Once feminism is no longer a badge, women will have full empowerment.
Women will no longer be slaves to traditional views regarding their looks, beauty and health. Despite progress in women gaining top positions, they are still blocked by the glass ceiling, as mentioned above. The fact that there is still a 23% pay gap between the sexes speaks volumes. This still needs to be said when we read that women are sold for marriage and murdered when the dowry money is not enough. Inhuman acts against women are still rife. Just one of the things mentioned in Catharine MacKinnon’s book, Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law.
Gloria Steinem always had doubts about the institution of marriage and to everyone’s surprise, became a first time bride at the age of 66. She said that this was proof that ‘feminism is about the ability to choose what’s right at each time of our lives.’ Sadly, her husband, David Bale, died three years later. Rashida makes it clear that women are so talented in many ways that the reduction of them as sex symbols is wrong and must be challenged. Many men feel that feminism is a threat rather than an opportunity. Many women do not have to wait for marriage to realize their full potential. Marriage is not necessarily a requirement for a happy life. Many single women are perfectly happy. It may come as a surprise but this is an extract from a book written by John Stuart Mill in 1869! He felt strongly that female inequality was a hindrance to human development.
Kofi Annan is convinced that gender equality is not just a goal towards human development but must first be a precondition. One of the few famous men who really believed that there was nothing wrong with a man who was an unadulterated feminist. In the USA, FBI figures show there are about 2 million men who regularly beat their female partners. Kurt Cobain got to the heart of the matter. Society still tries to lay most of the blame on the victims. Feminism has been a huge challenge due to ingrained views about women’s role in society. Enormous progress has been gained but much more needs to be done.
Tina Fey’s satirical and comic acts often stress the need for women to take responsibility for their part in our sexist society. 16. “Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practised no cruelties. Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions, for safety in the streets, for child care, for social welfare, for rape crisis centres, women’s refuges, reforms in the law. If someone says, ‘Oh, I’m not a feminist’, I ask ‘Why? What’s your problem?’” – Dale Spender Geertz was an anthropologist who wrote a lot about ethnic diversity and how it shaped our modern world. It has been difficult to define feminism due to the myriad views on beliefs, theories and activism surrounding the movement. From over-romantic prude in Sex and the City to the bitch-goddess in the soap opera Melrose Place, Kristin knows something about playing female roles. Her upbringing encouraged her to be active in feminist issues. Her mother set the example by setting up a pregnancy advisory clinic in the Deep South, when this was frowned on.
The extreme reaction to this stereotype has been taken up by the Women Against Feminism which seems like a total waste of time and energy. Time to stop the gender hatred war. When and this happens, real progress will be made. Feminism has given millions of women a voice and a better chance of making progress in a male dominated society. 25. “You cannot have a full career and a full life at home with your children if you are also doing all of the housework and child care.” – Sheryl Sandberg Sharing domestic and household work must still be an important piece of the feminist agenda. For it to be viewed as simply a feminine task is extremely limiting for women and reduces their status. As we have seen, feminism is a campaign which has had mixed results but progress has definitely been made. Let us know in the comments below what direction feminism should now be taking. Featured photo credit: Emma Watson/Marco Bond via flickr.com
