The Women's Liberation Movement
The Women 's Liberation Movement
Since the beginning of time, women had been working to advance their place in society. From the Stone Age through the twentieth century, individuals and organized groups had felt that women were treated unequally, and they vowed to do something about it. Perhaps the peak of this movement occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Women 's Liberation Movement was recognized as an organized effort to gain equality of women.
Beginning in ancient times, women of the Prehistoric Age were first considered inferior through division of labor. The men were sent to hunt, and the women stayed at home gathering vegetables while taking care of the children. This creation of sexually depicted roles implied that women were too fragile and weak to go out hunting with the men (Sinclair 184). The New Stone Age, or Neolithic Age, kept women 's status inferior to that of men. They were still in charge of gathering and farming, which led them to many technological advances in the fields of plowing and cooking. Although the contributions of women were unmatched by most men in this era, the male race still reigned supreme (Sinclair 186). In later years, renowned scientist Sigmond Freud drew some astounding conclusions about humans through his research. He found that the development of boys and girls were similar until the age of five where the phallic stage begins. From there, each sex takes an interest in their own genitals. It is here where he states that females develop a complex known as penis envy. He says that from then on, females feel that they are lacking as people because they do not have male genitals (Sinclair 16). "According to Freud, woman is passive, masochistic, and narcissistic. Woman 's inferiority is anatomically based. She is an incomplete 'maimed ' man because she lacks a penis" (Sinclair 15). This conclusion is the basis for the feeling of inferiority placed upon women from Freud 's time until the present.
It was in the
Since the beginning of time, women had been working to advance their place in society. From the Stone Age through the twentieth century, individuals and organized groups had felt that women were treated unequally, and they vowed to do something about it. Perhaps the peak of this movement occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Women 's Liberation Movement was recognized as an organized effort to gain equality of women.
Beginning in ancient times, women of the Prehistoric Age were first considered inferior through division of labor. The men were sent to hunt, and the women stayed at home gathering vegetables while taking care of the children. This creation of sexually depicted roles implied that women were too fragile and weak to go out hunting with the men (Sinclair 184). The New Stone Age, or Neolithic Age, kept women 's status inferior to that of men. They were still in charge of gathering and farming, which led them to many technological advances in the fields of plowing and cooking. Although the contributions of women were unmatched by most men in this era, the male race still reigned supreme (Sinclair 186). In later years, renowned scientist Sigmond Freud drew some astounding conclusions about humans through his research. He found that the development of boys and girls were similar until the age of five where the phallic stage begins. From there, each sex takes an interest in their own genitals. It is here where he states that females develop a complex known as penis envy. He says that from then on, females feel that they are lacking as people because they do not have male genitals (Sinclair 16). "According to Freud, woman is passive, masochistic, and narcissistic. Woman 's inferiority is anatomically based. She is an incomplete 'maimed ' man because she lacks a penis" (Sinclair 15). This conclusion is the basis for the feeling of inferiority placed upon women from Freud 's time until the present.
It was in the
Cited: Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1978. Evans, Sara. Personal Politics. New York: Vintage Press, 1979. Friedan, Betty. It Changed My Life. New York: Random House, 1976. Ryan, Barbara. Feminism and the Women 's Movement. New York: Rutledge, 1992. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972. New York: Ace Books, 1970.