Post-Feminism Myth - Essay Example

Lecturer: Is Feminism Dead? Introduction The post feminism myth began in earlier 1980’s when scholars and journalists began to proclaim that feminism is dead. Feminism is defined as the collection of ideologies and movements that aims to establish equal social, economic and political rights from women across the globe (Aronson, 908). The feminist movement seeks to understand the nature of gender inequality in the society and the social roles of women; thus it attempts to establish equal opportunities across gender roles. The Postfeminism connotes the perception that feminism has succeeded in their goals of ameliorating gender prejudice; thus making it fundamentally opposed to the third wave feminism with the intention of widening feminist struggle. The purpose of the research is to offer a balanced analysis towards the claims made by some writers about feminism and it also attempts to offer profound understanding about the issue of whether feminism is dead or not. Although the issue of feminism is a controversial subject, the claims that feminism is dead rest on wide spread presumptions that young and modern women do not appreciate gains made by the movement rights of women. Discussions Varied literature studies have attempted to argue about the issue as to whether feminism is dead or not; thus the claims that feminism is dead rest on widespread presumptions that young women do not appreciate gains made by the movement rights of women. However, instead of appreciating the gains made by women’s movement rights, many of them do not support feminism and they are not even concerned about discrimination gains gender. The cultural space of post-feminism where feminist gains of the 1970s and 1980s have been undermined by popular culture and repudiated by many young or modern women (Aronson 904). The research study on the relationship of working class women with feminism reminds the reader that feminism does not form a unitary and clearly defined theory but it depends on the knowledge that women access (Aronson 903). Late modernity and the changes that have occurred socially and economically have presented novel challenges to both young women and feminism. Analyzing the article of Aronson through a feminist lens may seem pointless, but the influence that this article has over the developing minds of young women in the contemporary society should garner the attention of feminist thinkers who may wish to influence the next generation of women. Aronson aims to deconstruct the female relationships and the gender roles that women play in the society. It has been argued that young women take for granted that they can have a career and consider equality to have been achieved, as well as, expect to be taken seriously as self-determining adults on an equal footing with men (Aronson 905). The research study looking at the relationship of young women to feminism indicates that not all women think feminism is relevant to their lives and that their attitude to feminisms may be at best ambivalent. Most of young women express feminist ideals and values but they fail to identify themselves as feminists because they are unsure of what feminism really is. The theory of feminism supported by the work of Aronson found that while young women express support for feminist goals, some are finding it difficult to position themselves in relation to feminism (Aronson 904). I believe this argument is reasonable because most women in the contemporary society find it difficult to position themselves in relation to feminism. Although women understand the significant role that the feminist movement plays, some view feminism as dead because women have nowadays equal power and play equal roles similar to those of men. However, women are discriminated against education, work position in some organisation, class, race and gender roles; thus I believe these are among the issues that would reveal that feminism is not dead but it is still alive. In the article of “the myth of post-feminism”, the authors identified post-feminist claims that the overall movement of women has drastically eroded because some women are increasingly becoming anti-feminist (Hall, Elaine and Marnie 878). The authors also argued that some women believe that the post-feminist movement is irrelevant and many of them have adopted a different version of feminism (Hall, Elaine and Marnie 879). The emergency of post-feminist myth has been the controversial one and many scholars of Postfeminism have attempted to argue that feminism is dead. This because most younger and modern women now headed towards their early stages of their career believe that feminism has already done its work by achieving as much social equality for women (Aronson, 936). The highest percentages of women label themselves as anti-feminist; thus revealing that feminism is dead. Hall, Elaine and Marnie (881) argued that western, upper-middle class and educated women among others are in comfortable position that the earlier feminist movements have done their job. I believe that modern women view postfeminism era as the new beginning that marked the changes for women; thus many of them view feminist as dead. Instead of fobbing feminism off as a retro ideology, we need to think about the way feminism can still benefit 21st century women (Hall, Elaine and Marnie 883). There is a need to dispel the discouraging myths that feminism is a man hunting aspect. The conclusion made by the authors need to be taken into considerations when they say that women have it all and yet some women have nothing at all. This is because some of women are still discriminated and they do not have rights of participating in political campaign programs while others lack proper access to the same resources like their gender counterparts. Feminism is over because I think it has achieved it goals because women have made great progress. Research study reveals that feminism is dead because most women believe that they have achieved equality with men (Aronson, 912). Although feminism has achieved it goals, some women are still confronting varied issues such as oppression in the workforce and elsewhere. Feminism is still alive and it has continued to attract a whole new following and this can be seen where some organisations are still struggling with gender goals (Clark 2011). The affirmative action and many other policies implemented have attempted to ensure that gender equality is taken into considerations seriously. Many women have gained power and others have been allowed to participate in political and social roles because of the feminist movement. I believe that some working paces nowadays value women and offer women equal pay. Although some working women struggle with costly child care and organizational issues, some women have nowadays started assuming their share of burden especially when it comes to raising children or taking on family responsibilities. Conclusion Although the issue of feminism is a controversial subject, the claims that feminism is dead rest on wide spread presumptions that young and modern women do not appreciate gains made by the movement rights of women. Most of young women express feminist ideals and values but they fail to identify themselves as feminists because some are not sure about feminism. Postfeminism has it good and bad side; thus there is need for further research study in order to determine the bad or good side of this theory. For instance, post feminism has enabled many women to achieve their educational goals and also many of them have benefited because of equal rights that were granted upon them. Many women label themselves as anti-feminism; thus feminist is dead because it have achieved it goals in the society. Work Cited Aronson, Pamela. "Feminists or “postfeminists”?: Young Women’s Attitudes Toward Feminism and Gender Relations." Gender & Society. 17.6 (2003): 903-922. Print. Clark, Nicola. “Deutsche Telekom Struggles With Gender Goal”, The New York Times. October 2, 2011.Web. October 14, 2013. Hall, Elaine J, and Marnie S. Rodriguez. "The Myth of Postfeminism." Gender & Society. 17.6 (2003): 878-902. Print. Read More