The Focus of Feminism - Essay Example

 The Focus of Feminism 1. Defining feminism Feminism can be defined as a social, cultural and political movement and ideologies seeking to establish equal justice and legal protection of women and get rid of any form of sexism. The focus of feminism is to observe social roles and survival practices of women in order to understand the nature of gender disparity.1 This study examines various aspects taken into consideration when defining feminism. Feminism advocates that men and women deserve equal rights and respects in the society. It takes into consideration how women should or should not be considered or treated thus it establishes an ideology of fairness or morality.2 It sets standards of justice that defines how women should be viewed and treated in the society. However, when women are considered or treated in particular manner feminism standards are applied to establish whether the cause was merely due to their gender. Therefore, feminism is requires women to be seen and treated in a better way that the social norms. When defining feminism there are various aspects that should be examined. For example, the language used to express male or female depicts some male dominance in the society by influencing the way different genders are perceived in the society.3 The tone in language represents men as having something beyond what women possess and describes women as weaker thus in need of protection against male dominance in the society. Therefore, the language used to address women or refer to them plays a significant role because it portrays how the society perceives women. Another issue is the role of women in the society. Every society has specific roles for men or women. Women are perceived as dependent on men for protection and supply of necessity. However, the struggle for equality has changed the roles of women in the society.4 Feminism has promoted women to be more self-reliant, and they are competing for the same ranks with men in all aspects of life. Another factor to consider is the rights of women at the workplace such as the right to enjoy maternity leave and discrimination at workplace are important considerations. Feminism requires women to be treated with dignity and be accorded their rights at the workplace.5 Employers cannot just demean women at the workplace on the basis of their gender or deny them of their rights for whatever reason. Furthermore, women should be treated on equal terms with their male counterparts at all times. For example, they should have equal chances of being promoted, be given equal pay for similar positions, etc. Other factors include the right of women to control their sexuality, freedom of women from domestic violence, sexual harassment and sexual assaults, right of women to own property.6 Therefore, feminism examines all aspects of life and requires women to be accorded respect and rights like in all aspects of life in similar terms with men. Feminism support equal participation of men and women in all issues of the society without special preserves for men or women. Women should be given freedom to air their views and have equal opportunities in all aspects of life. 2. Advantages and disadvantages of feminism The definition of feminism gives men and women equal status in the society despite their biological differences. Even though feminism sought to improve the status of women socially, politically, and economically without altering social structures of the society, the movement has both advantages and disadvantages in practice.7 The movement aimed at promoting justice for women by demonstrating there was no ethics in demeaning women and denying them equal opportunities with men through sexism. This document examines the advantages and disadvantages of the definitions of feminism in the society. Advantages Feminism has improved the status of women in the society by changing the way women are viewed and treated in the society, for example, women have gained rights to participate in politics, right not to be discriminated or harassed at their workplace, right to own property, etc.8 It has increased socialization between men and women by reducing the perceived differences between them. Furthermore, feminism has opened up potential of women to exercise their worthy by eliminating sexism that hindered women from participating freely in society issues. The campaign against women discrimination has applied the language used to propagate male dominance in the society, but a reverse dimension to alter perception of women in the society. The language is now used to describe real men as those who value and respect women, men who listen to women and treat them with dignity they deserve.9 Therefore, feminism has reversed the language used to undermine women into supportive of women equality and fair treatment. Feminism has closed the gap between men and women resulting to a desire for women to associate or identify with men since they perceive themselves as equal parties in a relationship.10 Disadvantages Feminism has propagated intimation and humiliation of men at the expense of women in the quest for achieving justice for women. When a woman say or do something intimidating to a man it is not given any serious consideration, but when the same thing is done by a man to a woman feminists treats it as a serious issue of discrimination against women. It has led to men being treated with contempt by women especially with the introduction of artificial insemination or the introduction of cloning that are likely to result to disposal of men as women try to avoid heterosexual relationship.11 Therefore, feminism has promoted anti-male ideology in the society. Feminism has resulted to change in social status between men and women in the society thus causing disruption of social order.12 It is no longer clear of who should be responsible for particular activities in the society. In addition, men should be careful when dealing with women because a mere compliment may be construed as sexism. Feminism should be defined not only by the rights or equality of women and how much powers women can acquire in the society compared to men, but by how much they contributes to the society.13 Equality should be assessed in terms of what men and women offer to the society. However, from the definitions of feminism the movements aim at promoting the status of women in relation to men. The fact of the matter is that even all men are not equal and can never be equal. Therefore, individuals should be viewed and judged by they can achieve and as a group. It is unconvincing that women can have equal status with women because the biological differences gives men more advantages than women thus limiting women from achieving equal status with men. Some people construe feminism to mean favoring women over men whereas the term implies giving perceiving or treating men and women with equal terms. UNIT 2 2.1. Describe arguments for and against celibacy for men and women, in the context of intimacy, equality, and heterosexual relationships. Celibacy is the self-restraint from sexual intercourse of marriage for religious motives. Many people opt to practice celibacy for religious reasons or other reasons. Celibacy has implications in family relationships, equality between men and women and heterosexual relationships.14 This document examines the argument for and against celibacy among men and women. The argument is based on the religious believes on celibacy in an article Christian for Biblical Quality. Argument for Celibacy The bible advocates equality of men and women, therefore, supporters of celibacy argue that since men and women are equal then having sexual relationship with another person is tantamount to homosexuality.15 Since it is unethical for people to engage in homosexuality the best thing to avoid, it is to practice celibacy. In addition, living a celibate life gives men and women the opportunity to give undivided attention to the service of God. They advocate equality with men not for their personal gain, but for the sake of Christ and by reflecting the true image of God. In living a celibate life men and women attains, equality in the service of God and no one has a superior position than the other.16 It discourages heterosexual relationship because men and women treat each other as equal partners and no not engage in intimate relationships. The author speaks of early Christians in the bible and the advice given to Paul on celibacy. He advised those willing to commit their lives to the service of God to live the celibacy life. Widows and virgins were allowed to take part in God’s service. Because women were not free to engage in religious issues celibacy gave women an opportunity to engage in evangelization a role that was considered a preserve for men.17 Paul emphasized on celibacy by comparing Christian community with body of Christ and should not be used for ungodly things such as fornication, prostitution, adultery, etc. Argument against Celibacy The relation between man and woman in marriage is a covenant from God. In the creation of the world God intended man and woman to live together and bear children as a continuity of procreation.18 Therefore, marriage and siring of children is a service to God and obedience to His command. Man created woman deliberately to become a companion of man. Man and woman are equal parties before God and should treat and perceive each other as equal parties. The equality of man and woman reflects the image of God and the two cannot be treated separately. Therefore, it is only through marriage that man and woman can accomplish the intention of God. Living a celibate life portrays disunity between men and women and can never be one thing. It depicts separate images and cannot demonstrate the image of God. Considering the reason for marriage celibacy hinders people from fulfilling the will of God. The unity between men and women is destroyed and may limit their equality. In conclusion, celibacy can promote equality among men and men by committing their lives to the service of God. However, it can act as a hindrance to justice because without men and women are incomplete and cannot appreciate the other members from the opposite sex. 2.2. Describe the arguments in the historical debates about the meaning of ‘‘lesbian’’ and the development of lesbian identities or consciousness in various settings. Lesbian has been used to refer to love relationships between women or woman-to-woman sexual relationships. Lesbian in the Western community has been used since 1869.19 Heterosexuals were well argued in the in sixteenth and seventeenth century, and the men-t-women sexual contacts expressed by the products of the contacts. However, women-to-women sexual relationships were not well expressed understood or not openly discussed until in the nineteenth century. This document examines the history of lesbianism and its development in various contexts. According to Norton, the term lesbian was first used in the medical journal 1883 to denote a woman-to-woman relationship before it appeared in the newspaper in 1892. The France theorist Joan DeJean held the sociologist's view pornography and scholarly separate from Saphao until the nineteenth century.20 However, on contrary Saphao in France was synonymous to lesbian. In 1970s the understanding of lesbian changed took a new dimension as it changed from focusing on genital-based arguments into lesbian feminists. In 1971, A New York Radicalesbians published “The Woman Identified Woman” that recognized lesbians as women dedicated to women politically. This publication shed new light about women-to-woman loyalty that recognized the desire of women to unite for a particular goal. In 1978 Adrienne Rich attested there was a group of lesbian based on common experience.21 The confirmation focused on converging lesbians into a typical feminist’s dialogue. Over time, the definition for lesbianism was construed not to refer to heterosexual. Dell Richards portrayed women as women who did everything at their disposal to break away from heterosexual control. In his analysis, Dell states how women expressed their feelings about their lesbianism.22 The lesbians had desired to achieve freedom and power because women homosexuals signified strength whereas for mean it was a weakness. Lesbians defined sexuality as an expression of power rather than a desire. In mid-1990s, Adrienne’s view of lesbianism changed because it overshadowed the ordinary relationship between woman-to-woman that was based on a mere friendship without any lesbian experience.23 Nicki Hastie argued that Adrienne’s notion of lesbianism denied women the opportunity to express feel the power of being women and failed to liberate them from oppression they felt as a result of their sex. She expressed her preference for Stimpson’s definition of lesbian that she defined as “woman who finds other women erotically attractive and gratifying.”24 The modern understanding of lesbian focuses on the relationship between women in various dimensions. Lesbian has connotation of feminism in the sense that women-to-women relationships have economic and emotional attachments and not necessarily for genital contacts. Women prefer having relationship with other women due to feminist experience. 2.3. Discuss the Abortion Debate at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Abortion refers to extinction of pregnancy those results to end of pregnancy. The first case of stimulated abortion was recorded in 1550 BCE in Egypt.25 Various nations have enacted their policies on abortion and have imposed penalties on those found guilty of the crime of abortion. However, some of the western countries permit abortion to some extent yet in other countries such as India penalty on abortion varies with social class. Assyrian law has the stringent penalty on abortion that is the execution of the victim. In the ancient time there were various approaches used to terminate pregnancies including use of sharp objects, abortifacient herbs and application pressure on the abdomen among other strategies.26 The methods of procuring abortion have changed over time due to technological advancement, introduction of abortion laws as well as rise of women right groups. Controversies have always arisen regarding the morality of procuring abortion with some people having varying opinion about the age at which the fetus can be assumed to be regarded human.27 Some of those who advocate abortion have argued that fetus is not human until the time of birth when the baby is ready to live independent life while others believe that fetus have right since conception and denying them change of living is criminal activity and should be treated as murder. Other opponents of abortion have condemned the approaches used to procure abortion such as the use of pessaries by arguing that such methods endangers the lives of a pregnant mother and can result to death of a pregnant woman.28 In Christian view, abortion is immoral and sinful because it is only God who has control over human lives. Therefore, Christians consider fetus as human since conception thus abortion is tantamount to murder. However, some Christians believe it may be necessary to procure abortion where the mother’s life is in danger, and the only way to save the mother is by eliminating the fetus. In the entire twentieth century procurement of abortion has been conducted under insecure conditions either due to poor technology, existence of laws criminalizing abortion, social stigma associated with abortion, etc.29 Technological advancement since nineteenth has changed the approach to abortion due to increased advertisement of abortion pills and other tools. Critics have condemned abortion ads by claiming that such ads expose women to unknown consequences not disclosed in the ads. Feminists opposed to legalization of abortion in some western countries argued that instead of passing laws to deal with abortion the states should come up with means of addressing the cause of the vice.30 They claimed that irrespective of justification given for procuring abortion the person involved will always feel remorse for their deeds. In the late twentieth century, surgical abortion services were developed resulting to increased safety of mothers during abortion. Laws were also enacted to allow women procure abortion on medical grounds without attracting penalties. In conclusion, there are various changes that have occurred concerning abortion in the twentieth century. The change in technology has improved tools and procedures of procuring abortion. Laws have also been enacted to ensure abortion is conducted under safe environment while others have criminalized abortion and imposed penalties on the offenders. Bibliography Rose, Melody, Abortion: A Documentary and Reference Guide. USA: ABC-CLIO, 2008. 258 Read More