What Feminism Is - Essay Example

A. AN OVERVIEW OF FEMINISM Feminism is one theory that has evolved through the years and has started to be promoted by women in more countries. Asa phenomenon, it cannot be stopped or put on hold – women have recognized their rights and are well on the way to asserting them. Feminism has been there for decades now, and it will stay for good. However, questions remain as to its direction and waning influence as a supposedly highly influential segment of world population. A.1 The Development of Feminism During earlier times, feminism as it is today was totally inconceivable. Men set out to look for livelihood and income sources as the provider and head of the family, and women took care of the home and the children. Men had more rights, and it seemed to be the most natural thing. The term “feminism” generally meant “the qualities of females during the mid-1800s. (Sally Haslanger; Topics in Feminism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) But in a way, it sort of distinguished women from men and may have led some women to start comparing the rights and roles attributed to both. After the First International Women’s Conference in Paris in 1892, the term “feminism” came to mean “the belief in and advocacy of equal rights for women based on the idea of the equality of the sexes.” (Sally Haslanger; Topics in Feminism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) An account of the history of feminism documents it as occurring in “waves”, as follows: “On the wave model, the struggle to achieve basic political rights during the period from the mid-19th century until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 counts as ‘First Wave’ feminism. Feminism waned between the two world wars, to be ‘revived’ in the late 1960s and early 1970s as ‘Second Wave’ feminism. In this second wave, feminists pushed beyond the early quest for political rights to fight for greater equality across the board, e.g., in education, the workplace, and at home. More recent transformations of feminism have resulted in a ‘Third Wave’. Third Wave feminists often critique Second Wave feminism for its lack of attention to the difference among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, and emphasize ‘identity’ as a site of gender struggle.” (Sally Haslanger; Topics in Feminism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) No doubt, feminism was meant to be founded and rallied for by women – it was just a question of which age in the history of the world it was destined to finally be started. No doubt, women were destined to know there is more to life that what it had to offer them during the dark ages when the world was mostly the men’s world. A.2 The Major Issues and Concerns of Feminism There have been many published definitions of feminism, and there have been varying causes that feminism, as represented by different groups of women, has lobbied for. One general statement about feminism goes as follows: “Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms.” (Sally Haslanger; Topics in Feminism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Justice for women, though, cannot always be easily determined – because women do not always compose one unified and solid group. This is because of the many varieties and differences that can be used as divisions – this can be both good and bad. When done in a logical and organized way that is accepted by everybody as binding and fair, then the further formation of small groups within the whole all-encompassing group would have meant strength in terms of unity and solidarity in the face of many issues and problems of the society. Feminism may be deemed as simply protecting the interests of women or fighting for their equal rights with men. “However, there are many different kinds of feminism. Feminists disagree about what feminism consists in, and what exactly ought to be done about it; they disagree about what it means to be a woman or a man and what social and political implications gender has or should have.” (Sally Haslanger; Topics in Feminism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) This is why there is hitherto no common voice of women to rightfully represent the fairer sex. Feminism continues to exist because it is an institution that cannot be eradicated ever since it has been founded. Once the women have become in the know of what they can achieve if only they fight for it, there has no turning back. However, ever since the rights of women to suffrage and to equal treatment as men in male-dominated industries have been bagged, feminism today has been groping for success in accomplishing the next big identified goal. A.3 The Strengths and Limitations of Feminism According to the Washington Post, around one million women rallied for the women’s rights in Washington one day in April 2004. The appearance of Hillary Rodham Clinton evoked such an “ecstatic” response from the crowd (Hirshman, Linda. Looking to the Future, Feminism Has to Focus. Washington Post; Sunday, June 8, 2008 Issue) And yet for all this seeming demonstration of support and even fanatic loyalty to the cause of women, the voice of women does not hold much promise. The writer Linda Hirshman has worded aptly in her Washington Post article the current scenario: “At 40-something, organized feminism is having trouble reproducing. Nothing says that more clearly than Clinton’s struggle in the primaries. Whatever its achievements, a movement with a potential constituency of more than half of all eligible American voters has never, with the possible but unclear exception of 1996, been able to deliver the deciding goods in any presidential election. And what this precise electoral moment tells us is that it was never in a position to function as an effective electoral force.” (Hirshman, Linda. Looking to the Future, Feminism Has to Focus. Washington Post; Sunday, June 8, 2008 Issue) Women as a force to reckon with may have already lost its magic. But it is not yet too late. B. KEY THEORIES ON FEMINISM BY ELAINE SHOWALTER AND HELENE CIXOUS At a time when everything in the realm of writers was interpreted based on the men’s scale, system, style, tenor and overall perception of the world, Elaine Showalter introduced “gynocritics”, the development of new models based on women’s experience. (John Lye; Some Feminist Theories) She further has written: “Gynocritics begins at the point where we free ourselves from the linear absolutes of male literary history, stop trying to fit women between the lines of the male tradition, and focus instead on the newly visible world of female culture… Gynocritics is related to feminist research in history, anthropology, psychology, and sociology, all of which have developed hypotheses of a female subculture including not only ascribed status and the internalized constructs of femininity, but also the occupations, interactions, and consciousness of women. Anthropologists study the female subculture in the relationships between women as mothers, daughters, sisters and friends; in sexuality, reproduction, and ideas about the body; and in rites of initiation and passage, purification ceremonies, myths and taboos.” (John Lye; Some Feminist Theories) Thus, instead of trying to fit in with men and to conform to standards set for them, Elaine Showalter argued that women can simply be themselves and be different from men. Applying this in literature workmanship, she contended that women can write about anything as seen from the perspective of women, and altogether set up a main paradigm that is not to be compared with that of men because it is to be unique of women. These developments have been written down as three phases: feminine, feminist and female. According to Elaine Showalter, the feminine phase pertains to the time when “women wrote out of their subcultures and attempted to adopt the standards and equal the achievements of male culture.” (John Lye; Some Feminist Theories) In here, women were attempting to think and write like men as a way to come up with something that would be deemed acceptable and good by people. The only way to gain approval for a woman’s works, then, was for them to be patterned after works of men. The feminist phase came in next. Elaine Showalter described this phase as “the time of agitation for the vote of women, a time of great feminist action, and writers supported and in some cases led these political and sociological movements.” (John Lye; Some Feminist Theories) At this time, some women have learned to fight for their interests and rights, while some women opted to stick to the old ways and to side with men. Nonetheless, there was unrest and the realization of a division existing due to unrecognized differences among men and women. The female phase is the third phase. It brought in the “establishment of woman’s role and nature as genuine, viable, creative, independent and different.” (John Lye; Some Feminist Theories) At long last, women at this time were confident to be women and were well aware of the distinction between women and men without feeling any hint of subordination and inferiority to men. One other great feminist to give contributions to the cause was Helene Cixious, who, at one time, has claimed that “women need a new language if they are to break out of an irretrievably male framework of thought.” (Keith Windschuttle; The Value of Literature) After all, there was indeed such time when the entire language had no room for women writers. Words and lines were read or heard in the masculine context, everything that has formed part of history speaks of man’s superiority and sole claim to profound thoughts and to writing. Helene Cixious also wrote, “Woman must write herself. Women must put herself in the text – as into the world and into history – by her own movement.” (Helene Cixious; The Laugh of the Medusa) After all, there is richness and mystery that only women can delve. These are things that pertain to the female sex, not as the lesser or weaker sex, but purely as the female sex, who may even have more to offer than their men’s counterparts in some fields of endeavor. And definitely, writing is one of such fields. Helene Cixious shared the same view as Elaine Showalter. She said, “Man has been writing for everyone, both man and woman, for the past 3000 years (a post-structuralist idea). It’s time for the construction of femininity through loops, through male writing, to stop.” (Helene Cixious; The Laugh of the Medusa) There are subjects that are best covered by male writers, and there are those best covered by female writers. Women should be able to identify those and go for them because their potentials as female writers would best be realized if they tackle topics that would bring out the best in them. Even men have to agree that subjects like motherhood are for women to write about. When it comes to writing about issues that dwell purely on female stuffs, women excel and shine as writers – more so when it is something they are passionate about. Women in love have written beautiful poems, touching stories and rich novels. Man writers would find ever so hard to equal the beauty of these works. There is depth in the experiences of women that often escapes men. This depth, then, can be gleaned in women’s works and can be felt by the readers of their works. C. AN APPLICATION OF “THE TWO GRANDMOTHERS’ BY OLIVE SENIOR “The Two Grandmothers” by Olive Senior is a story that depicts differences in women despite the advent of the feminism phenomenon. One big difference that will persist is that of the color of the skin as represented by race. There are white people and black people. The white people tend to look down on the black people. Meanwhile, there are white women and black women. Similarly, the white women tend to think of themselves as superior to the black women. In the interest of feminism, such bias and discrimination between the two different races ought to be overcome. And yet, these differences, and many other more, turned out to be not that easy to hurdle – even by such a force as shared womanhood. Even blood and family ties sometimes could not get past the discrimination sphere. Thus, the granddaughter in the story, even as she grew up loving her black grandmother, ended up preferring to be with the white mother who presents many other attractions for the granddaughter like trips and gifts. It is sad that the same are not as available for the black grandmother to give away as gifts. People change; values change; attitudes change. This truth has been demonstrated by the story as it developed from lines of a little to lines of the same girl when she grown to be an adolescent. She’s a girl whose life has mostly female characters in it. And yet, there failed to be unity and solidarity as women even among the female characters in this simple story. There is dislike between the two grandmothers, there is vast difference between the lifestyles that they espoused, and there is specific disagreements between their views as to what a little girl – the granddaughter that they share – should be provided and taught. Feminists they may be in their views and their choices made. But even as feminists, they served to be a divided lot. WORKS CITED Cixious, Helene. The Laugh of the Medusa. (http://english588.blogspot.com/2008/03/laugh-of- medusa.html) Haslanger, Sally. Topics in Feminism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2004. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-topics/) Hirshman, Linda. Looking to the Future, Feminism Has to Focus. Washington Post; Sunday, June 8, 2008 Issue. Lye, John. Some Feminist Theories. Department of English Languages and Literature, Brock University website; last updated on April 22, 2008. (http://www.brocku.ca/english/courses/2F55/some_theories.php) Windschuttle, Keith. The Value of Literature. The Sydneyline website; 2005. (http://www.sydneyline.com/Dead%20White%20Males.htm) Read More