Feminist Movement in England - Essay Example

Argumentative Essay Feminism is a movement derived from the west in the early 20th century. Feminism is a set of social premises and political practices that are significant of earlier and current period's social relations and above all encouraged and reported by the practice of women. In general, it absorbs a critique of gender discrimination; more particularly, it contains the encouragement of women's interests and welfare (Duggan, 1979). It can be said that the movement started in the early 1920s which started to change the stance of women all over the world. The essay would further provide with contrasting views on the feminist movement in England of different authors. Women have always been seen as a sign of disgrace and they have to struggle from the very start of this world to get their rights. In England, the movement of feminists has been quite successful to an extent. O'NEILL declares in his study that the major change for women in the history of England is about their employment. Even in the times when England is facing the problem of unemployment it is surprising that the employment rate of women is seen to increase. This shows that the working class of women is rising to a level that would match up to the men's level. Hence the employment prospects for women have increased significantly in the past years. Women who are mostly in their mid ages get hired by different firms (O'NEILL, 1969). Recently a renowned economist told a group of individuals who were leaving their school that it would be not them who would get hired but their moms. This clearly shows that women in their middle ages have brighter prospects of getting employed. However this statement is true to an extent but at times it can also mislead the women. On the contrary Mohanty & Alexander state that this situation of employment cannot be compared to the situation in wartime when the women took over all the job opportunities they could get i.e. even the job of a man (Mohanty & Alexander, 1997). The women today in England are working in such a way that even the man wouldn't consider doing. The twenty years of the movement of feminism in Britain has greatly influenced the whole system. The employment rate among women has increased significantly and this shows that the movement of women has been quite successful in England. The revolution in the employment sector started from the 18th century as Engel's in his book describes the revolution. Mohanty & Alexander further explains that the industrial sector was experiencing a change and many individuals were replaced by modern technologies (Mohanty & Alexander, 1997). As men were removed from their labor women got a chance to enter the arena of employment. Comi states that women were the first to enter the work of maintaining and servicing the machinery which was bought in by the industries. In the recent times there have been a lot of developments in the world of women in England. Women are increasingly getting the rights which they should get (Comi, 2003). However, on the other side of the story, Dervin declares that women are still facing some difficulties while living in England. Even now the problem of rape and discrimination occurs in England. The cases of rape and trafficking of girls is still found in England. Other sorts of discrimination among the genders are also taking place (Dervin, 1997). Dixon claims that the United Kingdom consists of more than fifty two percent of the women's population. But still the percentage of the women which work in the government departments is far much lower than that of the males. 18 percent of the women signify for the Member of Parliament 23 percent for the civil department and 36 percent for the government employments. This shows that in all these departments there is discrimination amongst the women as they are not on the higher posts like the males. Thus it can be said that the males are dominating the society in England (Dixon, 2001). However the percentage calculated here is far better than the percentages analyzed when feminists movement wasn't there. Dixon further reveals that the policies which are made for the public are man made and therefore these policies over look the lives of women when formed. This is a factor which affects the population of women on a whole. Thus it is necessary for the women to be a part of the formulating commission. The lives of women differ than that of the men's lives as women are the most likely individuals who suffer from poverty. Forty percent of the women population has a gross income of less than 100 a week. This percentage is half of the percentage of men i.e. 20 percent men live below this mark of income. Women are more involved in their housing responsibilities and mostly homes which are headed by one single parent are lead by woman (Roberts, 2006). On the other hand, Frankenberg states that the feminist movement has not been able to curb all the issues related to the society which represents women. Even now in the UK it can be noticed that women are being raped and murdered. Women even with the help of the feminist movement are facing difficulties which are not faced by men. This shows that men are still dominating the society which mainly consists of women. Though women have progressed in terms of getting employed there is still a long time for them to reach the path of success (Frankenberg, 1993). Discrimination and unfairness is highly prevalent in parts of England. Though new laws and regulations are being passed by the government of UK still it can be seen that the feminist movement has a long way to go before it reaches the successful point. As it is seen that though the women are the majority in the population still they are not getting the specified quota. One woman is designated a judge out of the total of 12 judges in the House of Lords. There are a total of 43 police chiefs out of which five are women. Similarly there are 42 Chief Officers of Probation out of which only 18 are women. Same is the quota in all the governing bodies and the department of the governments. This shows that the women still are behind men in terms of employment. Though there is a steep rise in their employment rate since the feminist movement. Similarly there are other fields in which women are being discriminated to men. Their right to work, their sense of responsibility, their sociological factors and their family related problems. Men even now in England consider themselves superior to the women. Work environment provided to the women differs than that of the men. Women in England are still not paid like the men i.e. discrimination amongst both of them (Crdova, 1998). The environment in which the women work is not considered to be safe as even now women are faced with the fear of harassment. Similarly in the recent years more acts of discrimination are taking place in England which shows that women require a great revolution to progress in their long lasting history of feminism. There are still issues that have to be dealt with. E.g. the principle of battered women's syndrome came into public consciousness and academic debate in the 1980s the legal system was slow to accept the syndrome as a mitigating factor in murder cases. The global situation of women is one of curious contradictions, obstacles where women's have expected progress where women may not expect it. The 1914-1918 War started in the Balkans and was fought between armies of men. 6 million men were killed and wounded. The nature of war has changed. Systematic rape of women is now used as a weapon of war to humiliate the enemy. Over 60,000 women have been raped in the past 7 years of conflict in the Balkans, and many more in civil wars in Asia and Africa (Razack, 1998). Some authors are of the view that feminist movement has not been successful in England, while some are of the view that feminist movement has proved to be successful. However the arguments of both sides are satisfactory and have their own validation. Bibliography: O'Neill, William L. The Woman Movement; Feminism in the United States and England. Historical problems: studies and documents, 5. London: Allen and Unwin, 1969. Dervin, Daniel. Matricentric Narratives: Recent British Women's Fiction in a Postmodern Mode. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellon Press, 1997. Comi, Dana Rose. "In the Shade of Solitude": The Mind of New England Women, 1630-1805. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brandeis University, 2003, 2003. Dixon, Joy. Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England. The Johns Hopkins University studies in historical and political science, 119th ser., 1. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Duggan, Elizabeth Ann. Sisters, Bondswomen, Arise!: Socialism and Feminism in England, 1820-1845. Thesis (M.A.)--Sarah Lawrence College, 1979. Alexander, M. Jacqui, and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures. Thinking gender. New York: Routledge, 1997. Comi, Dana Rose. "In the Shade of Solitude": The Mind of New England Women, 1630-1805. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brandeis University, 2003, 2003. Roberts, Caroline. "Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England (Review)." University of Toronto Quarterly. 75. 1 (2006): 347-348. Frankenberg, R. "Growing Up White: Feminism, Racism and the Social Geography of Childhood." FEMINIST REVIEW. 45 (1993): 51. Cordova, T. "Anti-Colonial Chicana Feminism." NEW POLITICAL SCIENCE. 20. 4 (1998): 379-398. Read More