Women Issues - Assignment Example

Women Issues The term feminism refers to the process of acknowledging and advocating for the recognition of the role played by women within a society. Feminists are on a constant move to pass across their message concerning the inequity and unfairness experienced by women both in social, political and economical platforms in human life. This concept of feminism is usually occupied with the activities which aim at providing knowledge on the unfairness and biasness that are experienced in the male dominated societies. For a clear execution of their duties, feminists use various theories that strive to understand the origin and structural construction of the gender inequality by examining the feminine social roles and the general women life. In this context, we can refer feminism as a social spectrum, which incorporates aspects like the pursuit of various schemes and fantasies, delusional feminist aspects to the rationality concepts, all aimed towards advocating for the recognition and application of women rights principles (Rauchut 341). The broad term of feminism can be narrowed down to address the existence of two groups; gender feminists and equity feminists. These two feminism categories differ in their principle ideologies behind governing their advocating for recognition of feminine roles in a society. The ideologies behind these types of feminism were first coined by Hoff Sommers in her famous writings. According to Sommers, gender feminism focuses on the interaction between the society and the cultural gender roles performed by women within the same social setting. On the other hand, equity feminism is associated with equal rights and equal treatment of women in the society. In its practical application, gender feminism has been labeled as bad feminism because it deals with the questioning of the fundamental rules of the society. On the opposite side, equity feminism is credited because it is occupied with the purpose of advocating and supporting the aspect of equal rights to every member of a society. The principles of gender feminism do not question the idea that women should stay at home and play their cultural roles. This type of feminism is only occupied with the aspects of equity and other legal issues. Contrary, gender feminism questions the ideas of cultural roles played by women within a social environment. It seeks to achieve cultural equity among women and men. At this juncture, we will focus at the equity feminism, which is the most dominant contemporary feminism at modern times (Rauchut 349). In every society, those individuals and groups fighting for gender equality con be heard complaining of numerous issues which they are not satisfied with. Therefore, equity feminists are constantly pushing forward their grievances to the relevant authorities for recognition. The equity feminist grievances are mainly centered on the economical, social and legal issues affecting the female members of the society. Some of these complains include the aspects of women reproduction like use of contraceptives and abortion, divorce, equal payment at workplaces, child custody and maternity leave in their occupational duties. Early equity feminists advocated for equal economic opportunities when it comes to divorce. The argued that a divorce should benefit the victim woman the same way the marriage benefited her. Secondly, feminists claimed that abortion was discriminatory based on the economic capabilities of women. In their campaigns, they advocated for provision of economic assistance to poor women who needed to carry out an abortion by the relevant authorities. In addition, these feminists also fought for equality in terms of salaries and wages to men and women in the economic sector. In case of a divorce of a family who had a child, the mother should not be left to bring up the child on her own. The child’s father should contribute towards the financial upbringing of the child, and the child should remain under the mother’s custody until she is past the minor’s age. Lastly, the grievances of these early feminists were also centered on the aspect of fairness at workplaces by allowing women to take maternity leaves without affecting their jobs (Rauchut 348). Among these five underlying grievances, some have been addresses by the governments and the society while others are still dominating the basis of equity feminists today. One of the complaints that have been dealt with includes maternity leaves. In the past, women would have endangered loosing her employment if she conceived during her professional career. Currently, the aspect of maternity leave have been introduced and received positively by almost every society in the world. Moreover, the concept of divorce has been ironed out by legal experts. In the modern times, it is common to hear of successful divorce law suits aimed at providing economic benefits to the female victim. Numerous legal institution bodies have been formed to provide legal assistance to divorce female divorce victims. Therefore, these two aspects of divorce and maternity have been embraced by the societies and are currently applicable as per the requirements of equity feminists (Tandon 149). Despite the efforts committed by the feminists to for the purpose of pushing forward their grievances, some of their complaints remain unattended. One of such complaint involves the issue of equal payments at work places. Most demographic statistics shows that women in equal professional levels to their male counterparts earn approximately 20-40% less compared to what men earn. In addition, the concept of abortion has elicited sharp reactions from various societies around the American population. Religious and social principles are subjecting abortion principles into intensive criticism and opposition. Currently, the issue of abortion is still under deliberation by the interested and the relevant bodies. Apart from abortion and equal pay, the issue of child custody is still short of being fully addressed. In the modern social settings, is still common to hear of cases where a mother is abandoned by the child’s father. In this context, the mother will be faced with the challenge of supplementing for all needs because the child is under her custody (Tandon 158). Political and social and religious forces are the main reasons why all the equity feminism grievance have not been addresses to date. In respect to the social aspects, the modern societies have not evolved to fully embrace the concept of gender equality. Male chauvinism and patriarchic ideologies are still present in the society. Therefore, men are more likely to get scot free in the legal proceedings regarding child custody. In addition, the patriarchic ideologies still practiced in the society are the main reasons for unequal salaries in the economic platform. On the other hand, political and socio-religious principles are the main reasons why the issue of abortion is yet to be fully addresses. Some political movements are totally against the practice of abortion, similarly to some religious teachings held within the society (Rauchut 351). Having contemplated in the principles guiding the two feminism groups, I choose to align myself with equity feminists. With respect to the two categories of feminism, the equity feminists seem to postulate principles that are feasible at the modern feminism platforms. Gender feminists are concerned with the cultural and social inequality witnessed in the society. In this regard, the biological differences between men and women are the basis on which social roles were constructed; hence they cannot be altered. Therefore, gender feminists are not subjective in their feminism principles. On the other hand, equity feminists are occupied with legal, economic and social issues affecting women. They are pushing for equal economic and social opportunities, without infringing on the structures of gender roles in the society. The modern feminism principles ought to be associated with the aspects of economic empowerment, and equity feminism seems to address these issues satisfactorily (Rauchut 339). Equity contemporary feminists are the ones who facilitate the continuation of the ideas purported by the four historical feminism women writers. These women were really occupied with the principles of achieving equality among women in all the three pillars of human life. These writers were pushing for the recognition of women roles in the economic, social, and political arenas of life. The works of these writers are revolving around the principles of economic and political equality with respect to the aspect of gender in the society. In this regard, the works of equity feminists are in line with the principles that dominate the works of the four writers. Therefore, equity feminists are the ones continuing the groundbreaking works of the legendary women activists (Rauchut 342). Comments In the Story of an Hour, Kate creates a context in which one is able to picture out a woman feeling the pain of defeat and loss. In the story, Mallard is afflicted with the pain of her husband’s death. On receiving the news, Mallard was so terrified and emotionally exhausted that she had to run and lock herself inside a room. It was during this solitary moment deliberating about her husband’s death that she realized she can free herself from the notion of a male dominated society in economic terms. Mallard contemplated upon her past life which she had lived in oppression. In the process of her contemplation, Mallard acknowledged the fact that though her husband has died, she has to move on, and the future life will be free from oppression. Mallard felt that she will be free for the rest of her life and that she will have the entire time to enjoy the imminent freedom. Therefore Mallard left the room with some relief despite her husband’s death. This signifies the freedom from male dominated society which a woman realizes when she is freed from the chains of male chauvinism (Chopin 311). According to Wollstonecraft, the situation surrounding women in the society have been modified be casual effects which have contributed to the creation of perception concerning a woman in every social setting. Wollstonecraft highlights that numerous sources have contributed to the position held by women in the society today. Every human development especially the process of civilization has been partial in addressing the issue of gender equality. The social education system has instilled notions and perceptions to the population that serves to develop the perception people held on women in every social environment. In the aspect of economic empowerment, Wollstonecraft highlights the facts that women have been subjected to partial empowering plans that keep them within the lower ranks of economic levels in the society. Wollstonecraft advocated for the recognition of the fact that women have been continually portrayed by men as creatures of comfort and necessity especially on the aspect of sex. This has influenced the women to align themselves to these principles, hence sacrificing their ambitions to fit into the role the society has placed them in (Rauchut 323). In his writing, Stanton highlights the concepts and principles guiding the aspects of gender equality. Stanton starts by assuming the fact that every society naturally suits every members of the society into the context set by the roles expected of that person. Each individual or group of people continues to assume their natural position in the society, until they feel that a certain social system has to be modified to respond to their changing needs and preferences. In such a case, the people having similar sentiments concerning a gender issue can group themselves into substantial groups and push for their recognition. In this context, a considerable group of people are allowed to voice their concerns concerning the system of causing their grievances, and if their argument basis is logically justifiable, the relevant authorities will respond by adjusting the systems to fit the activist’s preferences. Therefore, the whole aspect of feminism is centered on the need to adjust the social systems to address the feminist’s grievances (Stanton 327). In addition, Stanton highlights the repression of women in the society during her life time. In her life of more than Eighty years, Stanton depicts a lot of instances where women’s rights were unapologetically infringed by the influence of the male dominated society. Stanton shows that the society holds a negative perception of the girl child from the time of birth throughout the child’s life time. Throughout her life, Stanton highlighted the oppression of women by social and religious beliefs. In the process of deliberating on the issues of slavery, women’s participation was constantly discredited by higher authorities, just because according to the social rules, women cannot be awarded equal administrative opportunities to their male counterparts (Stanton 351). Shalit deliberated on the aspect of social modesty when it comes to the construction of social units within the society. Shalit portrays that the society have created a notion that women are continually fighting for equality in all their undertakings in their lives. The society is so misguided that whenever a woman questions a man about something concerning their future relationship, the society is quick to judge the woman as pushing for gender equality. The entire human population is neglecting the aspects of social modesty, which plays an important role in maintaining the social dignity of an individual. Even the slightest comment on a modesty concept by a woman is likely to be misinterpreted by the society as an effort to gain equality advantage over a man. Therefore, the aspect of gender equality is affecting the operation of other essential forces in social relationships (Rauchut 347). In her gender related writings, Sommers provides a different perspective that has evolved in the recent past concerning the issue of feminism. The intensive campaigns against gender inequality have resulted in the shift of social dynamics such that every social system is occupied with addressing gender issues in all departmental areas. As a result of this persistence in gender related campaigns, a lot of changes and principles have been implemented in the social systems such that the effect have caused an imbalance rather than a fair campaign program. Boys are on the receiving end of disapproval aimed towards rectifying gender inequality in our institutions. This has resulted in a situation whereby the campaigns are directed towards blaming the boy child for the misery and inequality experienced by the girl child (Sommers 351). In the continuation of her writings, Sommers addresses the issue of declining activism of feminists in the society. In the early stages of feminism campaigns, intensive efforts and resources were committed to the campaigns. However, there has been a change in the course of achieving the goals of feminism. The early philosophies guiding feminism were within the scope of addressing the needs of women at those times. However, times have changed and the aspect of feminism has evolved over time. However, the underlying philosophies have failed to adjust to the ever changing social dynamics. As a result, some of the philosophical principles have become obsolete, hence cannot be applied to effect feminism campaigns at the moment. What feminists ought to have done was to restructure their motivating principles and philosophies to include the upcoming issues in postmodern societies. This failure to adapt to the changing times has subjected American women to continual oppression by a patriarchic society (Sommers 353). All these writers have contributed significantly on the body of knowledge surrounding the aspect of feminism. They have provided intellectual body of knowledge regarding the casual factors that contributed to the development of the numerous feminism perceptions in the society today. They have tried to flash back the development of feminism ideologies and tracked their developments into their current state. In their writings, they have thoroughly evaluated all the underlying factors that facilitated the initiation of feminism campaigns and those that continue to fan the heated debates concerning the grievances that have not been addressed (Tandon 165). Works Cited Chopin, Kate. The Story of an hour. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from Bellevue.edu link: American Vision and Value. Rauchut, Edward. American Vision and Values. Bellevue: Bellevue University Press, 2008. Print Sommers, Christina. The War Against Boys. In Rauchut, Edward and Mason (Eds), Kirkpatrick Signature Series Reader. Bellevue: Bellevue University Press, 2001. Print. Stanton, Elizabeth. Declaration of Sentiments. In Rauchut, Edward and Mason (Eds), Kirkpatrick Signature Series Reader. Bellevue: Bellevue University Press, 2001. Print. Tandon, Neeru. Feminism: a paradigm shift. New York: Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2008. Print. Read More