What is Feminism?

After reading an article written by Pamela Meister on feminism and politics and how women actually balance the two decided to do this topic so as to understand more on the two concepts ad how they work together. Feminism as a movement was brought about women by advocating for their rights. Feminism therefore can be descried as a measure used for women when demanding for equality, respect and justice from their male counterparts. Feminism is not something that women recently came to know about but it was something that women have advocated for it for a very long time since the 19^th century. Feminism has taken a lot of shapes with it being looked at different angles but for this particular discussion feminism will be looked at from the political view.

 

HISTORY OF FEMINISM

Feminism as a women’s movement was established by women after suffering very long years under the rule of men. Even though women were known to be inferior to men and even sometimes were treated like men’s property it took the strength of a few women to see the end of this rule that was very discriminating to women.

Feminism had three phases to it and these were the first wave which was from the 19^th to the early 20^th century, the second wave from 1960s to 1980s and the third wave which continued the second one from the 1980s to the early 2000s. In all these waves the women were advocating for their right to education, working conditions, equality in laws and their roles in the society.

The advocating of rights saw the liberalization of women and their recognition as human beings and not as properties of their husbands and communities. This saw the relief of the burden they had carried silently for so many years as they suffered in the arms of men who despised them and saw them as nothing. As much as their history in the political scene came to be accepted much later but their fight for liberalization was seen as the beginning of their encounter with politics. It might have taken so many years and hard times but finally women are now seen as part and parcel of the community and have equal rights to their male counterparts.

FEMINISM AND POLITICS

The beginning of the political acceptance of women in the society came with them being allowed to vote for their leaders and not necessarily rely on their husbands and other males to decide what they thought was good for them. The first encounter of women with the political arena was in 1848 in a rights convection that took place in Seneca Falls, New York and a declaration was made by Elizabeth Cady Stanton that claimed ‘‘ all men and women are created equal’’ (WIC,25). At theses convection women talked about their grievances and the resolutions that were thought to be among key factors that would help the women out of their oppression that they have suffered for along time.

As much as their voting rights were granted by the early 90s with minimal roles in the political arena, it was not until in the 1984 that a woman Geraldine Ferraro of New York was chosen to take part in a major political role of vice president (WIC, 1). It’s been more than 20 years and the participation of women in the political arena is more that long before. This stage of their life has taken a long process to get to and the women celebrate the milestones that have been gone through have seen them share in the political and the power sharing in the US.

Long time ago it would have been an insult for a woman to stand and argue infront of men but these days its normal with so many women holding very powerful posts just like their male counterparts. As much as the milestones have been seen there are still some reservations on the women’s power to be able to take positions that are meant for the men like the presidential posts. After taking up the role of the faithful and dutiful wife to President Clinton, Hillary Clinton decided to try her luck in the polls in 2007, and as much as every one welcomed the change and even supported her it did not see her get the democratic vote against her rival of the time and the now President Obama.

This goes to ask the questions that despite the enlightenment and the affirmative action that has seen women get a position in this society do the world view them as equal partners of their male counterparts or are they just good for some posts and not good for others. As much as Hillary Clinton got a very good post it was not good enough compared to what she had lost and that it was a consolation price that came form the same man who beat her at the preliminaries. This goes to show that no matter how much women think that they have come of age they are still under men and even though they lie to themselves that they are equal to men the laws of life will always think differently.

Feminism like a democratic movement allows the people the right to choose and fight for their rights. These rights need to be respected in which women who are the citizens of the state also have a right to be heard and to express their views. The feminism movement saw the liberalization of women with the governments putting laws and legislation in order to safeguard their interests. However it is good for people to know that the acceptance of the women as equal members of the society goes beyond accepting their requests and passing legislations giving them rights that men equally are entitled to.

Balkin (3) believes that for feminism to be truly acceptable in the society it should not only be accepted because of the government legislation that have been put to protect the women. He believes instead fro feminism to actually exist and in fuse itself in the world then the acceptance of women should be a social and cultural norm. The way people are programmed to behave towards a particular issues in terms of their social and cultural believe goes a long way of infusing that particular deed in the society more than the legal aspect of it.

For example despite the fact that it is law to give women the right to an education or a job this does not necessarily mean that the men in the society will see her as their equal or treat her with respect, instead to them she is still a woman who has to be married and to take care of children. This clearly shows that feminism is not just a matter of asking for recognition with legislation put in place but it should first be a value instilled in the community that its time that women should be viewed as equals laws or not. He finally concludes his study by saying that for the democratic ideas to be ideal for everyone, transformation should not only be in legal form but also social structure since a revolution ‘‘cannot be achieved through legal regulation alone, for law is usually complicit in the preservation of existing social structure, even when its asserted purpose is to reform that structure. Democratic culture requires changes in all the devices of social stratification, even those that persist in the face of legal reform.’’

As much as feminism was meant to liberate women it had different conflicts with women fighting amongst themselves. The way the liberalization was viewed by the white women was not the same as the way the black women viewed them. The white women who initially had more recognition and power compared to their lack counterparts still fought for the rights of women yet they were not keen to spread this new found salvation to their counterparts and expected that as much as the women liberalization was there the were more superior to their black.

A review by (Judson et al, 4) shows that in 1896 the African American women were excluded by their white counterparts in joining their organizations until they ended up joining their own movement. With this difference it as noted that as much as the whites fought for their rights their black counterparts fought for their own rights and that of their people. Politics at this time for the blacks’ was extended to their men participation too unlike the whites whose power control was with their men.  Hence what was seen as a unifying factor that would deal with women liberation ended up creating rifts especially in the racial lines.

The route taken by feminism is been a long one with all the different views and misunderstanding and the main question is what it has it achieve so far after almost 40years of existence. The general view was that feminism came into being so as to bring social change and end injustice to women (Haslanger, 1). From the different views around it is clear to see that feminism has brought about change that most people expected especially the women. However it will be a lie to conclude that everything is all right since there is still too much oppression among women in the world. The western women might have seen the change and it might be a lot but if one comes down to the third world countries women being treated like inferior beings is still a common norm.

It is not unheard of to see or hear that women and children are still the most affected people in all scenarios even the political scene. This is unfortunate since feminism that has been advocated for so long might have forgotten its main reason for establishment and gone to be something only a few people are benefiting from it. It has been something that those who are lucky to get it end up forgetting what the original use for advocating for feminism was. It is important that the liberalization of women should not just be felt by the minority few but the majority if the woman race for feminism to be seen as a total success.

Whatever has an advantage must also have its own disadvantages and feminism is not left behind on this. Women who were known to be custodians of the family values have been so busy in fighting for equal rights that the have forgotten to instill discipline in the home. It has normally been known that the men are the bread winners and the women are the home makers and with the feminism action this still is the same and nothing has changed. So what happens to the children if all parents are out making a living? Who takes care of the children and instills values and discipline them?

These are just but the few repercussions of the feminist movement that has seen the new generation of children without moral values. The moral standings in the society is very deplorable with what the current young generation are doing and indulging in vices that they would not necessarily pick if they had the right guidance and teachings from their parents. This makes the male generation feel that the feminist movement that women are busy following is not beneficial to the society as much as is a worthy cause. It is not unheard of to hear that most of the politically influential women are having problems in handling and controlling their kids who end up being a public embarrassment to the same politicians who thought they could have it all.

Feminism as a movement has brought women from very far but still we cannot deny the fact that a lot had to be lost and sacrificed to get there. It was not a bad thing for women to believe that they could have done it all but also it is time that women accepted that the feminism has gone too far and yet very minimal has been seen as its benefits. Politically women are forces to reckon with and some of the male counterparts actually accept that these women have helped them see a political world like no other even though to the men, women will always be inferior to them. It is fine to conclude that women are having the power that they really wanted but it will be also true to conclude that these posts are given to them by the men who are on top. Women will always have the political mileage and the power they so wished for but until a time will come that the women will be the overall authority over men then l believe feminism has still some steps to take.

CONCLUSION

Feminism came with a worthy cause and its political mileage has been seen from the days when women were not allowed to vote to the era where they held the posts themselves. It has been a worthy cause but one that seen so many sacrifices like the family unit being crumbled. The women have to go back on the drawing board and balance their priorities and as much as they want to defend their rights they should not forget that the are the mothers who need to keep the society safe. It is only after they have truly balanced all their priorities will they receive the much needed recognition and respect from their male counterparts.

Works Cited

Balkin, J. M. The constitution of status The Yale law journal 106.8 (1997): 2313-74.  ABI/INFORM Complete. Web.2012.

Haslanger, Sally, Tuana, Nancy and O’Connor, Peg, “Topics in Feminism”, The Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2011/entries/feminism-topics/ 

Marilley, Suzanne, and Sarah M. Judson. Woman Suffrage & the Origins of Liberal Feminism in

the United States, 1820-1920].” Labour.43 (1999): 195-202. ABI/INFORM Complete.

Web, 2012.

Meister Pamela, Feminism and Politics: A matter of Convenience, The American thinker             http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/01/feminism_and_politics_a_matter.html

Women International Centre (WIC). Women’s history in America, Compton New Media Inc

1994

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– Identify and define Feminism.
– Explain the political, economic and social reasons for Feminisms emergence and development.
– Evaluate Feminisms relevance in the modern world.