Sexual Politics: Feminism - Essay Example

Analysis of Texts on Feminism Introduction The feminist movement tends to make reference to a series of events or campaigns aimed at influencing on reforms on social matters such as equal pay, the right for women to vote, sexual harassment, and domestic violence among a list of many others. Ideally, this aspect began in the developed nations and this movement took three waves which were the first wave, the second and the third waves respectively. The first wave had intentions of influencing women to have political equality just as men and also allow women to participate in elections, which was mainly around the upper and middle social classes of society. In the second and third wave, feminists addressed cultural inequalities and the third wave went ahead to advocate for financial and social inequalities alongside the cultural aspects that included their reproductive rights. Essentially, this topic has been of interests for many others as they took to literature to communicate this aspect through this form of art in order for them to capture a wider audience. In this regard, this essay will analyse three texts and their contribution to the feminist movement and the texts are The Feminism Critique by Friedan, Betty, The Second Sex by De Beauvoir Simone, and Sexual Politics by Millett Kate. Book and author information The 1963 book by Friedan, Betty titled The Feminine Mystique was one of the significant books in the second feminism wave in the USA as it sought to highlight how unhappy and discontent were with their lives after this author conducted a study of her former college classmates. Most of Friedan’s classmates were housewives most of them living in the suburbs, but most of the publishing houses did not want to publish the research findings because it was a sensitive matter at the time. Secondly, The Second Sex by French author De Beauvoir, Simone focuses on the treatment that women faced, although history and was significant at the onset of the second feminism wave. The year of publication of the book was 1949 in which Beauvoir intended to distinguish between sex and gender, where the society at that time could not set them apart as two different entities. The book helped to establish an identity for women rather than them having to be part of a group, which to many was a radicalized understanding of the gender perspective. Lastly, Sexual Politics is a 1969 book by author Millett, Kate was off the books that created intense discomfort for the male gender as it sought to critique and challenge the ways in which some authors the aspect of sexual relations (Appignanesi 47). Ideally, the book sparked controversy because Millet asserted that some authors mentioned in the text presented sex in a sexist manner, which was also significant during the start of the second feminism wave. The book attracted sharp critic as other men came out in support of the views that the perceived sexist men had over women and sexual relations, which to them was a misinterpretation of the Freudian theory. Analysis of the texts Friedan provides the findings of the research conducted on a chapter to chapter format in which each addresses different issues and concerns for the housewives in which the society at that time did not allow them to work. Essentially, most of the women that Friedan studied were not happy despite the fact that they lived in palatial homes that had everything in them, which was one of the notable concerns that elicited this research. The notion that Friedan negates is that women were content with them being homemakers, wives and mothers in that they wanted to be liberal into doing other things other than these. Essentially, the society at that time did not recognize that women had other talents or could develop their skills to be more productive individuals to which authors such as Friedan attempted to change this mindset. On the other hand, Beauvoir divides The Second Sex into several chapters and parts in which each of them tends to address inequality and the ways in which the society at that time viewed women. In a way, Beauvoir advocates for the freedom of women just like Friedan rather than men and the society in general, assuming that they were happy by being housed keepers and nothing more. The notion supported by both of these authors is that women were suffering in silence and hence they felt as though it was their responsibility to free them from the oppressive nature and undermining norms that could not allow this gender to have careers. However, Beauvoir challenges the norm in that The Second Sex highlights some of the significant people that were able to beat sadism to which they had achieved equality such as Clara and Robert Schumann. In a way, this author seems to be using these positive examples as a way of influencing other women to take up the challenge because they could also be better just as the men were in developing their careers. In contrast, Sexual Politics by Millet takes a diversionary approach to addressing feminism in that this author chooses to attack sexists head on by critiquing their views on women. However, the book is essential as it helps readers to understand the type of society that provoked the beginning of the second wave of feminism because of the chauvinistic and egotistic nature of men at that time. Further, Other than this, Millett also discusses other significant authors such as Sigmund Freud and Ruskin, John in which the views shared by this author incline towards misunderstanding what other authors meant rather than influencing the society to be more feminist (Wichita 102). Interestingly, Millets book attracted critic from unexpected quarters in which some women also did not agree with the way that this author had packaged feminist arguments indicating that it was more of a political rather than feminist. Controversies As compared to Friedan and Beauvoir, Millet seems to have written this book for personal gain rather than for the good of the society because it sparked discomfort between the genders. Rather than addressing this aspect from a positive perspective, Millet chooses to stir controversy by creating fury among the men folk because the men at that time did not agree to being challenged by women. Millett sought to enlighten women about the atrocities that men were committed to them, but also creates controversy after supporting the gender politics wring by gay writer Genet Jean (Millett 17). Beauvoir also does not swim far from controversy in The Second Sex in that the book justifies why women commit adultery, which is because of the lack of erotic satisfaction through marriage. Other than this, Beauvoir also seems to be in support of woman to woman relationships inclining that women are potentially attracted to one another, which is a radicalized approach that men could not agree to (Appignanesi 90). On the contrary, Friedan also received critical for The Feminine Mystique as the book only focused on the plight of women from financially able homes rather than addressing unhappiness in women from all social classes. The implication of this is that Friedan only focused on addressing part of the challenges that women faced rather than tackling this problem in entirety. Friedan should have addressed the unhappiness in women from other races other than those from one ethnic culture in order for this research to be conclusive and impactful. As compared to Beauvoir, Friedan received critical because of prejudice against the sexual preference of homosexuality to which the former seems to have embraced as part of the society. In addition, Beauvoir taints the idea of marriage in Part Two, Chapter Five as the inclination here is that the spouses that get into this union for a lifetime cannot have sexual satisfaction painting this idea as absurd. Essentially, the idea should not have been on tainting the reputation of the institution of marriage because there are many marriages that work despite Beauvoir’s uninformed view meaning that this feminist only route out of her personal gain. The implication of this is that the views in The Second Text were not those of the entire women folk, but more of less a presentation of personal preference and orientation. Conclusion Friedan, Beauvoir and Millet are in agreement that the view that women should be servants to their husbands and families was an unpopular view that women had liberated themselves against as part of the womens liberation movement (Wichita 103). The other fact that all these three authors are in agreement about is that women could be better in other jobs other than housecleaning in that they could also participate in elections and also develop careers as some of them had already done. As much as these three books contributed in the feminist movement from a unique approach, they also attracted their fare share of criticism as men viewed these books a defiance of the unspoken norms that existed. In the end, all of these texts also assert that that was inequality in which the society had to address in order for the women to be happier rather than the men having what happiness should be to this gender. Works cited Appignanesi, Lisa. Simone De Beauvoir. London: Haus, 2005. Print. Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000. Print. Voichita, Nachescu. Becoming the Feminist Subject: Consciousness-raising Groups in Second Wave, London: ProQuest , 2006. Print. Read More