amendment. When the Senate and House passed the Equal Rights Amendment by an unequal majority, the states were predicted to ratify the amendment.…
When infants are born, the first words uttered from the doctor is the sex of the child. As soon as the sex is announced, the baby is already perceived a certain way. By categorizing human beings into two different genders, male or female, you are limiting these people by gender roles and societal expectations. When doing this it causes harm to anyone who strays from their gender or sex assigned at birth. A term to describe these people is transgender. A transgender person is someone whose identity is not the same as their gender assigned at birth. Many other identifying people fall under this category.It is time to deconstruct society's views on gender and provide necessary rights to transgender individuals. Transgender people not being accepted into society is a significant problem in contemporary culture that challenges the traditional norms of the gender binary.…
Bornstein (1994) states that “But the need for a recognizable identity, and the need to belong to a group of people with a similar identity-these are driving forces in our culture, and nowhere is this more evident than in the areas of gender and sexuality” (3).Transgender people face discrimination because they are not being accepted in society because of their sexual orientation. Also, they are not classified as men or women. They are categorized as unknown .Borstein (1994) states that “In most cultures, were assigned a gender at birth .In our culture once you’ve been assigned a gender, that what you are” (22).The changes that should reduce and eliminate inequality is by accept transgender as a sex category. Therefore, unknown category should be elimininated.Trangendered should be treated equality by integrating them in workforce and providing them opportunities .Also, there should be no limitation based on their sexual…
In my own opinion, the Equal Rights Amendment was founded and supported by influential suffragists whose efforts should not die in vain. I believe that we, as a nation, should ratify this amendment. The oppositions are founded upon old ideologies that no longer fit into today's society. These oppositions are outdated and, many of which, have already occurred without even passing the amendment (not that I believe that is a bad thing at all). These oppositions are the result of outdated mindsets, fear mongering, and ignorance from lack of willingness to educate onself. In this day and age, I am honestly appalled that our nation does not have an Equal Rights Amendment. If we are to be the home of the free and the brave, we ought to educate one…
The United States is seen as the face of freedom and people migrate from all over the world to get the same rights as U.S. citizens. Under the constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment does not guarantee women the same rights as men. Thanks to Susan B. Anthony, on August 26, 1920, the only right the Constitution specifically states to be equal for women and men, is the right to vote under the nineteenth amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), was written by Alice Paul and passed by Congress on March 22, 1972. The amendment was sent to the states for ratification as an introduction to banning discrimination based on gender.…
Imagine having only one purpose in life: to serve men. Your place was to cook, clean, bear children, and look pretty. You had no right to vote or to live your own life in the way you wanted to. This is what women have faced for countless years leading up to the Women’s Rights Movement. Even though many women took on tremendous workloads and dangerous risks during the American Revolution, they still were not granted freedom. It was in early July, 1848 when action is finally take. The Women’s Rights Movement was a major event that led to an abundance of new opportunities for women and left behind an ever-lasting drive for women to continue their fight for equality.…
A woman the age of twenty-five has decided that she does not wish to have children. She does the research, has a competent argument on why she does not wish to reproduce. She is not particularly fond of children. She has no desire to be a parent or raise a child. She does not have the resources to raise another person to adulthood and she does believe she is or ever will be responsible enough to raise another human being. She decided to go to her gynecologist and they have an appointment. She outlines her reasons and sticks to them like glue. The woman is adamant about becoming sterile. Her doctor becomes apprehensive toward her request after addressing the permanence and the risks. Despite the woman’s research and her beliefs on remaining childless, her physician outright denies her request. Recently, more and more women are choosing to remain childless. The way of life, dubbed child-free, is quickly catching on. These women may be either…
Laws on woman’s rights have changed a lot since the 1900’s. Women weren’t allowed to vote, get an education, and have high authority in jobs. Now, women are allowed to do all of these things and more. But have things really changed, or are they just more hidden? There are three ways in which women are discriminated against: in the workplace, television, and in politics.…
America was built on the idea of freedom and equality. So why it is that some are more equal than others? This comes from white supremacist groups wanting more rights and other improvements over people who are not white. America may claim to be equal to all but some are more equal for these rights than others.…
The oppression of women in a everyday life was noticeable in the 19th century. This oppression wasnt not only present in their duties at home, but made ways into womans health issues as well. Women in the 19th century suffered from postpartum depression in which they were misdiagnosed, because postpartum, like any other womans disease, was treated as illnes of the womb. When any women was sick with any kind of illnes they would bassically classify the illnes under one category “as a disease of the womb. “The Yellow Wallpaper,” (Gilma), affirms that the cruelty of women resulted in their unfair medical treatment, which, in the end, resulted in life in prison.…
Feminism is a practice that strives to end discrimination, exploitation, and oppression of people due to their gender, sexual orientation, race, and class (About Education, 2015). For several years women have been trying to gain equality with men and still trying. One of the purposes of the feminist movement is ensure the rights of women who have been deprived of their equality and privileges just because they are a female. I believe that a woman should have equal rights as a man, and even though this movement have come a long way where women now have the rights to vote and hold government positions similar to men they are still being treated unfairly. I fully support the feminism practice because it’s beneficial not only to women, but also…